Seismo wrote:
I live on a small pond and have stocked it with the usual bass,
crappie, bluegill and catfish.
Yesterday I was fishing and caught a 4.25 lb largemouth on a senko and
4/0 wide gap worm hook. When I got it in, I noticed that I didn't catch
the fish on the lip but he had *almost* swallowed it. I gently tugged
it but it wouldn't give so I cut the line as close to the hook as I
could get and put him back in the water. He swam away pretty healthily
and I figure he'll spit the hook and senko out eventually.
Is this the right thing to do? I didn't want to keep it out of the
water too long and was afraid I'd tear it up if I tried much else - as
it was, I could see no evidence of bleeding, so that was good.
So, was there anything else I could/should have done?

Going in through the gill with long nose pliers allows the quick and
clean removal of hooks that otherwise seem too deep to deal with without
hurting the fish.