How To Remove A Treble Hook From A Fish?

“Treble hook” or three-pointed hooks are some of the popular fishing hooks. Treble hooks have a higher chance to pierce the fish resulting in a better catch ratio. But the trouble with treble hooks comes when you try to remove the hook. 

There are numerous stories of anglers getting pierced by their own hook. So, how do you remove a treble hook safely?

Removing a treble hook is sort of problematic, as it sounds. To safely remove the hook, pacify the fish and stop it from thrashing about. 

Hold the fish by its jaw firmly and grab the hook with a plier. Push and twist the hook as you’d do to remove a single hook. Don’t try to remove the hook with a bare hand.

Being careful is the main concern when handling treble hooks. It’s easy to see why. Unlike a single hook, a treble hook has a pointy hook facing in three different directions. 

So, if you aren’t watchful, you can very easily pierce the fish further if not yourself. Piercing the fish further will reduce its chance of survival if you are planning on releasing it. If it is so troublesome, then –

Why Do We Use Treble Hooks?

Treble hooks are different from a usual single hook in many ways. For starters, the treble hook has a three-faced hook that all face in different directions. This results in a better chance to hook the fish. 

It doesn’t matter from which direction the fish approached and attacked the hook; it is almost guaranteed to be hooked. Another big advantage of a treble hook over a regular hook is that, because of the multi-directional hooks, it is significantly harder for the fish to break free. 

Even if the fish manages to break free from the hook, it has a significantly high chance to pierce itself on another hook. It increases the success rate by a lot. This is bad for the fish if you plan on releasing it, but good for you if you mean to keep your catch.

How To Remove A Treble Hook From A Fish Safely?

It is significantly harder to remove a treble hook than a regular one due to the same reason it is great at locking the fish on the hook. It’s very easy to hook the fish on another head while removing the current one. To remove a treble hook with the least trouble.

Hold the lower jaw of the fish firmly. Try to keep it calm and prevent it from jerking. Keep its mouth wide open and only then approach the hook. Be sure to grab the hook with a plier. Do not try to grab the hook with your hand. It’s just a recipe for disaster. 

Grab the lowermost part of the hook that is pierced into the fish, the bendy or curvy part. Make sure that the other two heads of the hook are a safe distance away from both the fish and your fingers. 

Be sure that your grasp on the hook with the plier is strong and reliable and push the plier inward. With a strong grab, removing the hook is the same as removing a normal hook, with some added cautions. 

The fish may start jerking or thrashing as a response to the pain caused by the barb of the hook when you apply pressure to remove it. If it does, there is a high chance of an accident.

If the fish jerks suddenly and your grasp on the hook isn’t strong enough, the hook may slip from the plier and swing in other directions violently. There is a very high chance that the hook will hit your finger and if it does, know that it will not treat you any easier than it did the fish.

But it is not the riskiest movement related to a treble hook if you are fishing with a companion. You can very easily hook the person next to you when casting a treble hook. 

It’s not a question of whether it happens or not; it’s more of a question of when it will happen. If it happens, you better know how to remove a treble hook from you or others. So –

How To Remove A Treble Hook From A Person Safely?

Whether it is you or someone else that got pierced, the procedure is the same to remove the hook. Keep in mind that it is not that dangerous or problematic if you or someone else does get pierced. 

It’s just some mild pain and irritation at the most. So, stay calm or calm them down before anything. 

• Step 1

If you get hooked, the first and foremost thing to do is to clear the spot of obstacles. What I mean is, remove clothes, wristwatches, hats, or other kinds of wearables as much as possible. 

• Step 2

Basically, move the obstacles and make the spot clear and easy to see. If the hook pierced through the cloth, don’t try to remove that; simply embrace it, hold it tight against the skin so that it doesn’t move separately from the skin.

• Step 3

Don’t try to pull or twist it out. That will only cause pain. Instead, take a piece of fishing line or other kinds of strong string with a decent length. Wrap the string around your finger 4 to 6 times and make loops. The loops will remove the hook.

• Step 4

Free the hook from the fishing line or the leader if possible. Insert the loop around the free ends of the hook and feed it down to the lowermost hook that is pierced in the skin. At this point, the string should be resting near the curve of the hook head. Reattach the hook to the line or leader for safety.

• Step 5

Now, Hold the loops with one hand applying just enough pressure to keep the string under tension, but not enough pressure so that the barb of the hook causes pain to the victim. 

• Step 6

Try to distract them with something else and pull super-fast and super strongly. If you pulled strong enough, the hook should come out in an instance.

Treble hooks are relatively smaller than a single-headed hook. So, it should not result in as big or deep of a cut as the other type. It will be somewhat painful nonetheless, 

But you can resolve the issue on the spot and continue fishing without having to cancel the fishing plans. But if you are not sure or feeling confident about this, you can always visit the doctor or even a tackle shop to seek aid.

Conclusion

Treble hooks are a high-risk, high-reward thing. They offer a higher success rate and greater chance to land, but they also associate a higher accident chance. But it will not be a game-breaker if you know what you are doing.

The worst-case scenario would be if you are fishing on a boat or a kayak and hook someone or get hooked. Getting outside help is unlikely, so you will have to know to help yourself.

As discussed above, removing the treble hook is more problematic, whether from you or the fish. And, yes, a fish caught using a treble hook has a relatively lower rate of survival, especially if the removal process wasn’t clean. 

So, generally, using a treble hook isn’t recommended if you are planning to release the fish afterward. But it’s no different from a single-headed hook if you know how to remove it. Take care and have a good one.