Blues and fingers

[no problem]

OK, have been watching you yakers from Castle Island and have become intrigued with another great way to fly fish...however, one thought continues to trouble me...how do you safely remove a hook from a blue whose sole mission is to disconnect your finger at the joint.

My current technique is a pair of decent gloves, needle nose pliers with the fish out of water...The idea of putting a blue in a Yak with me conjures up all sorts of rather discomforting thoughts. :eek:

[nsvencer]

let them chill out next to the boat, give them the death grip behind the head to make the freeze (pressure point), remove hook with pliers, release. Or, bleed, put in back, and GRILL!

It's only really dicey when its a blue that loves to do the tail walk thing, then it may take a few shots. Respect the blues, and there will be no problem.s

[no problem]

now I do feel like a newbie...the "freeze"? With trout, I just turn upside down and they become limp, but haven't heard of the vulcan deathgrip resulting in freeze...

[LEFTUS]

Boga and needle nose piers.Flesh never touches the fish! Lefty

[Bob Parsons]

Grabbing the bluefish at the back of the head over the gill plates will cause it to "freeze" The larger the blue. the smaller your hand the greater the challenge. This is where one of the inexpensive liplock devices comes in handy since you gain control and can use the pliers for hook removal. Removing hooks and getting fingers far from bluefish is another good reason for crushing your barbs.

[SamRiley]

nsvencer nailed it. Sometimes with larger or green ones you may need to pin then to the side of your yak too. Best bet when you are first learning is not to rush it. Let them fight longer than you normally would and they will be easier to learn on. I tail them often too.

[bass3six]

Self edit...never mind....that would damage the gills on a blue fish if you intend to release them.
Easier to get one of those Rapala gloves that are like chain mail(sp?).

[teflon_jones]

I "gill" them.....but, to be honest....occassionally my fingers may stick out of the blue's mouth....and I'll get bit.
Easier to get one of those Rapala gloves that are like chain mail(sp?).
Are you letting them go after this? Or do you always keep the ones you "gill"?

[bass3six]

I hear you Teflon....touching a fishes gills is equivalent to poking holes in people's lungs....

[ruge13]

I prefer to use larger hooks when blues are around for this reason. I'll jump from a 2/0 or 3/0 up to flies with a 5/0 or longer shank hooks. More of the shank is probably going to stick out of thier mouth so you have more to grab on to when trying to unhook them. Beats having to try to finagle fingers close to the mouth on a corner hooked blue with a 1/0 hook. This allows fingers to stay further from the mouth. They smell fear, grab them like they are peanut bunker:brow

[scruffy_fish]

My two cents added to Shaun's reply. Bend down the barbs on Blue fish hooks it will be a lot easier on release. --125-3

[no problem]

I gotta tell you, this is like having gadabout gaddis sitting next to you...is my age showing...thanks for the info...next step...find the yak and a place to hide it from the lovely frau --127-3-

[BluesCruiser]

tie another lure on..... let the blue die then get your hook I toss mine in the back of the yak for later no chop chop here:)

[adson]

I keep a "bluefish stick" on my yak. it's just a 28" long bamboo stick.
when I'm not using it it just slides under the deck bungies.

if youre gonna keep a blue for the grill slide the stick thru the gills
and put the stick back thru the bungies until he calms down enuf to bleed him.

the stick also works well as a measuring stick for stripers and a good
tool for retreiving stuff that always slides down the cockpit .

[BigK]

http://www.insidesportfishing.com/Articles.asp?ID=106

(#$119)

[scruffy_fish]

Another reason to bend down barbs. :eek: Peta got to love that one :)

[G-Man]

I wondered the same thing when I started kayak fishing some time ago.

I'll 2nd the bocagrip and needlenose.
Don't leave home without em.

Just grab a blue?
no thanks... I'm having to much fun out there to chance that. Those smaller ones never settle down and the bigger ones are worse.

I love catching blues, and would like to keep it that way. ;)

[outnumbered]

Get the fish by the yak/boat/shore take a squirt bottle filled with tequila/vodak/whiskey give it a squirt in the gills they'll quite down right away take the hook out and release a happy fish. If the fishing is slow you can even take a squirt or two for yourself. :-%

[Noel]

This clip reminds me of why I flatten my barbs.

[no problem]

I learned the alcohol trick many years ago..but my understanding was that it kills them rather than just gives em a hangover..??? I'm pretty much a catch and release guy, but of a shot of tanquery will just chill em...one for them...one for me and life is indeed good --127-3-

[DAQ]

Funny this thread is still running. I caught a 9" snapper today and when I went to unhook the beast it shook it's head, the hook came out of it's mouth and when it clamped down it's jaws it was right on my middle finger. I'm sure you are all familiar with how blues lock their jaws when you try to unhook them, well they also lock them when there is a finger in them.

So there I was with a mini blue locked on the traffic finger of one hand while I held it's body with the other so I couldn't reach for anything to pry the monster off. Thankfully after about 30 seconds little bugger tried to gasp (or readjust it's grip) and I got my digit back, minus a good amount of blood.

Be careful, even the little guys are nasty.

D