"bill allemann" wrote in message
. net...
The other day I landed a nice smallie that got gullet hooked, but the hook
rotated out quickly. As the fish was taken out of the water, though,
there was some bleeding, probably from a gill, but it was hard to tell.
There was no bleeding in the gullet area during the hook removal. After a
few seconds back in the water, he took off with considerable energy.
Was the fish likely to survive after showing some bleeding?
Is the bleeding sometimes a hemorrage from the commotion of the fight?

If the hook came out easily and there was no tearing to the internal organs,
there's a very good chance that the fish survived. I've caught walleyes
(which are a less hardy fish than a bass) with an entire gill raker hanging
out, gray and lifeless, yet the fish was actively feeding and apparently
healthy.

Last summer, a client caught a smallmouth that had swallowed the 5/0 EWG
hook on a Zoom SuperFluke. The fish was bleeding heavily and not wanting to
waste a good fish, decided to keep it in the livewell and take it to a
taxidermist friend of mine to have a replica mold cast. I totally forgot
about the fish by the time I got home and went to work at the firehouse the
following morning. Halfway through a 24 hour shift, I remembered the
gut-hooked bass. Now 36 hours later, I approached the livewell with dread,
expecting to see a dead, bloated, stinky and possibly fuzzy bass. What I
found was a VERY healthy smallmouth bass quietly finning in some pink water
with a fluke and hook lying on the bottom of the livewell. The fish was
released with no apparent ill effects.

Think about it for a moment. Do you die every time you bleed?
--
Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com
G & S Guide Service and Custom Rods
http://www.herefishyfishy.com