tips for unhooking small fish ?

[Andy Macfarlane]

Once the hook has been dislodged, the barb of the hook is usually pushed tight against the disgorger so rehooking is virtually impossible.

BTW Andy, I bought 2 disgorgers for you. They're in your float tube.

[Vagabond]

Prevention is better than cure!

 

The remarks on shotting are spot on, but here are some details.

 

If float fishing, start by having about one handspan (about 9") between hook and bottom shot.

 

If you find you are deep-hooking - SHORTEN the distance between hook and shot - that will give you earlier bite indication and thus avoid many cases of deep hooking.

 

If you find you are missing bites, or getting nibbles, with bait coming off hook, maggots sucked dry etc, LENGTHEN the hook to shot distance - that gives the fish more time to take the bait.

 

The same general principle applies to feeder/ledger fishing, vary the length of trail in the same way until you get early bite indication.

 

Also, have two or three disgorgers of different sizes in your box - the slots fit different size hooks. You can't easily remove (say) a size 8 hook with a disgorger designed for size 14.

[cidermonkey]

When using barbless I find that as long as I keep the pressure on and don't allow the line to slacken the fish stays on. One aspect of barbless hooks that some overlook is if you snap off on a fish. A barbless hook is far more likely to work its way out than a barbed one - so the fish doesn't have to wear it as a permanent fixture. I caught a three pound tench this season with a hook, six foot of line and even the bloody float still attached! Had the hook been barbless I'm sure the poor bugger wouldn't have been towing that lot around with it for god knows how long!

[Andy_1984]

all your tips paid off today, caught a very small perch when out with andy and the disgorger worked perfect and the perch swam away without a care in the world

 

thanks