Fly Fishing First-Aid: The Line-Yank Trick

I’ve yanked dozens and dozens of hooks out of human flesh. The one and only method I would use on another person (I’ll admit to forgoing this nicety once or twice when I was the victim and the fishing was hot) is the technique of using a strand of monofilament that Joe Doggett describes in his article in the Houston Chronicle. “The long-shanked 2/0 streamer hook was planted to the bend in the top of the finger just behind the nail. Wearing the fly felt strange. It was the first time in a 50-year fishing career that I had taken a hook past the barb.” (Disclaimer: MidCurrent doesn’t officially endorse this method; if you want the safest hook removal alternative, get thee to the emergency room.)