Deep hooked eels

[Barry C]

Went for a try for perch today float fishing stillwater using prawn for bait.

Only had one perch but had around ten eels up to 1.5lb.

Only one was lip hooked the rest inside the mouth and a couple were well inside.

The worst hooked fish I just decided to cut the hook length as close to the hook as I could get and release them.

 

Did I do right, are they likely to survive or would it have been kinder to knock them on the head and have them for tea?

 

Yes I know all eels must be returned but in a hopeless situation what should I do.

 

I was fishing a delicate lift method with the lift shot about two inches from the hook. Some of the bites I was striking on were very slight movements of the float and still the bait was gorged.

 

Maybe I wiil have to take a few small roach out and livebait for the perch.

[Andy Macfarlane]

Use barbless, non-stainless hooks, cut the line as close to the hook as possible and the eel should be able to eject the offending hook. Don't probe about with a disgorger. You'll probably do more harm than good.

[Renrag39]

You did the right thing leaving the hooks in. They'll disintegrate over time and no real harm should be done.

Another option is to use circle hooks. Been trying them out recently and although I've only caught the one Eel, it was neatly liphooked (a promising start), plus it'll also greatly reduce the chance of deephooking a Perch too.

 

Livebaiting is another option but larger Eels are more than happy to chow one down and if, as it seems to be on your water, Eels are in abundance, you will still be likely to catch a few.

 

Renrag

[Neuvy]

You did the right thing leaving the hooks in. They'll disintegrate over time and no real harm should be done.

Another option is to use circle hooks. Been trying them out recently and although I've only caught the one Eel, it was neatly liphooked (a promising start), plus it'll also greatly reduce the chance of deephooking a Perch too.

 

Livebaiting is another option but larger Eels are more than happy to chow one down and if, as it seems to be on your water, Eels are in abundance, you will still be likely to catch a few.

 

Renrag

 

Ever since I began fishing as a child I've wondered what happens when you have to leave the hook in a fish. Whilst I imagine that the hook might disintegrate too that would surely be over a long time as it is metal, with the advent of barbless hooks I hope the fish have a much better chance of ejecting them as it is always sad to have to leave the hook in. Perch seem particularly easy to deep hook and of course if they have been caught in deep water they become even more fragile as their swim bladders don't react to changes in depth quickly.

[Renrag39]

Ever since I began fishing as a child I've wondered what happens when you have to leave the hook in a fish. Whilst I imagine that the hook might disintegrate too that would surely be over a long time as it is metal, with the advent of barbless hooks I hope the fish have a much better chance of ejecting them as it is always sad to have to leave the hook in. Perch seem particularly easy to deep hook and of course if they have been caught in deep water they become even more fragile as their swim bladders don't react to changes in depth quickly.

Eels in particular have exceptionally corrosive stomach acid and what seems most likely to happen is constant peristalsis to swallow the hook down to the stomach and then it will dissolve over a matter of a few days. I also believe if you wish to use standard hooks for Perch in particular, use barbed wherever possible and just cut the line instead of using a disgorger as a Perches vitals are very close to the throat wall and I think that a barbed does not penetrate as deeply as a barbless (remember, we're talking a mm difference but a mm from the heart and in the heart will make all the difference). I still maintain that circle hooks with the barb crushed offer the best compromise between ease of unhooking and a secure hook hold.

I still use standard hooks most of the time (for cyprinids) but for the hard mouthed pike, eel and perch I would always plump for a single circle hook.

Just my tuppence.

 

Renrag

[Barry C]

Thanks for the reply renrag.

Can you offer any advice on brands of circle hooks. Would love to try them but will need to order online and would like to know what to try.

[Renrag39]

I have only used the sakuma hooks so far and they work well. I do admit however that I slightly open the circle so the point is no longer at 90 degrees to the shank but more like 60 degrees. I just feel the sakumas's point is too close to the shank. I still think the hook retains its anti-deephooking properties as I have caught many perch, 15-20 of between 6oz to over 1lb and NONE have been deephooked as of yet.

I think Newt may have more reliable advice for hook choice as he has far more experience with them.

This was the topic I started recently on them- http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/Circle-...s-t2401358.html

 

edit:

Just re-read the posts and Newt likes the Gamakatsu Octopus Circle hooks. Will be trying them next myself!

 

Renrag

Edited September 26, 2010 by Renrag39

[Anderoo]

This business of hooks just gently disappearing in fishes' stomachs - does anyone have any evidence of this?

 

Fish can and do get rid of hooks in their mouths (although not always) but I think that believing hooks will just melt away from deep-hooked fish is just easing our consciences...

 

Prodding around with disgorgers is not good for them either, but I would always have a thorough - very careful - go at removing the hook rather than cuttting the line. In my opinion, that is the absolute last resort.

 

Good angling practices will prevent almost all instances from happening in the first place, but species like perch and eels can wolf a bait down very quickly.

[Renrag39]

This business of hooks just gently disappearing in fishes' stomachs - does anyone have any evidence of this?

 

Fish can and do get rid of hooks in their mouths (although not always) but I think that believing hooks will just melt away from deep-hooked fish is just easing our consciences...

 

Tbh I can't find anything on the ph of a fishes stomach acids. Best I found was that some fish do not have defined stomach and so do not secrete Hydrochloric Acid. An Eel does have a defined stomach. Not sure on the Perch though.

Hmm, some delving into my Ichthy Files at home may well be required.

 

Your post, Anderoo, has thrown up a good point. I admit I assumed all fish HAD defined stomachs. A schoolboy error

 

Renrag

Edited September 26, 2010 by Renrag39

[Andy Macfarlane]

Not quite the same thing but I remember a test carried out somewhere in the US I believe where Pike were deliberately deep-hooked and at a later date, dissected to see where the hooks had gone. A large percentage had lost the hooks completely, some had died but some had actually absorbed the offending hook into the flesh surrounding the stomach lining with no adverse effects. I don't know if the same applies to eels but I did speak to Ronnie McLeod (Ex-Scottish Match Champion etc.) and he said when eels were allowed to be weighed in at matches, most, if not all of the eels had somehow managed to regurgitate the deep-hook....so long as it was barbless.

 

This business of hooks just gently disappearing in fishes' stomachs - does anyone have any evidence of this?

 

Fish can and do get rid of hooks in their mouths (although not always) but I think that believing hooks will just melt away from deep-hooked fish is just easing our consciences...

 

Prodding around with disgorgers is not good for them either, but I would always have a thorough - very careful - go at removing the hook rather than cuttting the line. In my opinion, that is the absolute last resort.

 

Good angling practices will prevent almost all instances from happening in the first place, but species like perch and eels can wolf a bait down very quickly.

Edited September 26, 2010 by Andy Macfarlane