Unhooking and Handling Fish Safely

By Alex Clayton · Updated 23 October 2026

Unhooking fish safely is a short routine: get your kit ready before the bite, wet your hands, keep the fish low and close to the water, take the hook out the way it went in, and hold the fish upright until it swims off.

Most damage comes from a few avoidable mistakes: dry hands, dry ground, a fish dropped from standing height, a hook pulled straight out. The steps below run in the order you meet them, with Environment Agency byelaw points marked where they apply (England only; Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own rules). Ethics and release law sit in the catch and release guide.

Step 1: Get Your Unhooking Kit Ready Before You Cast

The fish that suffers most is the one left on the grass while you rummage for forceps. Lay it all out before the first cast:

An unhooking mat or cradle
Disgorgers in more than one size to suit the hook
Forceps or long-nosed pliers
Line cutters, plus bolt croppers or cutters if you fish trebles
A bucket of venue water
A wet weigh or flotation sling if you plan to weigh

Set the mat on flat ground by the water, wet it, and stand the bucket beside it.

England has no national mat or cradle requirement. The national rod fishing byelaws cover keepnets, keepsacks and landing nets, not mats. Many fisheries and clubs set their own mat rules, so check before you fish.

Milestone: mat wet, tools in reach, bucket full. If you buy one thing beyond a disgorger, make it a mat; the unhooking mats roundup and fishing tackle guides compare types.

Step 2: Net the Fish and Unhook It in the Water Where You Can

The best way to handle a fish is often not to handle it at all. Where the margin allows, slip the hook out while the fish is still in the water or lying in the landing net, and let it go without lifting it.

Your net matters. In England, landing nets are permitted, but not ones with knotted or metallic mesh. Gaffs and tailers are banned outright.

If the fish has to come out, lift it in the net and carry it straight to the wet mat, low the whole way. A fish that flaps on the mat will often settle if you lay the wet net mesh over its eyes.

By the end of this step the fish is either swimming away already, or lying calm on a wet mat with your tools beside you.

Step 3: How to Hold a Fish: Wet Hands, Kneel Low, Support the Belly

A squeezed belly or a drop from waist height can injure a fish before you touch the hook. Learning how to hold a fish starts with wet hands, because dry hands strip slime and scales.

Kneel, so a sudden kick only drops the fish a short way onto the mat. Never lay a fish on dry gravel, concrete or tarmac.

Cup one hand under the belly behind the pectoral fins and close the other round the wrist of the tail. Keep pressure off the area below the gills.

Do	Don’t
Wet your hands and the mat	Touch a fish with dry hands
Kneel over the mat	Stand up with the fish
Support the belly with a cupped hand	Squeeze below the gills
Hold the tail wrist lightly	Lift by the gills or the tail alone

If the fish kicks, let it slide back onto the mat. Gripping harder is the instinct, and the opposite of how to handle fish.

Best for one hand: a small roach in a wet palm. Anything heavier stays on the mat.

Step 4: Remove a Lip Hook the Way It Went In

Pull a hook straight back and the barb or the bend tears the lip. Reverse its path and it comes out cleanly. For a lip-hooked fish, unhooking fish properly goes like this:

Grip the shank of the hook with your fingers or forceps.
Push the hook back, opposite to the direction it went in.
If it resists, wiggle it gently rather than forcing it.
Ease it out along the same line.

Barbless and micro-barbed hooks come out quicker and cause less damage, and many waters insist on them. The barbless hook rules page explains where that applies. Fishing a barbed pattern? Crush the barb flat with forceps before you cast.

By now the hook is out and the fish is still on the wet mat.

Fingers or forceps? Fingers or a disgorger suit small hooks in small fish. Use forceps or long-nosed pliers for bigger hooks, bigger fish and anything with teeth, because they give you grip and keep your fingers clear.

Step 5: Deep Hooked Fish: Disgorger or Cut the Line?

With a deep hooked fish, good intentions do the most harm, because the temptation is to keep digging. If you can see the hook, use a disgorger:

Keep tension on the main line.
Seat the slot of the disgorger on the line.
Slide it down the line to the bend of the hook.
Push gently down to free the point.
Withdraw the disgorger and hook together.

The decision rule:

Hook visible and reachable: use the disgorger or long forceps.
Hook out of sight, or a short careful attempt fails: clip the line as close to the hook as you can and return the fish.

Cutting is the lesser harm, not a free fix: modern hooks rarely rust out quickly. Removal through the gills is for experienced anglers only; beginners should not try it.

Prevention beats cure. Deep hooking usually follows missed bites, slack line at range and wind masking bites, so strike promptly and fish a tight line. Wide-bend hooks are harder to swallow, and single hooks with crushed barbs help.

On rivers, streams, drains and canals in England, a fish hooked anywhere other than the mouth or throat (foul-hooked) must be released immediately.

When in doubt, cut it.

Step 6: Handle Pike, Perch and Other Awkward Species

Pike, perch, bream and eels each punish one particular mistake, and each needs one specific adjustment. With pike, the mistake costs you as well as the fish.

Species	The risk	The fix
Pike	Rows of sharp teeth, hooks set back in the jaw	Fingers out of the mouth; long forceps for deep hooks, short ones near the front, cutters for stuck trebles
Perch	Spiny dorsal fin	Smooth the fin flat with a wet hand, head to tail, before you grip
Bream	Heavy slime coat that strips easily	Wet hands, wet mat, as little handling as possible
Eels	Slippery and hard to hold	Must go back to the same water unharmed (England)

Work calmly on the mat. On Windermere I keep long forceps to hand whenever I’m deadbaiting or lure fishing for pike, because a treble halfway back in the jaw is no place for fingers.

Thinking of keeping a pike? Check the fish size and take limits first. Whatever the species, carry the right tool for its mouth before you need it.

Step 7: Weigh, Photograph or Retain It Without Harm

Every minute on the bank is a minute out of water, so keep these jobs short.

Weighing: carry the fish between water and mat in a wet weigh or flotation sling.

Photos: camera ready before you lift. Kneel, hold the fish low over the mat, belly supported, and lower it if it kicks.

Keepnets in England must meet the national byelaws:

Part	Rule
Mesh	Not knotted or metallic; holes no more than 25 mm in circumference
Length	At least 2 m overall
Rings or frames	No more than 40 cm apart, each at least 120 cm in circumference

Keepsacks must be soft, dark, non-abrasive and water-permeable, at least 120 cm x 90 cm (rectangular) or 150 x 30 x 40 cm with a frame, one fish each. Leave fish in either after you finish and you may be fined.

National and local byelaws both apply, private waters add their own, and Wales has separate rules.

Skip the photo if the fish is tired.

Step 8: Revive and Return the Fish Until It Swims Off

Release is not finished when the fish touches the water. It is finished when the fish kicks away under its own power.

Lower the fish into the water in your hands or in the net.
Hold it upright, supporting the belly.
Face river fish into the current.
Wait for the fins to ripple and a firm kick.
Then let go.

Barbel, pike and grayling often need extra time. If a fish is slow, move it gently back and forth or pour water in front of its mouth. Never throw a fish back.

In England, any fish you cannot keep must be returned with as little injury as possible. The catch and release guide covers the why and the wider rules.

Wet hands, keep it low, hook out backwards, hold it upright until it goes.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to use an unhooking mat?

Not by national law. No Environment Agency national byelaw in England requires a mat or cradle. Many fisheries and clubs make mats compulsory, so check the venue rules before you fish.

What should I do if a fish swallows the hook?

Do not pull on the line. If you can see and reach the hook, use a disgorger or long forceps. If it is out of sight, or a short careful attempt fails, cut the line as close to the hook as you can and return the fish.

Can I leave fish in a keepnet after I finish fishing?

No. Under the national byelaws for England you may be fined for leaving fish in a keepnet or keepsack after you have finished fishing. Fish you are not allowed to keep must be returned alive, so empty the net as soon as you stop.

What happens if I foul-hook a fish?

On rivers, streams, drains and canals in England, you must release a foul-hooked fish immediately. Foul-hooked means hooked in the body or a fin, anywhere other than the mouth or throat. Unhook it gently and return it without delay.