I have been fishing my pond this spring with light tackle and have hooked a few very large bass who, in spite of my superior angling, broke my line at the last moment. They took off with small spinner baits hooked to their lips. Will they eventually rid themselves of these new mouth decorations or will any of them expire before the hooks rust or come loose?

tac5:

I have found lures 2 or 3 times after having LMB or CC take off with them in their mouths, so obviously they must come loose from the fish sometimes. Of course, I really only have the chance to recover floating lures, which does not include all of the ones I have lost on fish. Overall, I'd guess I've recovered about a third of the losses (lures, that is; I've lost a LOT of hooks with worms, which I never recover).

If the bass is only hooked in the lips, I suspect it has a good chance of recovery.

Most hooks will rust away. Some will come out, depending on where they are hooked. Some could cause the fish to not be able to eat and the fish could actually starve to death. The good thing with a LM is that the skin around their mouth is thin and rips easily. If hooked there, sometimes you will see the fish jumping trying to get the lure off, even after you break off. Which brings me to a funny story. I was fishing the rocks near a dam and had a short smallie hit my tiny crankbait. I was using ultralight line so it did not take much to break off. That little fish must have jumped for 15 minutes trying to get the lure out of his mouth. The crank bait had a rattle inside it, so you could always hear him jumping. I guess he knew he was now very vulnerable to big fish since he rattled everywhere he went. Kind of amusing.