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Could well be😉

Defiantly Side cutters , but dont buy cheap , buy decent ones as these will cut first time and with ease.

Many years ago, I was sea fishing and one of the customers got a hook in his finger past the barb. I can still hear his screams as his mates tried to pull the hook out. Then the skipper came out with a pait of cutters, cut the shank, and removed the hook point first. I have always carried a similar pair of cutters ever sicnce.

I prefer the side cutter version to those end cutters so there should be something to suit all just make sure they are sharp some of the cheap nasty ones will leave a burr like a barb so defeat the object elmo the ones you were using are more for things like solder or fine wires not hardened like a hook

Sometimes you can find inspiration at the bottom of your garden

This is what I use. They are kept with some forceps and spring balance in a small bag beside my landing net so that I can deal with fish and return it as soon as it is landed unless it merits a photo. Main use is when hook catches in net as well as mouth and is difficult to free easily. Have used the cutters twice on dogs that have picked up discarded hooks.

The club lake I fish regularly had a barbless only rule but a lot of the fish had pretty gammy mouths. Barbless undoubtably go in easier but during a fight they do tend to twist and turn a bit and cause problems. Barbed hooks, although harder to penetrate do tend to stay in one place. The Committee finally decided to allow barbed (preferably micro barbed) hooks to alleviate the problem. During the barbless rule, I caught plenty of fish (well stocked) and lost very few and never felt handicapped. If using barbed hooks, you can always crush the bard down with a pair of forceps to keep it as small as possible.