In Indiana some 400,000 fishing licenses are issued each year.
Fishhooks come in all shapes, sizes, and degrees of sharpness.
Their design is an effective one, often leaving the 'hooked' victim attached to the lure or bait, that they would rather have had hooked into a fish. The most well-known but most invasive technique takes the point or barb of the buried hook and advances or passes the barb subcutaneously through the adjacent skin. When the barb pushes through the skin's surface, the barb is cut and removed, thereby allowing easy removal of the now barbless hook from its initial resting position. This method requires further penetration, a second puncture wound, and passage of an already grossly contaminated shank of the hook deeper into the skin. I have had personal experience with this method, both as a surgeon and as a patient, and can attest to this treatment's efficacy when applied to the unanesthetized orthopaedic surgeon.