- Joined
- May 25, 2013
- Messages
- 3,700
As anyone who has been around here for awhile will know, I am a huge fan of the Salt knives. I kayak fish almost every day and they are the only knives that I've ever found that will hold up to the harsh environment I'm in daily. I favor the serrated versions as they tend to show significantly better edge retention than pe H1 and a se works fairly well for most of my "on boat" needs like cutting line and gill cutting fish. I also appreciate the lightweight but super tough build that I can fill up with blood gunk and scales and clean with nothing more than a rinse in the saltwater. These knives are true workhorses.
There is one other use i have for them though. On rare occasions, i end up on the water having forgotten my pliers. Trying to pull a #2 treble hook out of a big fish's mouth by hand while he's still hot (especially in the small confines of a kayak) is a recipe for an unpleasant ending. I have been hooked to a 30 pound live fish before and it suuuuuucks. I've used my Salt knives a lot over the years to do this job. I just wedge the closed knife in and grab one of the hook tines with the hoe and twist the knife, levering the hook out of the mouth. It is not the ideal method but it is effective when I space out and leave my pliers at home. I've probably done it hundreds of times over the years and the handle of my Pacific Salt is marred with all kinds of scars from the mouths of various toothy sea monsters. Just two days ago I got into the Roosterfish and landed 5 big boys in less than an hour. No pliers so the Atlantic salt got a full workout. Here's a quick pic I took right after I had popped the hook out.
So that's one of the alternate ways I use the spyderhole. I bet some of you have other regular uses outside of just opening your knife. Post up and share if you do!
There is one other use i have for them though. On rare occasions, i end up on the water having forgotten my pliers. Trying to pull a #2 treble hook out of a big fish's mouth by hand while he's still hot (especially in the small confines of a kayak) is a recipe for an unpleasant ending. I have been hooked to a 30 pound live fish before and it suuuuuucks. I've used my Salt knives a lot over the years to do this job. I just wedge the closed knife in and grab one of the hook tines with the hoe and twist the knife, levering the hook out of the mouth. It is not the ideal method but it is effective when I space out and leave my pliers at home. I've probably done it hundreds of times over the years and the handle of my Pacific Salt is marred with all kinds of scars from the mouths of various toothy sea monsters. Just two days ago I got into the Roosterfish and landed 5 big boys in less than an hour. No pliers so the Atlantic salt got a full workout. Here's a quick pic I took right after I had popped the hook out.
So that's one of the alternate ways I use the spyderhole. I bet some of you have other regular uses outside of just opening your knife. Post up and share if you do!
They aren't much good for eating so I try to release them as quick as I can. Not a good day to forget my pliers but the spyderhole worked well enough and I managed to release them all safely. 
