Hook removal - a practical demonstration.

In more than 30 years since picking up a fly rod I have never experienced a barbed hook lodged in my skin - until the last Dee trip.

The night before we fished Mark Crampton Smith was outlining a discomforting but, he assured us, effective method for removing a hook from the head. The idea, he said, was to loop some nylon around the bend in the hook, then push the hook inwards with a thumb while yanking swiftly on the thread.

It sounded a bit grizzly to me but the very next day I had the opportunity to put it to the test. I'm not sure what happened, a mistimed cast perhaps, combined with a gust of wind; all I know is that there was a sharp crack to my sunglasses and a bang on the upper cheek, leaving a large double hook embedded in my skin.

Yes, I know some will be saying that the barbs should have been crimped. Well they weren't. The cheek felt a bit a numb but the hook had to go so I went over to our hook specialist, Mark, who seemed less confident than he had been when discussing the theory.

He did just as he had been told and the hooks were out, almost painlessly, leaving a couple of neat pin pricks in my cheeks.

I must have been so impressed that two days later I drove another hook in to my skin, this time a finger. The point was close to the bone so pushing it through wasn't an option. This time I had Will to do the necessary and he chose forceps, ripping out the hook before I was ready. That one did hurt but, again, it left no more than a neat hole. After that I was much more careful in my casting.

If you don't fish with some kind of eye protection I hope these lessons will be sufficient to convince you of the wisdom of doing so.