I know this thread is about removing hooks -- but what if you can't remove the hook for some reason?

On fish with smaller mouths, such as bluegill and red ears, what is the chance the fish will survive if the line is cut right at the hook, the hook is left in the fish, and the fish is released?

I guess the same would apply to fish like large northerns and muskies, where I sure wouldn't want to try and hold open their mouths.

I've never believed that fish hooks dissolve in three days, as I've heard so many times. I've caught fish with hooks that had apparently been in a fish's lip for at least several weeks, because I recognized the hooks and rigs used by pond guests.

Earlier this summer I hauled in a pretty good size bass that had broken my line about two months earlier when fishing for trout with 2# test line, and a #12 hook. About 90% of the hook, all except the crushed barbed tip (I crush the barbs on all my hooks), was sticking out of the bass's anus. The hook was still in perfect shape.

Lastly, I read the article linked by Shorty, and it talks about how tough the gill plates are. Is there really any chance that a bleeding fish hooked in the gills will recover, whether the hook is removed or left in place?

P.S. Over the years I've purchased a number of hook removers exactly like the one posted by JoeG. Maybe I just never really learned how to use it, but I've not had much luck with them. If I couldn't reasonably get a hook out with forceps, I've felt the fish was going to die from my trying, or it was going to die because I released it with a hook in its gullet.


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