keeping fish caught on hooks in aquarium

is there any risk or downside to keeping fish in your aquarium that you caught with a hook? are their lips more prone to infection?

It is about like any other cut/abrasion. It is prone to infection, but will likely heal if the water quality is good and the fish aren't too stressed.

It is about like any other cut/abrasion. It is prone to infection, but will likely heal if the water quality is good and the fish aren't too stressed.

most of my fish get better in about A week.its helps if you bend the barbs flat or just use barbless hooks.

Done it many times. Many times no problem. They heal just right. Barbs squezed is a good point. I just keep the ones that are hooked only lightly. You know the kind the fall off the hook right before you get them in your hand "grin" No kidding lightly hooked fish have healed just fine every time I have kept one in Aquaria. I have even kept fish that were hooked deep and I just cut the line and in a couple of weeks or even less I would net fish and could not see nor find hook in the fishs throat or in the aquarium.

Daniel

Done it many times. Many times no problem. They heal just right. Barbs squezed is a good point. I just keep the ones that are hooked only lightly. You know the kind the fall off the hook right before you get them in your hand "grin" No kidding lightly hooked fish have healed just fine every time I have kept one in Aquaria. I have even kept fish that were hooked deep and I just cut the line and in a couple of weeks or even less I would net fish and could not see nor find hook in the fishs throat or in the aquarium.

Daniel

i have often wondered how long it took a hook to rust away. many fish i have caught before have had line down the throat
last year i caught a catfish had three lines in its mouth.

i have often wondered how long it took a hook to rust away. many fish i have caught before have had line down the throat
last year i caught a catfish had three lines in its mouth.

Been to a few fishing seminars in my days. Cut line and let loose. They say that the what ever is in the fish is very powerful. I do not know if it rusted away but I sure could not find it anywhere. And for when you are out fishing I personaly believe this is the most humane way to deal with a deeply hooked fish. Other wise what ever else you do ends up killing them.

Daniel

Been to a few fishing seminars in my days. Cut line and let loose. They say that the what ever is in the fish is very powerful. I do not know if it rusted away but I sure could not find it anywhere. And for when you are out fishing I personaly believe this is the most humane way to deal with a deeply hooked fish. Other wise what ever else you do ends up killing them.

Daniel

i agree if you try to remove a deep hook and the fish bleeds it will soon die

Yeah deep hooked fish just cut the line

I've kept a few fish that I've caught on hooks and they have all been alright, even eating on day one in the case of my green sunfish. Ideally you'll want to use barbless hooks which I always use anyway, just bend the barb against the hook with some pliers. I also suggest circle hooks as they're less likely to gut hook the fish.

I always use barbless(flattened barb) flies. Fish are rarely hooked deeply unlike those caught using bait. Small barbless hooks cause negligible damage to fish.
Use a hemostat to further reduce the chance of harming the fish during hook removal.

As a few have said already in this thread, My experience has also been good with fish caught on a hook, and i also use barbless hooks, that i just make that way by mashing the barb. I use very small hooks because i want little fish, and i fish closer to the bank, where the small ones seem to hang out. I dont use a bobber, so i keep no slack in the line and get an immediate catch, which cuts way down on hooks set too deeply. And knock on wood, ive never had a problem with any noticeable ill effects.