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Ok, so here's the deal, my wife loves fishing, and I love having her with me, but I have a dilema. I really want to get a "his and her" set of float tubes, but she will not remove the hooks from a fish when she catches one.
This is no big deal when we're on shore or in a boat, I just put my rod down and go help her out. Once we get out in our tubes though its going to be a different story. She thinks that she's going to hurt the fish, and I've tried to explain to her that:
a. You've already hurt the fish...you know...that big ol' hook in their mouth!
b. You're doing them a favor by removing that big ol' hook in their mouth!
c. What do you think is going happen when I lop their head off and rip their guts out? (If we decide we're eating our catch anyway)
Have you guys had to help your wife/girlfriend get past this fear?
I'm actually thinking about having a rope tied between us if we get the tubes, that way I can myself over quickly to help her release any fish.
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A universal problem!! You're not alone my friend. One help (mind you this is NOT a solution) is to get a pair of firm needle nose pliers with which to grasp the hook by the bend area (not grasping the eye/line) and then teach the quick "wrist - twist - snap" motion. Good luck, and if you do find the solution please post.
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Also have her use barbless hooks or mash the barbs down, especially if you are going to practice c&r. My wife just deals with it because I have always told her that I will not put the bait on and I will not take the hook off.
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Same problem with kids...if you are trying to catch and release, minimal time out of the water and less stress to the fish. I usually just stand back and let them catch while I tend to line tangles and releasing fish. Still fun though.
Sorry for not coming up with a fix for ya. Is she affraid or just insecure with the process?
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Pass on the tubes and get a two-seater toon.
Better yet, buy a boat.
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Get her a lip gripper instead of a net, and as Lettsfish has said, a long nose pair of needlenose pliers. Using the lip gripper allows her to keep the fish in the water to remove the hook with the pliers, without touching or damaging the fish.
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[angelic]Been there ... done that (kinda). My first hurdle was to bait my hook with a worm (if it didn't move, it didn't bother me). Removing the hook itself wasn't my problem ... it was holding the fish to remove it! So ... for the first several years that I fished, I used a rag to hold the fish while I removed the hook (usually kept all the fish, so it didn't matter that I had handled it with a rag). Now I'm a big girl ... I bait my own hook, catch the fish and remove the hook and either let the fish go or put it in my fish basket. I'm remembering the thing that pushed me over the edge was that I was fishing by myself (on a stream) and was faced with having to do it myself. It wasn't easy, but I got it done and was on my way to being self-sufficient. Tell her to try it ... she will be glad she did!
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My friend's wife has the same problem. When he isn't close by she keeps her fish and cuts the line off the hook. She'd rather retie than unhook. She has to quit fishing when she has her limit and the husband isn't nearby! (Bass fishermen ... they fish for TROUT!)
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[cool][#0000ff]You think you're smart, don'tcha? I'll make you smart. SMACK upside the head.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Big deal, I let TubeBabe outfish me twice a year and you think she does it all the time.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]That lady really did "work it out" on the fish handling. When we fished from the shore or a boat, I usually took care of the messy part. But, when she went out in the tube, it was towels and whining a lot. Now she baits up and unhooks those big ol' kitties like a pro. Good at lipping too, but not on walleyes.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]You wanna talk about girls and fish handling? My daughter Kim used to go fishing with me and her brothers. One night on Willard, I was out in the tube and she was fishing for crappies under the lights with the two boys. I watched proudly as she made a great cast, reeled with concentration, hooked a crappie and brought it skillfully to shore. Then, I almost fell out of my tube laughing. When she swung the fish in to grab it, she got stuck with the spines. With a loud shriek she lofted the poor fish back over her head in the dark. The leader popped as the still hooked fish hit the end of the line.[/#0000ff]
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] That one was just too easy![cool][/size][/#ff4040][/font]