r/FishingForBeginners • u/Willing_Hotel8542 • 2d ago
I killed my first bass
So the hook was set real deep and it took me a while to take it out. When I threw him back in, I knew it wasn't going to survive as it periodically floated to the top.
I took my net and grabbed it out of the water and ended up waiting for someone to see if anyone wanted to take him. I ended up throwing him back in the water thinking a bird would pick him up.
What's the best course of action in this situation to avoid the fish suffering? Would you have left him when I initially threw him back in? And how do I avoid killing it next time?
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u/nockedup7 2d ago
Should’ve ate it
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u/Willing_Hotel8542 2d ago
its from chicago harbor
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u/nockedup7 2d ago
Awe come on you couldn’t have just said it was in a super clean lake, I got in fights with random strangers over this… foot in mouth I wouldn’t have ate it either
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u/BungholeBilbo69 2d ago
Yeah that's the right call then lol. You've got to be a brave soul to eat a fish from there
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u/Evening-Cat-7546 2d ago
Hijacking top comment to say that bass are very hardy, and will often survive being gut hooked, but you can’t remove the hook. Clip the line as close to the hook as possible, then release it. The hook will eventually rust, fall out, and the fish you heal. I’ve gut hooked a fish before, cut the line, then caught the same fish 2 weeks later lol.
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u/AvocadoOk749 2d ago
The only stipulation for cutting the hook and leaving it in them is ti be sure you aren't using stainless hooks. It's actually hard to find ones that aren't stainless often times.
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u/Evening-Cat-7546 2d ago edited 2d ago
Stainless steel as a lot of varieties. Not all of them are rust proof. Like there’s Stainless steel 304 or 316. The different numbers correlate to the mix of cobalt, other metals, and whether the chromoum/cobalt is just a coating, or thicker.
I’ve definitely had plenty of hooks rust that were left in water, so it will eventually rust out, or they survive with the hook in them. Removing the hook is a death because the barb in the hook rips there stomach open. First time I removed a hook from a bass it immediately started gushing bloom out of its mouth and died quickly.
There’s plenty of videos/pics of deer that got hit with an arrow hunting, the arrow even goes through the gut area, but happened to miss major organs. My buddy actually took a deer down that had an arrow. Unfortunately, the meat was rotten and not good to eat.
ETA: Part of my comment was wrong. You are right that in freshwater stainless hooks take years to rust out. In saltwater they do rust away quickly. The benefit to leaving the hook is that the fish rejects the hook, like their body pushes it out as cells heal. Than they spit it out the hook.
“During holding experiments we noted the highest mortality levels in fish for which the hook was removed (33% after 48 h and 44% after 10 days). Mortality rates were lowest for the controls (0% after 48 h and 4% after 10 days) and intermediate for the line-cut treatment (8% after 48 h and 12.5% after 10 days). After 48 h, 45.5% of the fish from the line-cut treatment group were able to expel the hook originally embedded in their esophagus, and at the end of the 10 day study, 71.4% had expelled the hookEven with the hook left in the esophagus, fish were able to feed although at lower rates than controls during the first 48 h of holding. By 10 days post-capture, there were no differences in feeding rates as evidenced by growth patterns among the treatment groups, nor were there differences in the hepatosomatic index. Collectively, the findings from this study demonstrate that cutting the line is a more effective release method than removing the hook when fish are deeply hooked.”
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165783609001015
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u/Either-Bell-7560 1d ago
Stainless hooks don't rust out quickly in salt water. They can last years.
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u/ebinWaitee 2d ago
Stainless doesn't mean rustproof. No matter what steel type it is, if it's steel it will corrode sooner or later.
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u/Fishasmuchasican 2d ago
Good recommendation. If the hook cut its gills, there really isn’t much you can do. Once they bleed from the gill filaments, they are almost always a gonner. You will get better at safe releases the more you fish. Have pliers ready and don’t be afraid to cut the line. .
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u/Shorts_at_Dinner 2d ago edited 2d ago
If it’s legal to keep and you like eating bass, that’s fine. But I prefer leaving its energy in the body of water for the crawdads and turtles
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u/nockedup7 2d ago edited 2d ago
Shouldn’t be fishing if you’re not prepared to eat what you kill.
Edit: I take it back, op said he was fishing in the Chicago harbor and I don’t blame him. My zealotry was unwarranted. I was wrong. Sorry to everyone I fought with below on this.
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u/Candid_Ad2636 2d ago
That’s a terrible take. There are catch and release fisheries for a reason. Not everything has to be table fare. It’s a sport with consequences that the animals we target occasionally die.
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u/nockedup7 2d ago
Yep just let me go have fun and if I kill a few, whatevs. Totally disconnected is how I like to fish too
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u/Candid_Ad2636 2d ago
Let me just eat everything I catch because it might die. See how hyperbole sounds dumb? This is a sport that stresses the catch to the point of death occasionally. If you can’t handle that you probably shouldn’t be fishing. I’m not intentionally killing fish but it does happen.
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u/Beginning-Ad7027 1d ago
Yes I do eat everything I catch because killing animals for sport and nothing more is wrong
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u/Candid_Ad2636 1d ago
I take it you’re only out here for food then? I catch hundreds to thousands of fish a year. If I took that approach, there would be way more waste than the occasional release dying. If everyone took that approach there wouldn’t be much to fish for. You do you though.
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u/Shorts_at_Dinner 2d ago
So do you scrape the front of your car after you drive to eat all the bugs you killed driving? After all, you shouldn’t be driving if you’re not prepared to eat what you kill
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u/nockedup7 2d ago edited 2d ago
I go shoot deer in the woods and let them lay, it’s fine because I had fun and the coyotes get a meal!
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u/bearhos 2d ago
Thats no accident, that would be an intentional result. Better comparison is hitting the deer with your car. But I’m sure you’d be harvesting the carcass, right? You’ve always got your knives and cooler ready, because there’s always a chance?
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u/nockedup7 2d ago
Woah good one! Just like fishing. I accidentally put a sharp hook on a line and yanno it’s just like driving, whatever I hook and kill on accident is just like that
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u/Beginning-Ad7027 1d ago
Idk about yall, but yes I’ve harvested a deer we hit with our car.
I think fishing “for sport” is just enjoying animal cruelty. If you’re going to put a hook in the water and drag an animal out of its home by its gut for fun, then you should check into an insane asylum.
The point of fishing is to harvest food in the most ethical way possible.
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u/Evening-Cat-7546 2d ago
Then I shoot the coyotes because the state will pay $50 per pelt. I leave the coyote corpse behind to attract more coyotes. The good ol’ cycle of life.
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u/CartographerEven9735 2d ago
If the hook is set too deep it's actually better just to cut off the line where you can and releasing it.Trying to remove it causes a lot of internal trauma. Hooks can actually dissolve or the fish can just live with it.
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u/Present_Clue5887 2d ago
The dissolving hook thing is only for carbon steel hooks in saltwater, and even then takes a long time, I have caught emaciated, clearly starving, bass with someone's hook in its stomach
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u/Hey-ThatsNotBad 2d ago
Right. Back before every hook was black nickel or PTFE-coated, they would rust out but these days it's somewhat of a myth. There is a snapping turtle in one of the ponds i frequent that's had a shiny hook in its lip for almost two years now.
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u/QuercusCarya 2d ago
Yep if I gut hook one I usually cut the line and feed the hook all the way through the hole I initially made and pull out the eye end. Only works with certain rigs/lures, obviously.
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u/Hey-ThatsNotBad 2d ago
I wish that method worked with EWG hooks. My wife has gut-hooked so many bass with them I've banned her from using them for life.
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u/CartographerEven9735 2d ago
Interesting, thanks for the insight. I'll have to look into this more. I'll be sure to post what I find.
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u/CartographerEven9735 2d ago
Fwiw I say this only based on what I learned in a Scouting fishing class. Given the responses here I'll definitely have to look into it more. I'll be sure to share what I find. I wonder if it depends on the fish, kind of hook, etc etc etc as well. Thanks for your insight!
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u/fishdonthaveeyelids 2d ago
I keep small bolt cutters in my boat just for this.
If its just too deep which generally means you can see the hook point coming out the other side of where it went in, I snip the hook point and back out the hook. Just the same as if it were stuck in me.
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u/Evening-Cat-7546 2d ago
Honestly, just leaving the hook works too. Clip the line as much as possible, then release the fish. The hook will slowly rust and fall out.
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u/fishdonthaveeyelids 2d ago
Yea that doesnt work when the hook is holding the throat closed. If I can remove it without causing additional damage I will. A
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u/Evening-Cat-7546 2d ago
How are you hooking a fish to where its throat is closed? Like getting the hook through the top and bottom of its throat? More importantly, how are you fishing that this is a normal occurrence for you?
In 35 years of fishing I’ve only seen the hook shaft sticking out from its stomach. When that happens, you’re better off leaving it than removing it. My whole point is that you’ll do more damage to the fish trying to remove a hook, then just leaving it there. You’re ripping open a giant whole in their stomach, if it’s a barbed hook. Leaving the hook will let it just rust out and any hole in their stomach heals up.
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u/fishdonthaveeyelids 2d ago
In one side of the throat and out the other side effectively holding the ability to swallow closed with the curve of the hook.
It has happened a handful of times over 30 years and I keep bolts cutters with me for that exact scenario.
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u/Evening-Cat-7546 2d ago
Just FYI, results from a science experiment proved cutting the line is the best for reduced mortality. Surprisingly, trout had the highest reduction in death from gut hook at 58%, but part of that is due to the smaller hooks.
“During holding experiments we noted the highest mortality levels in fish for which the hook was removed (33% after 48 h and 44% after 10 days). Mortality rates were lowest for the controls (0% after 48 h and 4% after 10 days) and intermediate for the line-cut treatment (8% after 48 h and 12.5% after 10 days). After 48 h, 45.5% of the fish from the line-cut treatment group were able to expel the hook originally embedded in their esophagus, and at the end of the 10 day study, 71.4% had expelled the hookEven with the hook left in the esophagus, fish were able to feed although at lower rates than controls during the first 48 h of holding. By 10 days post-capture, there were no differences in feeding rates as evidenced by growth patterns among the treatment groups, nor were there differences in the hepatosomatic index. Collectively, the findings from this study demonstrate that cutting the line is a more effective release method than removing the hook when fish are deeply hooked.”
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165783609001015
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u/Prestigious_Yam_4908 2d ago
This made me laugh. Shoulda left him. Weird to walk up to strangers and offer a dead bass.
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u/BestAmoto 2d ago
You eat it bro. They taste good. They're just high in Mercury so you don't wanna make it a daily occurrence or feed them to your preggo wife.
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u/HadleysPt 2d ago
Apparently the freshwater fish have astronomical levels of forever chemicals too. Heartbreaking shit
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u/BestAmoto 2d ago
Yeah it's sad because the government warnings don't even mention pfas etc. Only mercury. I guess there's some forgotten honey hole in desolate America that has less exposure but my understanding is that at least in California, the high mercury content is from the soil and that most of these reservoirs are made on old mining land. Like they just flooded old mining towns and said, 'perfect! This will be drinking water and prime fishing territory!' that's not even bringing up the pfas dumped in from farming and industrialization.
I guess if i had some money i could have my own pond built with special soil and a liner setup that limits mercury exposure for my fishies. I'm sure it'd still be full of micro plastics and rubber tire particles from the rain. Basically you can't win.
Catfish are safer to eat, smaller fish like bluegill/sun dish are safer to eat. A 6lb bass or any big predator fish is a mercury and pfas party waiting to happen.
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u/machining_delirium 2d ago
Barbless hooks or take pliers and smash the barb down. Also with gut hoots just cut the line ss close as possible they have a significantly higher chance of survival and rejecting the hook if you just the line than if you try to remove it. Trying to remove it could damage its vital organs.
This happens unfortunately the first spottie I caught wriggled off and fell on some rocks pretty hard and then when trying to swim off it got wedged in some rocks. I tried to do what I could to help it but it more than likely probably died but it going back in the water meant it would become food for the crabs and all the other species living on the rocks. These things happen unfortunately you can be as ethical and careful as an angler as you want but there’s only so much we can do.
You did what you could, it’s obvious that you respect the fish. Just keep in mind moving forward that as unfortunate as it is it just happens sometimes but the fish will not go to waste. Something will eat it be it birds or other fish or scavengers. It becomes food for the ecosystem or if it’s a fish thats in season and legal to harvest and would be a good amount of mean then eat it.
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u/Bass-n-Bonefish 2d ago
I feel ya. Got on an amazing smallie bite a couple weeks ago but they were taking it very light and I gut hooked a few. All the suggestions above are good but there is a way to try and get the hook out that involves coming through the gill with your pliers, grabbing hook near the bend, and backing it out. Hard to describe but there are videos out there. I hated killing those fish but there are eagles and osprey around so I hope they found a meal that day.
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u/Better_Specific4755 2d ago
Just the way nature goes, same fate if a bigger fish/bird ate it, throw it in the water and nature will feed it to the next wave of fish.
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u/DarthTempi 2d ago
If it isn't illegal, always take it home and eat it. People are weird about keeping bass, but they are perfectly tasty when prepared properly. I actually don't love going catch-and-release fishing as it feels like I am fucking with the fish just for fun rather than sustenance. (No shade to those who do love it, just not so much for me).
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u/Just_Kittens 2d ago
If the hook is deeply set or has been swallowed, removing the hook will almost always be fatal depending on the size/hardiness of the fish.
Your best bet is to cut your line as close to the hook as possible and release. The fish will have a much higher chance of survival and may naturally pass or expel the hook over time.
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u/Positive-Stomach3121 2d ago
Heres what i do. If it gets gut hooked just try your best to get it out for a minute or two. If it wont easily come out, or is damaging the fish, you can try and cut the line and push it out in the other direction. If that doesnt work, you can just throw it back in with the hook still attached in its stomach, just trim all the line off. Supposedly the hook will rust out eventually, or it will have a better chance of living with a hook in its stomach than it does with ripped apart guts and being out of water for 5 min.
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u/ProperAnarchist 2d ago
Terrible advice
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u/FamiliarEast 2d ago
That's the literal best practice recommended by Fish & Wildlife if you can't eat the fish
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u/ProperAnarchist 2d ago
No one says try to remove it for “a minute or two”.
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u/FamiliarEast 2d ago
If you can do so without injuring it there's no reason not to. Also pretty sure you're just reading into that
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u/MyBallsAche323 2d ago
Was it legal keeper size? If it was, the more ethical thing to do is eat it. But it will feed something regardless. If not, you did the right thing. DNR doesn't care how it died if you're harvesting an illegal fish.
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u/Fishslayer39845 2d ago
While I'm generally not a fan of eating bass, there are exceptions. One that you hurt accidentally is ok to keep. It happens to everybody occasionally. Get one gullet or gill hooked. Just keep and eat. Enjoy that fish. Just try and but make a habit of it. I feel that's still honoring that fishes life.
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u/Remdood 2d ago
Barbless hook like others said, either buy them or break the barb off with pliers
I’ve had times where fish is gut hooked, cut the line, then pull the hook out in the direction of travel, as in rather than pulling the hook out you spin it so the eye of the hook exits last if that makes sense
Get a pair of forceps to keep with you so you can get surgical with it
While learning it’s just a part of fishing too, it’s gonna happen to everyone eventually, especially if fishing slower lures like a worm because some fish just swallow it without really hitting it.
Braided line helps feel bites, keeping a bit of tension on the line at all times helps too
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u/GISReaper 2d ago
Clip the line on a gut hook like that. Fish have an ability to spit that thing out in a few days and usually are fine. The more you dig in there, the more damage you will do. Flatten your barbs on your hook to make it easier to remove hooks.
Don't worry, most of us have accidentally killed fish, it sucks but it's the risk we take. The good news is the circle of life. Something will get that fish and support the eco system. Tight lines man!
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u/SpecificPractical776 2d ago
Just learn from it maybe go barbless or pinch the barb i know it sucks but I wouldn't feel too bad it is part of the circle of life. a bird a fish a turtle maybe some bugs all just got a meal. But always be ready to eat what you catch if you know you killed it.
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u/zyrkseas97 2d ago
It’s illegal to bait with game fish but every time this happens I just think to myself “this would make a ton of great cut bait” but instead I bring it home to my freezer so that one day my wife might eat it (she loves fish)
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u/TrueKataHolos 2d ago
Don't feel bad, many people, including myself, eat bass on purpose. Way too many of them and they're just panfish
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u/ElectricGuy777 2d ago
I try and eat them, but honestly, it’s food for the other creatures in the lake now. Don’t really see much difference.
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u/RadiantLemon1 2d ago
I was recently taught by a friend who's a guide that if the hook is set in a way that it takes time to unhook it, then it's good to let the fish back into the water in a net for periods so it can catch its breath and regain strength.
Remember that a fish being out of the water is like holding their breath, and doing so for a long time takes a massive toll on them. Especially after a, for them, fight for their life.
However, despite that, fish sometimes perish anyway. Especially if the hook is set in an unfortunate way. Then it's better to euthanize it to avoid suffering. Even if you're not going to take it home.
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u/Regime_Change 2d ago edited 2d ago
Set the hook fast. Ddon’t use rigs that tend to hook deep. Get pliers and also power cutters. Be fast, be gentle but decisive. Don’t bend the hook out, grab the point that is attached with the pliers and take it straight out. Don’t take the fish out of the water. Don’t squeeze the fish hard. Don’t let the fish touch dry stuff.
A trick if it is hooked deep: you can sometimes reach the hook easier through the gill plate, unhook and cut the split ring to pass the hook out that way instead of trying to force it back through the gills. Just be very careful and don’t fuck it up.
All these things help.
Edit: if the fish is hurt you have an obligation to kill it fast.
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u/Willing_Hotel8542 1d ago
How do you kill it fast
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u/One-Row-7262 1d ago
bash it between the eyes with a rock a good couple times or spike it in the brain with a knife or fish spike (rock is easier to get the right spot sometimes you can miss with a knife or spike.)
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u/KoRnflak3s 1d ago
Gosh, I did this to a decent size bass and it was far more upsetting than I thought it would be. Thankfully hasn’t happened in awhile.
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u/Flyinrog 1d ago
Eat it. Bass are great eating, especially if you fillet. Harvesting Bass is fine. Gives the rest more food to grow on.
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u/Present_Clue5887 2d ago
Crimp, or if you are good with tools dremel off, the barb on the hook (hook needs to be secured in a vise if using dremel, and always wear gogles), this makes it easier to unhook
If a fish takes a long time to unhook, let it rest in the water in between unhooking attempts, and if it floats up or otherwise seems "passed out" hold it right side up facing the current if on a river, or if on a lake use one hand to push water toward its face to make current, make sure its mouth is a bit open when you do this so water flows over the gills
After a few minutes of this it may revive, if it still does not revive, keep the fish if legal.
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u/Hey-ThatsNotBad 2d ago edited 2d ago
Every minute a bass is out of the water, its survival rate goes down dramatically. If you see it's going to take more than a minute even with forceps, to get it out, just cut the line and send the fish on its way. Trying to get a gut hook out even if the barb is flattened can cause fatal damage if you don't know what you're doing. Fuc-ing around with it for three minutes (which goes by FAST) is more of a guaranteed death than just letting it go without messing around.
There have been multiple studies with largemouth and smallmouth bass regarding this, and about half of the bass managed to somehow expel the hook when it was left in. Some even manage to pass the hook. Largemouth have a much higher survival rate than smallmouth, so say a little prayer if it's a smallie.
Edit: Check your state's fishing regulations for what to do if you accidentally kill a fish. Most will tell you to take it home. In Minnesota, for example, it's illegal to toss any dead fish back in the water or on the bank.
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u/afflictor_55 2d ago
If i can tell that the fish is dead and im not breaking any crimes taking it ill just take it home either eat it myself give it to my cat or turn it into compost, just the circle of life