Fishing is such a fun and rewarding sport. Aside from developing your muscles and improving your cardiovascular health, fishing also helps reduce stress and improve your concentration. And if you enjoy game fishing with friends, it’s also a great way to improve your camaraderie and self-esteem.
But like all other sports, fishing can also lead to minor incidents when you’re not being careful. One of the most common mishaps is getting a hook accidentally lodged onto your finger.
A fish hook-in finger infection may develop, so you have to act fast in case this happens. Fortunately, getting the hook out is easy, and you have two removal options to choose from. Read on to know how to remove a fishhook from your finger safely and easily.
Method One: Removal With A Fishing Line
For the first hook removal method, you would need a fishing line or a string to help yank out the hook from your finger. Here are the steps you have to follow for this method:
- With the string or fishing line, create a loop around the shank of your hook. The loop should be placed near the end of the hook to help facilitate the succeeding steps.
- Now that you have the fishing line properly looped, carefully pull it against the bend or the curve of the hook. As you do so, take note of the natural shape of the hook and the distance of the barb.
- As you feel the barb inching closer to your flesh, press down the area near the eye of the hook with your free hand. The purpose is to align the barb in a way that would cause the least damage to your skin.
- Once you notice that the fishing line or string is already running parallel to the shank of the hook, quickly yank the string to pull out the barb from your finger. But as you do so, make sure that you’re still pressing down on the shank to keep it parallel to the fishing line to allow for smoother extraction.
- With the hook properly extracted, simply proceed to clean it with fish hook removal emergency medicine and wrap it with a bandage.
- Please avoid this technique if the hook anchor is deep inside your muscles or finger.
- Using fishing gloves not only protects your fingers but also give you better fishing.
Pulling out the barb may seem scary, but doing it fast while the string is parallel to the shank will only make it sting a little. If you’re not comfortable with the thought of pulling the barb out, then maybe the second method will be the better option.
Method Two: Removal With Pliers
The second method requires you to advance the point of the hook out of the skin and cut off the barb with pliers. To safely perform this method, simply follow this simple step-by-step procedure:
- Following the natural curve of the hook, quickly push the tip of the hook out of the skin to the point that the barb is already protruding. We have to stress that you have to observe the natural curve of the hook to cause less damage and pain on your part. To do this step, we advise using a pair of pliers to get it done swiftly.
- With the barb already out of the skin, simply cut it off with your pliers. This allows for a smoother extraction process later on.
- With the pointed part of the hook out of the way, carefully remove the remaining part of the hook by pulling it from the shank.
- Now that you have successfully extracted the hook, proceed with cleaning the wound with medicine, and bandage properly.
Nevertheless, we strongly advise seeking medical attention as soon as possible if you feel that you are at risk of developing fish hook-in-finger tetanus. You are at risk of tetanus if the fish hook is dirty – and the fact that it may be carrying marine bacteria can only lead to further infections.
Thus, we cannot stress enough the importance of seeking professional help in case of these situations. And even more so in case, the hook is buried deep into your skin.
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How to Remove Fish Hook From Foot
In some instances, you may have to remove the fish hook from your foot. This may be due to accidentally stepping on the hook while walking on the boat. Knowing how to remove a fishhook from the foot will help prevent further injury, so it’s important to discuss this as well.
Fortunately, removing a fish hook from your foot is similar to the method of removing it from your finger with a string or fishing line. But while you can do so on your own, we still advise asking someone to help you take it off since they can see how far the hook has gone into your foot.
Also, make sure that the fishing line or string is parallel to the shank and pull it in the opposite direction that the hook went in. Additionally, pulling it as fast as possible is less painful than slowly trying to pull it out.
Once the hook is safely extracted, you can then proceed to clean and bandage it to reduce the risk of infections.
Other Useful Notes and Tips
Before ending this article, here are some useful notes and tips that you should consider in case you encounter this problem.
- In case a pet accidentally steps or lays on a hook, you may have to take him to the vet as soon as possible. Removing the fish hook from the dog requires sedating him to keep him calm throughout the process, so it’s best to take him to a professional to get the hook removed.
Additionally, the veterinarian can also give you additional caring tips for your pet during his recovery stage. Thus, we have to stress the importance of seeking medical attention in case this happens.
- We also advise investing in an emergency fish hook removal kit before your next fishing trip. Having this with you helps speed up the hook-removal process – whether it’s stuck in your finger, arm, foot, or any other part of your body.
These kits can be bought at your local fishing supplies store and contain essential items to make the extraction easier. Some of these kits also contain medicine and bandages to help clean and treat the wound.
Alternatively, you can pack up your hook removal kit if none are available in your area.
- But most importantly, we strongly advise staying calm throughout the removal process. Not only will this reduce the stress you’re feeling, but it will also help relax the muscles to make it easier to extract.
How to Remove Deep Hook From Fish
We’ve observed that one of the reasons why a hook-in-finger accident takes place is because some anglers do not know how to remove a deep hook from fish properly.
To reduce the chances of any similar accident or injury from taking place, we also added in a simplified guide on how to safely remove these hooks from your catch. However, bear in mind that this refers to hook removal for fish, and not the remove-hook emacs function.
- The first step is to clip the fishing line. In doing so, make sure that you’re clipping the part of the line that’s closest to the hook. A shorter line reduces the chances of it getting caught in the way of the extraction. Thus, this makes the extraction process easier and faster.
For this step, you can use a nail clipper to cut the fishing line. The flat top and overall design of a nail clipper make it easier to control as you make your way inside the fish’s mouth. Also, make sure to get rid of all the knots from the line to prevent it’s getting caught during extraction.
- If you’re using bait, then the second step is to remove the bait from the mouth of your catch. The purpose of this step is to simply remove anything that is obstructing the view of the hook. This will help you safely remove the hook from the fish – especially if it is already deep-set into its throat.
- Now that you have a clear view of the hook, you can now try to extract it from the side gill of your catch. Removing the hook from one of the gills is ideal since you do not have to stick your hand inside the mouth of the fish – which is even more inconvenient in case you have a smaller catch.
To do so, simply stick the head of your fishing pliers through one of the gills and grab the bend of the hook with it.
- Once you’ve gotten a firm grip of the hook, slowly rotate it sideways to give you a better view of the hook. As much as possible, try to get it to an angle that would make it easier to thread out of its position.
- At this point, you’re now ready to carefully remove the deep hook from the fish. To do so, carefully thread the hook away from the throat of the fish. Make sure to follow the natural curve of the hook to prevent further damage to your catch.
Once the hook is released, you can grab it from the mouth, or slide it out of the gill with your pliers – this would depend on whichever is most convenient to you given how deep the hook may be.
Painless method: Remove a Fish Hook
And that’s it. If you carefully follow these simple instructions, you greatly reduce the risk of having the hook caught in your finger.
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