4SALT,
I`d fish with you anytime../

I landed a fish a few years back that was broke off by someone else. My hook somehow hooked the hole in the corkie. Just what are the chances of that ever happening... damn those corkies are pretty strong... This was a few years ago before my "eyes were opened" so to speek, so I kept it. Legally should I have turned it loose?? I realize morally I should have... now it could be said that my hook snagged a loose rig hung up on the bottom and then the fish hit it the goober of eggs and yarn still attached to it. (not bloody likely but it could have happened that way). Any Ideas if I was legal or not.

Well it is snaggfest time or at least it is just around the conner. To me it is simple some people go out to snag fish this is the only way they know how to catch a fish. They should get ticketed. Some people go out to catch fish at this point most people will let foul hooked fish go. Everyone knows who they are and what they are doing. I do not like the crowds and do not fish the hachery intakes but I do know some other spots that the fish will stack up in and will fish them. Last year I had real good luch pitching warts for the silvers and kings in the rivers and will be doing the same for them this year

Hmmmm, Lot's of different views on this one. Here's my take: Don't intentionally snag fish. Don't keep a foul hooked fish, I don't care if it's hatchery or Native.... Don't keep it. If they fish is Head Shot, then it's fair game....Simple as that. If the fish is hooked in the top of the head, or back by the gills, I consider it to be foul hooked and I let it go. If the line ran through the fish's mouth, I don't care if the hook is down in its throat or outside its lip, it's going home with me. I'll bonk it everytime.

Bremalo,

I have seen lots of bait hanging around the hatchery around spawning time. They are between 4 and 20 pounds and fight like hell. Of course they're bait for seals and orcas, but they are still bait.

4salt, you're right on the money. I have also caught a rod with a fish on it. The fish took it right off of the bank. Headed down the bank where I was and fouled in my line. Once I got to the rod, I handed it off to the guy who lost the rod. Now that's a conundrum! Did I snag, and did I do an illegal handoff.

Hey guys, do any of you hunt? Think about it, the deer, duck, etc. doesn't volutarily "take" the bullet/shot/arrow do they? Yet this is legal. So why isn't snagging surplus, etc. fish still legal? Same kind of concept. Is it immoral to hunt, like many of us think it is to keep snagged fish? I'm not saying hunting's wrong or the intentional snagging of fish is right, but just something to think about.

On a side note, I hooked a fish a while back that I swear was hooked in the mouth (I seen the hook hanging out of it's mouth when it jumped). Well, the fish goes under and then my line went slack. I thought I'd lost it then I felt a hard pull and realized nope he's still there. The fish jumped a second time and the hook was dangling from just behind the gillplate. I had lost it and then the fish became snagged. Was it wrong that I kept this fish since I was sure it had bit in the first place? Or had it, maybe I just made myself see that hook hanging from it's mouth out there? After I landed it I noticed a small blood spot/hole on the lower jaw where a hook possibly penetrated...

My personal opinion of snagging fish? I would not feel very good about keeping a fish that was intentionally "hooked" anywhere other than in the mouth (and certainly wouldn't take a picture to brag about the fish). Hell, I even felt bad about keeping the above described springer this year.

BTW, I'm not a tree hugger or an immature @$$hole fish snagger, so please don't bash me either.

[ 07-27-2001: Message edited by: Krome Brite ]

To compare snagging salmon to hunting deer would only be fitting if you corralled(sp)the deer.
What sport would it be to shoot captive game?
It wouldn't be fair or sporting and neither is snagging.
Intentional snagging is utterly disrespectful to the fish and the sport.
I figure that if the fish makes it as far as it has it rates a little respect.Consider the odds it has beat to be where it is at.Then some punk buzz bombs it in the side drags it up on the beach,rips the treble out and kicks the fish back in the river.
Screw that.
If you can't beat the fish one on one,fair and legal,then leave it alone.

Not trying to stir up any $#!+, just offering a comparison.

We're cool KB.My beef is with intentional snagging.Accidental snagging of a fish is different.As far as keeping a fish that is legally hooked but may or may not have actually bit,I'm not sure about that one.I guess that would be up to the individual.

[ 07-28-2001: Message edited by: Leadslinger ]

Well, what if you foul hook a legal fish and it's ripped on the side? I would keep it.

Ripped on the side is no excuse to keep a foul hooked fish, i've caught fish that have healed over seal bites as big as a golf ball.

Dr.Pepper.
I meant a legally [hooked] fish,rather than any legal fish that is illegally snagged.
I will edit the post.

Dr. Pepper,

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by keeping a "foul-hooked legal fish"? As far as I know, there is no such thing. Foul-hooked IS illegal. In my opinion, anyone that tries to justify certain circumstances, knows when they're doing something illegal or unethical, just by trying to gain sympathy, or convince others that what they were doing is legitimate.

Those that INTENTIONALLY snag, know when they are doing it. Let your conscience be your guide.

OK, cool Leadslinger.

Now that everyone's expressed their opinions, let's get back to fishing.

I hate snaggers! I watched a group of guys snagging the **** out of fall salmon last year at Richwine bar. They were throwing spoons with BIG trebbles on them and as soon as they felt the spoon bump a fish they were jerking like no tomorrow.

I actually saw a member of this board in on the action. He hasnt posted for a while but I wont say who it is.

We all have our own morals and ethics. I catch and release just about every fish I catch, but if I catch a legal fish (length and species) that is bleeding bad or hooked in the eye or something like that, I'll keep it. I just can't see throwing back a legal fish that I know isn't going to make it. So I guess if I accidentally snagged a hatchery silver and it was of legal size and bleeding where the hook got him, I would keep it. 4Salt, I don't want to start anything unfriendly here, but I do think this is legitimate. Accidental snagging seems to be a rare occurance to me so this doesn't happen consistently. Just my opinion.

We all have our own morals and ethics. I catch and release just about every fish I catch, but if I catch a legal fish (length and species) that is bleeding bad or hooked in the eye or something like that, I'll keep it. I just can't see throwing back a legal fish that I know isn't going to make it. So I guess if I accidentally snagged a hatchery silver and it was of legal size and bleeding where the hook got him, I would keep it. 4Salt, I don't want to start anything unfriendly here, but I do think this is legitimate. Accidental snagging seems to be a rare occurance to me so this doesn't happen consistently. Just my opinion.

No matter how you justify it, it's still snagging and retaining an illegaly caught fish. Intentional, or not, the fish should be released - I guess it's an individual choice but if I saw someone doing what is being described, they would hear about it. No hard feelings, just my two cents...

A Head shot is a Head Shot is aHead Shot, and I don't fault anyone for keeping a fish hooked in this manner, weather it intentionally bit the hook or not. Dr Pepper has a point with keeping a fish that is bleeding badly.... I'm really not rationalizing here, it's just that I think I'd rather see somebady keep one "Accidentally" snagged fish, then to rip the $hit out of the sides of a dozen or more fish just in the name of getting one "Legal" fish that they can keep without getting a ticket. Also, there's things that a fellow can do to help ensure that he's not going to be foul hooking one fish after another, there is a distinct difference between the feel of a "Line Bump" and a bite, and even though a lot of people will call me crazy, I swear that I can feel the difference between a bite and when the line is just "flossing" between the fishes teeth. Just don't jerk everytime you feel a "Line Bump". Every once in a while,a guy is going to foul hook a fish, it can't be helped, but there is no reason for a guy to foul hook twenty fish in a row..... When that happens, it can only be intentional..... And intentionally snagging fish is anything but sporting.

Did you bust them low life b******s, RICH G.?