Free Sample
The Complete Handbook of Fishing Hook Removal Tools
A field guide for anglers, outfitters, and guides: selecting, using, and maintaining the right tool for every hook-removal situation
by Alumigogo Books
Chapter 1: Understanding Fishing Hook Removal Tools
You are on a charter boat off the Florida coast. It is mid-afternoon, the bite has been steady, and one of your clients has just brought in a 12-pound redfish. The hook is buried deep in the corner of its mouth, the barb is not visible, and the fish is starting to bleed slightly from the gill plate. You have two tools in your hands: a cheap pair of long-nose pliers with a dull tip and a sturdy, purpose-built disgorger with a deep reach and a smooth, rounded tip. The choice you make in the next twenty seconds determines whether that fish swims away in good shape or becomes a statistic. This book is about making that choice correctly, every time, based on knowledge rather than habit.
Fishing hook removal tools are not a single product. They are a category of instruments designed for one specific task: extracting a steel hook from the mouth, jaw, or occasionally deeper tissue of a fish, with the least harm to the animal and the least risk to the person doing the removal. The category includes tools with a wide range of complexity, from a simple plastic stick with a notch (the disgorger) to a compound-action set of pliers with serrated jaws and a cutter. What unifies them is the job they do and the physics of how they do it.
The Mechanics of Hook Removal
To understand the tools, you must first understand the problem they