[masraum]

Originally Posted by ramonesfreak

Tip for you, especially with small fish sucking in small hooks——pinch down the barbs.

You do not need to do anything fancy. Just take some needle nose pliers and squeeze the barb down against the shaft of the hook. Takes 20 seconds or less once you get the feel for it. The fish will be happy and you will be happy. It took getting a treble hook deeply embedded in my hand at midnight to finally start doing this.

yeah, that's a constant concern. I keep the boys separated by at least 20-30' to keep them from hooking each other. And I deal with all of the stuff that would involve a hook, but it's still a possibility when dealing with hooks, and especially kids & hooks.

If you keep the line tight, as you should, there is no need for a barb on a hook.

The boys are unlikely to keep the line tight all of the time.

Yes, the worm may not stay on the hook as well but it’s worth it

First thing I do when I buy lures or hooks is sit down and pinch every barb and then it’s done and ready to go. You will have a much easier time getting those hooks out without destroying the fish and if a kid or you gets hooked, you will be very thankful that you do not need to go to the ER to have it cut out

That's a great point!

Another thing, i personally will not fish for pan fish with single hooks unless I need the fish for food….but I get why you are and you should, but - many many people, myself included long ago, get frustrated with the hook way deep and simply cut the line and toss the fish….because panfish have such small mouths and the hooks are so small and they tend to inhale the bait. When this happens and you cut the line, other animals like birds of prey may catch that fish as it’s dying at the surface after you leave and can get that hook in their gut.

Not trying to preach, just trying to pass on what I’ve learned in my almost 50 years of fishing so the experience is better and safer

My grandpa would take me bluegill fishing and he used to get frustrated and just rip the hook out guts and all and toss the fish. I loved that man but damn that was uncool and pissed me off as a 5 year old.

Anyway, nice fish and good job!

Yikes! I guess I've been lucky so far, mostly just fish lips and cheeks that I've had to deal with. I definitely do not want to push fish back that still have a hook or cause a lot of damage to a fish in the process of getting the hook out.

We do have some treble hooks that I just hadn't swapped for the single hooks yet. It seemed like it might be an improvement, but it also seemed like it tripled the odds of someone getting hooked. If the barbs are crimped, then that's probably less of an issue.

Thanks for all of the pointers. Since I have essentially 0 fishing experience, it's appreciated.