Hooks In Fishes Mouths

[reyzor]

hi all,

just wondering,

how long will a hook last in a fishes mouth or down deeper.... i see and sometimes myself cut the line as opposed to ripping the hook out when i let a fish go, but how long before the fish gets rid of it?

cheers.

[Moro Mou]

Hello Reysor,

There are different schools of thought on this however i understand that a fish will get rid of a hook from as little as 24 hrs to up to a week depending on type of hook (gauge and type of material, ie bronzed) and where hooked (Ie if in the gut the saltwater and stomach acids do a pretty good job of coroding it quickly). In my opinion if a fish is "gut" hooked it is far better to snip the line as close to the mouth as possible as opposed to trying to get the hook out.

I am sure another raider will give you a better description of actual time it takes to break down a hook but i hope the above helps.

Cheers

Moro Mou

[kingky]

Rey, good question. Might depend on what types of fish, where it is hooked and what type of hook too i guess as i could imagine some may dissolve faster than others and also depending on their shape. I reckon the hook is better for the fish removed, rather than staying hooked on the fish.

Next catch, u should try taking a fish home, put it in the bath bro and check it out every now and then to see how long it stays in its mouth

Overall, id prefer just take the hook out(if possible) and then u get to keep the hook for another catch

Check the attachment out. Looks like the fish swallowed it all the way and tried to crap it out! Dayaamn, i can just feel it now....!!

[hooklineandsinker]

Rey, good question. Might depend on what types of fish, where it is hooked and what type of hook too i guess as i could imagine some may dissolve faster than others and also depending on their shape. I reckon the hook is better for the fish removed, rather than staying hooked on the fish.

Next catch, u should try taking a fish home, put it in the bath bro and check it out every now and then to see how long it stays in its mouth

Overall, id prefer just take the hook out(if possible) and then u get to keep the hook for another catch

Check the attachment out. Looks like the fish swallowed it all the way and tried to crap it out! Dayaamn, i can just feel it now....!!

jeez that looks painful hope you took the fish home if it was size

i myself try to get the hooks out all the time but sometimes you are likely to kill the fish in the process a company should create small version of long side cutters just to cut the hook of jig heads in the gill area then again a fish de-hooker could get a hook thats deep but safe to remove

cheers mick

[Geoff-]

I was interested in this recently and did some searching. Turns out someone has done a study and it is WAY better to cut the line than try and retrieve a deep hooked fish.

It's also recommended to use circle hooks as they will mouth hook a fish more often.

http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fisheries/recreational/saltwater/catch-and-release

Compared to removing swallowed hooks from bream and mulloway, simply cutting the line increased their short-term survival from 12% to more than 85%. Up to 76% of the released line-cut, gut-hooked bream then shed their hooks within around three weeks

So basically you go from 12% survival rate to 65% have lived AND shed their hooks completely after 3 weeks (76% of 85% = 65% of the original total).

Edited July 20, 2010 by Geoff-