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Tools of the Trade
proper catch and release
by our good friend “musky bill”
Have you ever reeled in a fish only to find it's nearly swallowed your hook & you can't get it out?
Have you ever had a fishhook stuck in your finger with a very angry fish still attached??
How about a Musky, Pike or Pickerel take a bait deep enough that you wouldn't DARE put your fingers near their teeth???
You have?
Great, now, what did YOU do to get yourself out of the mess you were in.... Huh?
The answer my friends is a simple one. They're call the 'Tools of the Trade'.
Every angler at one time or another has needed to use a tool of some sort while fishin'. Some more than others, obviously. Have you ever met a Trout angler who needed the use of Jaw Spreaders?
It's inevitable. We all catch 'real' aggressive fish from time to time, & these guys usually need a bit of 'on the water' surgery. For example, look at the Clown Husky Jerk in this Pike's mouth...
My friend would've either sliced up his hand terribly, or the fish would've died if I didn't keep the necessary tools aboard. He used Jaw Spreaders & long nose pliers to safely return this Pike to the lake.
Let's start with Esox Hunters.
Anglers who choose to chase Muskies or Pike SHOULD have the following tools on board.
From the left, we have Long Nose Pliers, Jaw Spreaders (with hockey taped ends, to be gentle on a fish's mouth), Knipex cutters & long Hemostats.
Knipex cutters are amazing, however they are a bit pricey.
$65 will get them on your boat, but they're worth every penny. In this next pic, the tool on the right is 12" Bolt Cutters from CanTire...
Here's a couple of reasons to NOT buy the CanTire ones, even though they can be had for the low price of about $15.
Reason #1. The 'tool' part is very soft. With every hook cut, they get very weak, & if you use them a lot, you'd be lucky if they lasted a full season.
The Knipex cutters are tough & will cut many, many hooks.
Reason #2. The Knipex cutters can be operated with just one hand, as they are spring-loaded. This comes in handy when you're fishing alone.
You need both hands to use the CanTire ones at all times.
The Knipex will even cut through the shank of a 5/0 treble hook, but that requires 2 hands. The CanTire ones would either be ruined or wouldn't even get through the shank.
I recommend covering the ends of your spreaders with hockey tape. Without the tape, you're bound to do some damage to the mouth of your fish & we're not interested in doing that.
I use the hemostats to remove any hook points that I've cut off & left in the jaw. We don't want to release a fish with small metal pieces in it's jaw either.
An example of when Knipex are needed...the bait in the following picture is loaded with three heavy duty 3/0 short-shank treble hooks, meaning nine hook points & 7/9 points are in the fish. Three points are holding her jaw closed as well, two in the roof of the mouth & one in the bottom, so the Jaw Spreaders are useless at this point...
All you have to do is cut the points off, with barbs, & back the hooks out effortlessly. No harm to the fish.... Smiley
Let's look at some other tools you may like to keep onboard your boat.
Here, we have a heavy duty pair of Split Ring Pliers, a short handle file & scissors for SuperBraid line, like PowerPro or TufLine XP.
Since you'll end up cutting a few more hooks now, invest the $20 into a good set of SplitRing Pliers. These things will make even 3-ring Wolverine SplitRings like childsplay.
Use the file to make your new hooks 'sticky sharp'. Most hooks these days are dipped in a varnish-like coating, preventing rust, but makes them dull. Just a couple of passes on each hookpoint will expose paydirt, & when it comes to setting back on a very bony & toothy mouth, you'll be glad you took the 45 seconds to sharpen them. I can honestly guarantee you'll land more fish. Throwing a bait on a jump is a thing of the past... Cool
Anybody who's tries to cut 65 or 80 lb PowerPro with regular scissors will tell you, it's tough. Spend the $8 on a good quality Braided Line scissors. Fiskars makes a few that work well, or the ones pictures are fine as well.
Some more....
Here we have a Hook Disgordger & LongNose SideCutters.
Fortunately, I haven't found a need to use the Hook Disgordger, but the SideCutters will cut smaller hooks relatively easy, like the ones found on Rapalas.
A great multi-purpose tool, including a screwdriver, Birdsnest puller & monofilament clipper. Every now & then, a screw may come loose on your reel or need adjustment so the screwdriver accessory is handy.
Professional overruns or 'Birdsnests' to some, are a pain. They don't happen often, but periodically we get one that just won't cooperate. This little pick will take care of that, however, be careful. It's very tough on braid. Here's my tools today...
How about measuring your fish?
With CPR still on the rise these days, most of us don't bother with weighing fish anymore, it's all about the inches.
Funny, that used to be what only women were interested in, but now men too! Ba dumbum... Grin
I have a 60" seamstress tape ($1.99) screwed into the top of my rodbox, as seen here at my knees...
I also made a floating tape out of dowel, a seamstress tape, a small hinge, spray paint & varathane. Total cost was about $20, but I can measure fish in the water which is obviously better for the fish...Cut a 65" piece of dowel in half & paint it your desired colour. Then, cut the seamstress tape in half & attach the hinge.
When attaching the hinge, screw the middle screws in first, then use a hammer to round out the rest of the hinge, like this...
After the screws are all in, you can use staples to secure the tape to the dowel, then use several coats of spray varathane as that will seal the wood from water, & help hold the tape down. Your end result will look like this...
Nets!
Today's best nest are rubber coated, but come in different styles & sizes. To be fair, I'll cover what I use.
I carry two nets aboard 6B's, a small rubber-bagged net & a Frabill BigGame net. With safety always a priority on my boat, we sometomes use the rubber-bagged net to land Bass or Pickerel instead of risking hooks getting embedded into our hands, plus using the net increases our landing ratio. Not many get off at boatside anymore, & I recall many good Bass tossed the hooks IN the net...
The Frabill BigGame isn't really a traditional net, per se, but more like a holding pen. It's so nice to have a big fish with lots of teeth & hooks subdued at boatside, but still able to breathe in the water instead of the bottom of a boat.
You can calmly get the hooks out, get your camera ready & only have the fish out of the water for 5 seconds for a picture!
These nets, & ones like the Beckman FinSaver employ a rubberized coating on the mesh. This not only won't tear fins, but it won't snag your hooks either. Well, if they're sharp enough, it will....
I own a cradle as well, but I won't endorse them as I think they are just too dangerous. I can understand if space on your boat is an issue, but otherwise, I fully recommend the big pen nets.
Having said all of that, there is one more very, very important tool you need, & it's one we ALL have.
Your head.
Use it to it's fullest extent. Common sense should tell you when you can 'pop' a hook out, or if it needs to be cut. It should also tell you when you should put your hands too close to danger.
In my opinion, if the fish bled during the release, you didn't do your job right, generally speaking. There are always exceptions to every rule, but following these tips & ideas will make your days on the water not only more enjoyable, but more productive & safer as well.
Good Fishin', y'all....
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