June 4, 2018 - Brent Reden -

[wayne gustaveson]

My family and I had another great trip to Lake Powell this year from May 26 to June 1. As we typically do, we pushed all the way from Antelope Point to the San Juan Arm on the first day. We stayed there all week. We never tire of the remoteness and beauty of the San Juan Arm in the more than 35 years we have been going there. The fishing was good, but we did not see any surface action. We looked each morning, but they didn’t seem to be schooling up on shad at all. We graphed and found fish at all the same locations we have found them in prior years. Most of the fish were down about 50 to 75 feet. We had the best luck trolling down deep. Rattle traps, grubs, and plugs all worked good, but personally I had the best action on a silver and red rattle trap.

We saw something I had never seen before while fishing there. One of guys with us is an avid Bass Fisherman and this was his first trip to Powell. We would do a bit of bass fishing in back of coves and off of rocky points. He nailed bass constantly. We went in the back of one cove and he broke out a surface lure – a Whopper Plopper. He casted it about ten feet parallel off the shore in the cove and started reeling it in – he didn’t reel it in more than two feet – when BAM - a nice striper nailed it. It was exciting seeing and hearing the striper slam it on the surface. We were expecting the bass to hit it, not a striper.

I also caught nice walleye. I threw out a rattle trap and was waiting for it to sink when –wham a walleye hit it on the way down.
We had a little drama on the first fish we caught on the first day. We were trolling and two of us hooked up at the same time. I reeled my fish in, but our lines were crossed. I reached down to grab the fish on my lure and – ouch it wiggled and the hook nailed me good in the thump. Pictures included.
We will be back in September for our second trip of the year. We love the surface action in September. Lake Powell is truly a great place.

Thanks again Wayne for the fishing reports and great website. We love logging on and reading the reports and seeing the pictures when sitting in boring meetings while at the office….
Brent W. Reden
El Dorado Hills, California

 

[tunaitch]

Medic!!!! I've only seen one other person get stuck with a tremble hook in them, lets just say the surgery wasn't pleasant. We had to push it through the skin on opposite side then cut off the barb. How in the world did you get that sucker out on a thumb though???

 

[Team Z7]

OUCH!! Great report.

 

[wayne gustaveson]

Having removed a fish hook or two (personally and from others) here is the best way to do it. Method # 1 is best !!

Nothing ruins a relaxing of day of fishing like catching yourself on your own fish hook. Here are two methods you can use to carefully remove the hook without causing serious damage.

The key to removing a fish hook, as this guide from The Art of Manlinessexplains, is minding the barb at the end of the hook. To remove it from your skin, you need to tie some line to the curved shank part of the hook, then apply pressure to the eye part of the hook to reduce the damage the barb will do on its way out. Keep the line taut while you push down on the eye, then quickly jerk on the line to pull the hook out. It will probably hurt still, but it’s the most efficient way to do it. If the hook is really far in there, the “advance and cut” technique has you push the hook the rest of the way through your skin. Once it’s through, you can clip off the barb and pull the hook easily through your skin.

 

[Meatwagon]

Having removed a fish hook or two (personally and from others) here is the best way to do it. Method # 1 is best !!

Nothing ruins a relaxing of day of fishing like catching yourself on your own fish hook. Here are two methods you can use to carefully remove the hook without causing serious damage.

The key to removing a fish hook, as this guide from The Art of Manlinessexplains, is minding the barb at the end of the hook. To remove it from your skin, you need to tie some line to the curved shank part of the hook, then apply pressure to the eye part of the hook to reduce the damage the barb will do on its way out. Keep the line taut while you push down on the eye, then quickly jerk on the line to pull the hook out. It will probably hurt still, but it’s the most efficient way to do it. If the hook is really far in there, the “advance and cut” technique has you pushhe hook the rest of the way through your skin. Once it’s through, you can clip off the barb and pull the hook easily through your skin.

While having used both methods in the past, I found neither to be successful on the tough leathery nose of my poor beagle. I had to have the vet step in on that one. You can see where the barb is lodged in his nose, I was able to get the hook cut off but not with out sticking my self with the other treble in which method 1 was a success on me. I no longer leave a crankbait laying on my deck, and maxxy and I are much happier as a result.

 

[Brent R]

Medic!!!! I've only seen one other person get stuck with a tremble hook in them, lets just say the surgery wasn't pleasant. We had to push it through the skin on opposite side then cut off the barb. How in the world did you get that sucker out on a thumb though???

I went to urgent care. Multiple people offered to yank it out, but I was too much of a wimp to let them yank it out without some pain killer.

 

[birdsnest]

Owwwwww.

 

[fishfry]

I have put one in my big toe and one in my palm of my hand. somehow worked it out of the toe and did method number two on a small rooster tail.

 

[PBH]

I took a fly in the pinky finger once while fishing a river in southern Utah -- same thing as above: the fish wiggled and I took the trailing fly in the finger (with the fish still attached to primary fly!). When I attempted to pull the fly out of my finger, my little toe started to move! I could feel that fly pulling strings all the way from my hand to my foot!

My brother asked if I was OK. Apparently the pale face and the sweat pouring off my head alerted him that I was not OK. That's when I passed out. In the river. Good thing my brother was there to keep my waders from filling up, and keep my head above the water! The bad thing was that I was really enjoying splashing in the water of that Mexican beach I ended up on....


End result: we met up with Dad, who said "I can get that out....". He just clamped the forceps on the shank, said he'd count to 3, then made a very quick twist with his wrist on count #2. It popped right out. Then we went back to fishing.

 

[Mildog]

I can personally attest to the effectiveness of the string yank technique. I have removed so many hooks from myself and others with it that I have lost count. Up to a 1/0 treble. I have used it for over 30 years. I first learned of it when I worked at a fishing store. I was told back then it was developed by a doctor.
It is very important to do it properly. The instructions above are correct and are a good reference. *** You must keep the downward pressure on the shank with your thumb while you quickly yank the leader parallel and slightly downward, opposite the way the hook entered, it opens the entry hole so that the barb can escape more easily. Make sure the line you are using is strong enough) although it actually takes very little pressure to remove a hook when done correctly. The first time I had it done on me with a treble from a rooster tail I had buried in may wrist, I was shocked at how painless and efficient it was. Sadly I have had at least four other hooks removed this way from my own hands, neck and fingers. All with the same excellent result. It is a much better option than just trying to yank it out with pliers or pushing it through and cutting it off causing more trauma to the affected area. Make sure to clean it well and apply some Neosporin or similar antibiotic on it and you will be back fishing in no time without an expensive trip the ER.
It is a very good technique for fisherman to know.
I used to practice it on an old vinyl covered cushion. ( It was the best thing I could come up with at the time to mimic skin) I have done it so many times on real victims, now it is very easy to do.
Tight lines and hope you don't need to use it, but good to know just in case!!!
Mildog Out

 

[Dorado]

I can personally attest to the effectiveness of the string yank technique. I have removed so many hooks from myself and others with it that I have lost count. Up to a 1/0 treble. I have used it for over 30 years. I first learned of it when I worked at a fishing store. I was told back then it was developed by a doctor.

X2! I have used this technique many times, and have told others how to do on myself when a trailer fly buried itself in my index finger....it always works. The key, as stated above, is the pressure on the hook eye/shank, and the quick, unhesitating yank on the cord or line that is attached to the bend in the hook. It is pretty amazing how a deeply buried hook will come out with very little resistance. I have used it 3 times on that exact type of hook burial in the meat of the thumb where you really have no other option. It popped cleanly right out each time with very little blood. Pull like you are starting a lawnmower!

 

[SteveG]

It just hurts to see the photo! I've taken flies out of buddies using the jerk technique and once had to laugh because it was so painless the guy was still grimacing (and looking away) he didn't know it was out.

 

[linnell]

The string is the thing, I had to have it done on myself once and never even felt it come out

 

[Outside]

Fly fishing I stick myself all the time and I try to always remember to smash the barb down. When I'm hucking big flies to pike those things are whizzing by at 50 mph it seems. There's a brief moment of panic trying to recall if I actually did de-barb.... Last month up in AK. I forgot to and got a nice salmon hook in the cheek. Both me and a friend were 'familiar' with the line method but hadn't done it yet. So he pushed it through, amazing how painless the cheek area was, not even a pinch. A treble to the finger is a different story, I still remember going to emergency room as a kid..... I think for larger fish with a rock hard mouth I get better penetration with a smashed barb. I'm putting a copy of the directions in the gear bag!