It seems like a pretty unpleasant experience to get a hook in your hand without any help nearby, so I’d like to avoid that if possible. I was thinking a rubber-coated net and some fish grippers would be helpful, but I was also wondering if there was any other advice that people had to offer?

I don't carry a net when canoe tripping, and don't find fish grippers all that useful, although I do carry them in case I catch a big pike (hasn't happened yet lol).

For bass, I grab them by the bottom lip. Walleyes are generally slender enough to grasp right behind the gills. Ditto for small to medium sized pike. The key for bigger fish is to make sure they're tired before you grab them. I do carry a pair of long needle nose pliers, and they're invaluable for removing the hooks from the fish.

I'm not saying this is the best way, and I'm sure others will offer different opinions, but it works for me. Haven't gotten hooked yet, knock on wood.

I net almost every fish I catch. That way the fish is sitting in the net with the net still in the water. Set my rod down, get my plastic fish grip, jaw spreader if needed, needle nose pliers, camera, tape measure. Fish still in the net, in the cool water. Then reach for the fish grip and clamp down on the bottom jaw and lift up a bit but not out of the net yet. Remove the treble hooks with the pliers and toss lure in water. Lift fish out of the water for quick measure and picture then release back in the water. So much less stress for the fish and way less chance of hooks poking you when done this way.

Barbless all the way.

NEIowapaddler: "I don't carry a net when canoe tripping, and don't find fish grippers all that useful, although I do carry them in case I catch a big pike (hasn't happened yet lol). For bass I grab them by the bottom lip. Walleyes are generally slender enough to grasp right behind the gills. Ditto for small to medium sized pike. The key for bigger fish is to make sure they're tired before you grab them. I do carry a pair of long needle nose pliers, and they're invaluable for removing the hooks from the fish.


I'm not saying this is the best way, and I'm sure others will offer different opinions, but it works for me. Haven't gotten hooked yet, knock on wood. "

Keep fishing in BWCA and sooner or later you will catch a pike big enough that your fish grippers won't hold it. Eventually you will catch a walleye that you cannot reach across behind the gills to hold. Now think about how you will handle each of those before it happens.

Barbless hooks and a rubber net will help tremendously.

sns: "Barbless all the way."

Barbless. Easy to get hooks out of the fish and yourself.

YaMarVa: "Barbless hooks and a rubber net will help tremendously. "

This is the way.

Barca: "

YaMarVa: "Barbless hooks and a rubber net will help tremendously. "

This is the way."

agree, more than once tried to land a 26 inch lake trout bare handed with barbs on a treble hook and ended up playing the fish with barbs in my hand and fish still thrashing in the water. That hurts.
Go barbless, it saves fish and you and also hooks come out of net easy.
Were in a age barbed treble hooks should not be allowed.
Many of people visited the doctors office with hooks impale in themselves. You will find your skin is very tough and hooks pull out hard and hurt like hell.

RMinMN: "

NEIowapaddler: "I don't carry a net when canoe tripping, and don't find fish grippers all that useful, although I do carry them in case I catch a big pike (hasn't happened yet lol). For bass I grab them by the bottom lip. Walleyes are generally slender enough to grasp right behind the gills. Ditto for small to medium sized pike. The key for bigger fish is to make sure they're tired before you grab them. I do carry a pair of long needle nose pliers, and they're invaluable for removing the hooks from the fish.



I'm not saying this is the best way, and I'm sure others will offer different opinions, but it works for me. Haven't gotten hooked yet, knock on wood. "

Keep fishing in BWCA and sooner or later you will catch a pike big enough that your fish grippers won't hold it. Eventually you will catch a walleye that you cannot reach across behind the gills to hold. Now think about how you will handle each of those before it happens."

In that scenario I would remove the lure from the fish with the pliers without taking the fish out of the water. I'm not going to be keeping a pike or walleye of that size anyway so bringing it into the canoe is unnecessary.

Like I said, is my way best? Probably not. But it hasn't let me down yet, and I'm a firm believer in the saying "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".

Barca: "

YaMarVa: "Barbless hooks and a rubber net will help tremendously. "

This is the way."

Agree.

On crooked lake I reached down to grab a pike and the last second he leapt out of the water right up into me. Hooking my hand on a treble. So I had a 5-6# pike hanging from my hand by treble hooks. How the two of us came out of it…I’ve put it out of my memory forever.

T

Always barbless after this…

YaMarVa: "Barbless hooks and a rubber net will help tremendously. "

yep

I took the barbs out of the equation by pinching each and every one of them down with a needle nose pliers. It has not affected my landing ratio a bit. Do it and it won’t mess with your mind any longer.

The only Barb still in my life is my brother-in-law’s wife.

I cut off one of the hooks from the treble and generally go barbless.

Treble hooks are over rated, consider swapping out your treble hooks for in line single hooks instead. Single hooks penetrate easier and the fish cannot twist and leverage the hook free, which can sometimes happen with trebles. Fewer hooks to worry about when landing fish. Pinch the barbs for even less worries.

My strategy is to avoid using treble hooks. I like mr twister weighted keeper hooks, or something similar Also, fishing with a jig will catch most fish in the BW. At times fishing with tribs is OK but it takes longer to remove the fish and can result in with a hook in the finger. Not fun.

Respectfully,
If you have to ask...in addition to a net, use barbless treble hooks.

I have had one hook in my hand getting a lure out of a tree that a nurse on our trip yanked out in one second. It was a fun time!

Two years ago, I paddled up to a friend's boat that had 2 of the treble hooks of a whopper plopper in his hand while trying to handle a flipping slippy pike! Ouch! I cut the head off immediately and then we went to shore where we did surgery. We had wire cutters to separate the hooks. Then we pushed one all the way through. The other we had to back out. It was fun times! (It's all on video about 12 minutes in here. (I was proud that we were able to do the surgery without interrupting the trip!)

The simple answer would be to go barbless. Yet for some reason, I've never done it. Bull headedness I guess!

I would bet that most of the time when people get hooks in their hands they are dealing with pike. Grip them firmly and use pliers. Watch out for the small ones. They're the worst! Treat every fish with care until you know what you're doing.

Have fun!