It took almost 60 years but it happened.

[44hunter45]

The entrance wound is quick and easy. The exit wound so you can snip off the barb is not.

 

[thusby]

You're not alone.

Past the barb - Lets see em

Okay whose done it. This is my best one trying to grab a rod and forgot about the other rigged up rod next to it.

www.hunttalk.com

 

[OntarioHunter]

So far so good. Can't believe I've been fishing for over sixty years and haven't hooked myself yet. Got a few nasty cuts but nothing the barbs got into. When a ranger in Alaska, I had to help out a few visitors with barbed hookups (which were legally supposed to be barbless hookups). Fly fishing in the wind without a hood is asking for it. Yeah, a rain jacket hood is not as stylish as the floppy old sweat-stained felt fedora every aficianodo is supposed to wear, but an articulated leach sucking on your neck with #8 hooks isn't very pretty either.

 

[timberman56]

next time slip a loop of line around the hook shank, push down on the eye and pop it out backwards- easy peasy

 

[JLS]

Ouch!

 

[OntarioHunter]

next time slip a loop of line around the hook shank, push down on the eye and pop it out backwards- easy peasy

Hmmm. I kinda don't think dragging a wooly bugger fly underneath the skin is going to be easy ... and certainly more painful than cutting off the barb.

A small pair of wire cutters is handy for this. I always had a pair in my cruiser when fishing salmon. Sometimes I catch a small one that's next year's spawner and I'll turn it back. Cutting off the barbs is often less damaging than tearing the hooks out.

 

[Salmonchaser]

I gotta go with Timberman on this one, over 20 years guiding fly guys I’ve become fairly adept at that method. I actually carry a little Lidocaine in my first aid kit just to help.
the green woolly bugger is a favorite of mine too.

 

[SD_Prairie_Goat]

Took one in the chin during collage. Not my own doing, idiot on the river lost a fish and threw his hook and weight into my chin/throat while I was sitting on the bank.

Didn't go too deep, but still wasn't fun pulling it out

 

[jrabq]

Another vote for Timberman's method, I've used it once on my brother and once on me and it worked great, both times fairly large hooks. Trick is to use heavy line and do it quick! And pull from the direction it went in.

When my son was little he got a hook in his arm and I did the "poke thru and cut barb" method, it sure looked a lot more painful. It was a big hook and it was not super sharp so it was not easy doing the "poke thru" part. I guess if you had a small sharp hook the poke thru method might be acceptable, but I'll use method pictured here if I ever need it again.

 

[jrabq]

I also made it a surprisingly long time (55-60 years) without getting hooked past the barb. Then a couple of years ago I had a bass throw this popper and it hit my leg, luckily only one barb of the treble hook. Cut off all other barbs and fished another hour, did the method pictured above when I got back to the boat ramp.

 

[hank4elk]

My bro snagged my noggin with a bonito jig when I was maybe 8. Old guy got it out & we had bonito for dinner.
Caught a rockcod jig in my finger in rough seas off BC one time. Pushed barb out,smashed it with my pliers,pulled it out and rebaited it. The bite was hot. LOL

I had a whole array of pliers/cutters for hooks & tweasers for splinters in one of my patrol boat first aid boxes. At least once a summer someone would call me for removals on land too.

 

[noharleyyet]

Shivers down to my ankles...

 

[hank4elk]

Not to steal thread but my worst infection came from a rockcod spine,under my fingernail.My hand was the size of a catchers mitt the next day. They knocked me out,cut my fingernail open down the middle and got it out.I spent the night in the hospital. Doc said it could have killed me,the blood poison.
Carry on fisher folks....

 

[OntarioHunter]

Another vote for Timberman's method, I've used it once on my brother and once on me and it worked great, both times fairly large hooks. Trick is to use heavy line and do it quick! And pull from the direction it went in.

When my son was little he got a hook in his arm and I did the "poke thru and cut barb" method, it sure looked a lot more painful. It was a big hook and it was not super sharp so it was not easy doing the "poke thru" part. I guess if you had a small sharp hook the poke thru method might be acceptable, but I'll use method pictured here if I ever need it again.



View attachment 188526

Thanks for clearing that up with an image. I got the wrong impression from written description. Most of the injuries I encountered had the barb coming back out the other end of the wound.

 

[Wallydeuce]

Wooly buggers must like human flesh. While teaching myself to fly fish on a windy day, I drove a #10 into my neck. Unable to get it out on my own, I cut the leader. When I got home, my wife got it out although I don't remember how because I probably fainted.

 

[geetar]

My oldest brother left a bass rod rigged up in our bedroom at home. I was probably 16 and our baby brother was 2 years old and toddling around as I walked around the room playing on my guitar. All the sudden something bit me hard like a horsefly one the ear and when I went to swat it my hand got tangled up in fishing line and that hurt even worse. The toddler behind me had knocked the bass rod over and ran a hook all the way through the top of my ear and out the other side. Could have gotten an ear ring that night if I wanted it. Was pierced clean through.

 

[CadillacJak]

2016 Montana General Archery. I was dressing a cow when the knife found its way in my leg. The knife was a Gerber lock blade with gut hook. Man that really hurt. 2 miles to truck and 1.5 hour ride for stitches. Good buddies finished breaking cow down and getting her out.

 

[LuketheDog]

I had a good one two weekends ago on a small bass plug while teaching my nephews how to fish, got it in the end of my little finger next to my fingernail while it was still attached to the flopping bass, that was fun...

 

[Hammsolo]

My bro snagged my noggin with a bonito jig when I was maybe 8. Old guy got it out & we had bonito for dinner.
Caught a rockcod jig in my finger in rough seas off BC one time. Pushed barb out,smashed it with my pliers,pulled it out and rebaited it. The bite was hot. LOL

I had a whole array of pliers/cutters for hooks & tweasers for splinters in one of my patrol boat first aid boxes. At least once a summer someone would call me for removals on land too.

Reminds me of the time my buddy Zane snagged me in the back of the head with a crappy rig! I think we were about 10. He kept jerking my head all over the place. We laughed our asses off after his brother dug it out… Kids those days…

 

[Wildabeest]

I’ve hooked a few partners, but never myself. Gave one guy a pierced ear that he didn’t think was nearly as funny as I did.