New Fishermen

[clarky]

You can always cut the line and leave the hook in. Personal choice but I'd rather lose a 20p hook and watch a fish swim away than rip its guts out and chuck it back dead

exactly you hit nail on head mate,

just snip line as close to the hook as possible and tie another hook on, this way the fish lives.
No need to pull away with pliers just to get your 20p hook back:exclam:

 

[clarky]

Here is a link which shows you how to unhook a deeply hooked flattie Planet Sea Fishing Digital Magazine
Watch this video a few times and get it clear in your head what he is doing. I do it all the time now and it works brilliantly. If it doesn't come through the first gill, flip it over and try the other side. It is a little tricky at first but soon becomes easy. This can be used on any round fish as well I suppose.
I still cant understand why comics like Sea Angler don't run a article on this instead of promoting cutting off the hook and throwing it back? I have emailed them before with no response.

very good Neil I'll be trying that from now on think it'll take some practice but al give it a go.
Exellent link by the way