I have used the through-the-gills technique described in the above referenced In Fisherman article for many years. Being a surgeon, it occured to me naturally. But being a surgeon something else occurs to me too, that I have not seen mentioned in articles on swallowed hook removal. It is quite likely in many cases that internal bleeding and organ damage is done by the swallowed hook during the fight with the fish so that whether the hook is removed or not is beside the point just like removing the bullet after a gunshot wound.
After all the fish has been dragged out of the water by a sharp object which perforates its esophagus.The hook point is not waving around in the air as it does when it encircles the mandible, it is it vascularized tissue.
For this reason, I am dubious about the optimism of those who say a high percentage of deep hooked fish survive. Simply watching a fish swim away is not the same as finding it alive two weeks later.
Of course, I still make every attempt to release fish that swallow hooks but have no illusions about all or even most of them living.
