What’s your opinion on this?

[kingofbeasts]

Do you think there is value in a pair of bolt cutters in a mini size for fishing? I realized how useful they can be the hard way, after getting hooked by a pike with just a Leatherman on my person while wading a long way from the car. After some research I ended up buying the smallest bolt cutter I could find, but I found them still too big and too heavy to carry them on my person. They are fine in the boat but still not pocket friendly. I ended up modifying them but also, I wrote an email to Knipex to ask them to shrink down those bolt cutters however, I doubt they will do it if there isn’t a demand for them on the market.
So, what I am trying to find out with this topic is if I am the only crazy person out there or, you guys find value in this as well.
You can find my reasoning in this clip
[youtube]https://youtu.be/jfSxo9kVRGM?si=9g7huU8qKm88HkUS[/youtube]
If you want to see the final result you will find it here
[youtube]https://youtu.be/EDrD3Gxe0JU?si=1f3rWCzqkqtD1upL[/youtube]

[CedArt]

Years ago I used to fish tournaments and could not afford an ill placed hook

I used to (and still do) carry a pair of electrical sidecutters (they are smaller)

One time I had a spinnerbait hook go thru the bony part of a bass' cheek---I had to cut it out---saved the fish

On a sidenote---those small gators need a lot of respect as they flip around
2x in my life I've had to operate on guys in my boat where a flippin pike around 12 inches caught back trebles on jerkbaits in hands
Not a ton of fun

Hope this works for ya

I called this painting---"Canadian Gothic"

cango.jpg (139.03 KiB) Viewed 3584 times

[kingofbeasts]

Nice painting !
I tried different brands and sizes of side cutters over the years myself but the smaller ones were not able to cut heavy duty hooks in larger size (they will get chipped) and the bigger ones were always too large and too heavy. In the end I settled for the NWS pair which you can see in the second video there until I discovered the Knipex 160mm bolt cutters. They were both able to cut 3mm piano wire but the Knipex was 100 grams lighter. However, I still considered them to large hence my reason to modify them.
That piercing in the video was not my first rodeo but until then I had no problem in cutting the hook due to their larger size and/ or better access to the hook.

[smitty55]

A good pair of linesman pliers will cut clothes hangers. No doubt hooks are harder material but I would imagine they would still work. I had a pair of heavy side cutters at work that would easily cut monel wire without nicking too.

[kingofbeasts]

I agree! however, what’s the size and weight of those?
Will you take them in your pocket while wading or hiking to a remote lake?
My quest is to find the smallest, lightest cutters, able to cut something like this without a problem:
https://gamakatsu.com/product/treble-hooks-4x-strong/
Right now the numbers to beat(for me) are : 135mm length, 149grams and 3mm piano wire rating.

[smitty55]

Just use a fanny pack or knapsack to carry extra supplies, it's not like you have to use pockets. Most of the time with tools light weight equates to light duty.