# Do fish hooks dissolve quickly if left in the fish? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 18, 2017, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-fish-hooks-dissolve-quickly-if-left-in-the-fish/777469 "2017-01-18T14:14:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ornery\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/da6949/32.png) [@Ornery\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ornery_Bob)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-fish-hooks-dissolve-quickly-if-left-in-the-fish/777469/21 "2017-01-20T00:30:31Z")
_I was told today that fish hooks are designed to quickly dissolve if left in the fish…_ Tell this idiot you believe him and you want to get the ones that dissolve the quickest so could he please point you to a hook manufacturer that has these dissolving hooks. Name even one. Whether or not you leave a hook in a fish depends on the amount of handling required to remove it. You never “pull” a hook out because pulling is what keeps them firmly embedded. You have to twist them out or push back on them to get them to release and sometimes that just isn’t possible without serious handling, in which case you shouldn’t bother. It’s stress and loss of body slime you should worry about - hooks (dissolving or not) are not the issue. The fish _may_ survive an embedded hook, he definitely won’t survive being manhandled and having his slime rubbed off. I once caught a really nice spotted sand bass and managed to release him without even lifting him from the water and as he swam off, a little stunned, a seal came up and got him. It sucks to be a fish. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-fish-hooks-dissolve-quickly-if-left-in-the-fish/777469/22 "2017-01-20T01:31:54Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Probably similar to the lie catch-and-release fishermen tell themselves about “fish not feeling pain”–they are trying to convince themselves that they aren’t _really_ torturing animals for fun. **Moderator Note** Let’s keep this kind of opinionating out of GQ. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-fish-hooks-dissolve-quickly-if-left-in-the-fish/777469/23 "2017-01-20T04:37:39Z")
Worth mentioning that a hook fully immersed in water will corrode vastly slower than a wet hook in air. It isn’t water that rusts steel, it is oxygen. But water accelerates the rusting - if there is lots of oxygen to do the actual oxidising. Once you are fully immersed this doesn’t happen, and the rate of oxidisation drops massively. Something made of a conventional high carbon steel will tarnish quite quickly if wet in air, but this isn’t the same thing as corroding down to nothing when fully immersed. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-fish-hooks-dissolve-quickly-if-left-in-the-fish/777469/24 "2017-01-20T09:43:35Z")
> [@Ornery\_Bob](#): > > _I was told today that fish hooks are designed to quickly dissolve if left in the fish…_ > > Tell this idiot you believe him and you want to get the ones that dissolve the quickest so could he please point you to a hook manufacturer that has these dissolving hooks. Name even one. > > Whether or not you leave a hook in a fish depends on the amount of handling required to remove it. You never “pull” a hook out because pulling is what keeps them firmly embedded. You have to twist them out or push back on them to get them to release and sometimes that just isn’t possible without serious handling, in which case you shouldn’t bother. It’s stress and loss of body slime you should worry about - hooks (dissolving or not) are not the issue. The fish _may_ survive an embedded hook, he definitely won’t survive being manhandled and having his slime rubbed off. > > I once caught a really nice spotted sand bass and managed to release him without even lifting him from the water and as he swam off, a little stunned, a seal came up and got him. It sucks to be a fish. Yeah, a lot of the time, a barbless hook pops out as soon as the there is slack in the line. Once the fish hits the net, the hook often pops out and you can release the fish without ever touching him. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-fish-hooks-dissolve-quickly-if-left-in-the-fish/777469/25 "2017-01-20T11:26:33Z")
> [@Ornery\_Bob](#): > > The fish […]definitely won’t survive […] having his slime rubbed off. Why? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-fish-hooks-dissolve-quickly-if-left-in-the-fish/777469/26 "2017-01-20T14:05:56Z")
This story sounds fishy. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-fish-hooks-dissolve-quickly-if-left-in-the-fish/777469/27 "2017-01-20T15:03:43Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > Why? Fish slime protects against infection, deters parasites and helps regulate their electrolytes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-fish-hooks-dissolve-quickly-if-left-in-the-fish/777469.md?page=1)