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Posts: 16632
Location: The desert | This story is a bit long, but hopefully I made it entertaining.
I was out fishing last night throwing a topraider. About an hour into the evening I had one smoke it right in front of me, but I could tell it didnt amount to anything bigger than about 27.5" (a common size for me I have found). I laughed at the fish and its small stature and apparently it took offense to that and spit my hooks.
About a half hour later I had a much bigger fish hammer the same topraider. I drove the hooks home hard. Danced the fish around a few rocks and after a pretty good battle I had it subdued in some slack water. I had my pliers out looking for a spot to start getting the hooks out, but I quickly decided that it was much safer for the fish and likely myself if I just went ahead and cut the hooks. Hooks are easy to replace, a nice fish like this one takes a bit of time to replace.
I began clipping and got two of the trebles clipped no problem, the third one was a bit deeper into the jaw and I needed to turn the fish to get at it. For some reason this lovely fish didnt appreciate the way I was touching her and she decided to roll and thrash. I had an odd feeling that if she did thrash like she did I was going to get hooked. Well, I certainly had an odd feeling. On of the trebles on the back hook went straight into the meaty part of my thumb. Of course while I'm attached to the hook, which is attached to the bait, which is still attached to the fish, the fish decided it needed to thrash about some more. Thankfully I got ahold of the fish quickly and was able to clip the treble I was attached to before she displayed any more of her dance moves. It figures that the other hook just about falls out as I'm clipping it out of the fish. So there I sat with a fish looking at me looking at my hand. I decided it wasnt that bad and I might as well get a picture of me and the fish. So my buddy snapped a quick photo and I released her no problem. I think she chuckled a bit as she swam off.
Now I turned my attention to this new piercing I had just recieved. My buddy instantly said we should probably go to the ER and get it taken out by a professional. I calmly told him that I was a memeber of MuskieFIRST and that this likely constituted me as a professional. The barb was still burried pretty deep in the skin but I figured if I could slide that out the hook would come right out. I grabbed my pliers and began yanking away. I couldnt even budge the hook. Finally I gave in and decided that a trip to the ER was likely the best option. Overall it really wasnt that painful, the worst part was the cleaning solution they flushed through the puncture, but 3 Ibuprofin seemed to do the trick just fine.
Moral of my story: I would have been absolutely screwed if I didnt have my knipex. I've gone throught he scenario many times in my head and I really cant figure out exactly what I would have done had I not had my knipex. Now I know many out there already have a knipex, but to all the people just getting into musky fishing, forget trying to find the magic bait. Get a few good ones and make sure you buy a knipex.
One cool thing about the whole thing was that I got to educate a guy that just caught his first musky that night while I was fishing down there. I watched him release his and, it wasnt the prettiest but I congradulated him on his first and gave him a few tips. Then once I hooked myself I told him to go out and buy a hook cutters. He said he had already made note of that after watching me get hooked.
All in all, a pretty good evening. I stuck a 42. I have pics of both the fish and my hand but they are on my buddies camera, and he hasnt had time to get them off of there. Once I get them I'll post them.
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Location: Athens, Ohio | Yeah, I had to cut a topraider hook out of the back of Mauser's hand the last night of the Vermilion outing. Hook cutters are mandatory for fishing with big hooks and cranky fish.
Mauser said as he was looking at his hand that someone had just told him, "It's the little ones that will get you!" That pike wasn't two feet long but sure put a hurt on him for a while. m |
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Posts: 1316
Location: Madison, WI | Nice one, I know that feeling oh too familiar. I ended up cutting the split ring instead of the hook, for nostalgic reason.....
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 Hooked.jpg (26KB - 102 downloads)
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Posts: 72
| Sorry about the hand , Congrads on the fish. You should send the story into Muskie Inc. |
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Posts: 415
Location: madison wisconsin | Knipex are the best cutters hands down. I used the cheapies before and struggled to cut hooks. This year I sprung and bought a pair and one of the best investments in my boat. Worth every penny. |
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Location: Sawyer County, WI |
The same thing happened to me last Tuesday, except it was daytime, a 40 inch fish, the lure was a Pacemaker, and I was fishing alone. I got stuck with a 3/0 eagle claw in my left index finger - deep !. Needless to say, I was seeing stars. I grabbed the Knipex and cut myself loose from the Pacemaker. I then cut the other 2 barbs off the treble to eliminate chances for further damage. Then I cut the hooks out of the fish, measured her and set her free (she swam off strong).
I figured that since I had to drive into town to get a tetanus shot anyway, I might as well let them take out the hook as well. So, after a 15 minute boat ride back to the cabin, and then a 30 minute ride to the clinic in Hayward, they took me to the "procedure room". When the opened up the drawer with the side cutters, etc. in it, I told them "none of those are going to work" . They tried, but to no avail. They sent a med tech over to the ER to get something stronger and came back with bolt cutters that did the trick.
There's no question in my mind - if I didn't have the Knipex in the boat, I would have been royally screwed.
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Posts: 2752
Location: Mauston, Wisconsin | BARBLESS! Saves the expense of the emergency room. Heck it even saves having to stop fishing. But, I still carry heavy duty hook cutters to release fish faster, i.e., for fish that are really pinned on two or all three hooks on the treble..... Have had to use them a few times.
Have fun!
Al |
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Posts: 235
| Which knipex is the best to get?? Is this a small bolt cutter or pliers?? Thanks Want to get the right thing. |
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Posts: 415
Location: madison wisconsin | The small bolt cutters. It's about 8 inches long with a cutter at the end.
Edited by wers4455 9/14/2008 8:39 AM
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Posts: 4053
Location: Land of the Musky | Just a side note, I also carry a tube of triple antibiotic with pain killer in it an a few medical surgical scaples. The pain killer will not get that deep into your wound with the hook in it but if you can get it out you can rub in the triple anibiotic with pain killer and it will take the edge off. If your lucky enough to have ice you can also ice down the area real good and then use a scaple to cut down to the barb and pull the hook out. Never seen it done but have heard of it working well. Then your not ripping skin/flesh with the barb when the hook comes out. If I am ever lucky enough to get a hook that deep I will video tape the procedure on me or my buddy  Fun days to come I am sure.
James
Edited by tacklebooty 9/14/2008 10:32 AM
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Location: Sawyer County, WI | Kenslures - 9/13/2008 10:12 AM
Which knipex is the best to get?? Is this a small bolt cutter or pliers?? Thanks Want to get the right thing.
This is the model that I have:
http://www.esoxanglercatalog.com/index.php?productID=137
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Posts: 95
Location: LOTW every chance I get | Yup, the spring loaded one is way easier to use single handed when you've got the fish in your other hand. |
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