Lost lure in bass

[Kevin Fleming]

Hey guys. I have a question for y'all. I live in Georgia and recently started bass fishing the past year and half. Tonight I was fishing and caught the biggest bass I have seen in my lake in years. Of course as it got to the boat my line snapped and there went the fish and my lure.

I was fishing with a top water frog popper that has 2 treble hooks. The bass has a good bite on it when it snapped.

My question for y'all is do y'all think that the bass will beable to survive with the lure in its mouth. 

Sorry if this has already been answered. 

[Darren.]

Hi Kevin, welcome aboard!

Most of us have lost lures in bass at one
time or another. I think it'll survive.

I can tell you this, I've never found a dead
floating bass with a lure in its mouth.

That doesn't mean it isn't harmful! But I 
also think the bass will survive. At least
I hope so  

[Kevin Fleming]

That's great to know. That is true I have never found one either now that you say that. Thanks for the reply. 

[Scott F]

Most probably, the bass will shake the lure and lose it. Or,  worst case is the lure may block his throat and he may not be able to feed. You'll never know.

[WRB]

Bass manage to toss lures as we fight them if they get slack line, the bass will rid itself of that lure.

The difference from a PB and a lost fish is mistakes at the boat, learn to use your drag!

Tom

[Nick B]

I had my line snap on a bass, years ago, (found a bad eye on my rod shortly there after). I lost my crankbait in the process of course. Later that day I went back to the same spot I lost the fish and found my lure floating. So you could go back to the area you lost your lure and maybe get it back.

 

[avidone1]

I think two pairs of treble hooks can button up a bass mouth pretty good

As for anything else, I would think they have a fair chance of shaking it loose.

[BassThumb]

I know this sounds like a BS fish tale, but I once lost a 1/8 oz buzz bait in a 12" river smallmouth who jumped and jumped and shook and shook after sawing my line off on the rocks. I kid you not, I watched the bait fly out of it's mouth and onto the shore, 15' away, where I went and picked it up.

As you can imagine, I think these fish are pretty insistant about getting that lure out of their mouth after a break-off. They're going to try to shake it out, or die trying.

Hopefully a few of those crank bait hooks were exposed, because if they get caught in some weeds, it'll give the bass some leverage to shake the lure free.

[WIGuide]

I don't know if this was posted on BR before or if I came across it somewhere else. It's an interesting read.

http://www.saltstrong.com/articles/fishing-lure-left-in-a-fishs-mouth/

(I know it's on a saltwater site, but the test was done in freshwater)

[Airman4754]

On 4/24/2016 at 10:30 PM, WRB said:

Bass manage to toss lures as we fight them if they get slack line, the bass will rid itself of that lure.

The difference from a PB and a lost fish is mistakes at the boat, learn to use your drag!

Tom

Truer words have never been spoken. You have to play the big ones out.

[Ohio Yakker]

I had a similar experience like this last weekend. I was fishing a chatterbait and had hooked a pike, which ended up cutting the line. The fish jumped and flopped several times right after and then I saw the lure go into the air. Although I lost my lure, I was at least glad that the fish should be okay. So yes, it is possible, and likely that the bass you lost is going to be able to shake the hooks.

I have also heard that hooks are made to rust out fairly quickly, but I'm not sure how fast that happens. I'm assuming that is more a salt water thing.

[avidone1]

On ‎4‎/‎24‎/‎2016 at 0:46 PM, BassThumb said:

I know this sounds like a BS fish tale, but I once lost a 1/8 oz buzz bait in a 12" river smallmouth who jumped and jumped and shook and shook after sawing my line off on the rocks. I kid you not, I watched the bait fly out of it's mouth and onto the shore, 15' away, where I went and picked it up.

As you can imagine, I think these fish are pretty insistant about getting that lure out of their mouth after a break-off. They're going to try to shake it out, or die trying.

Hopefully a few of those crank bait hooks were exposed, because if they get caught in some weeds, it'll give the bass some leverage to shake the lure free.

I have a story some have found hard to believe.   I was fishing the Peconic river in Riverhead NY with a classic red and white daredevil.

I hooked into something big....real big.   It jumped and it was the largest chain pickerel I had ever seen.   the beast shook his head and that lure came flying back at me at nascar speed.   I had to duck or it would have torn my face off.    Scared the hell out of me, but you can bet that lure was a personal favorite for years

[geo g]

I have caught a peacock bass with a mepps spinner with a treble hook in its mouth, and many bass with single hooks in their mouth.  It all depends on where they are hooked and if they can open their mouth.  If they can feed, they will survive.  Just a few week ago, I broke off on a bass on Loxahatchee, and several hours later caught it AGAIN in the same spot, with my #3 Gama hook still attached.  The odds were like hitting the Lotto!

[Ratherbfishing]

One of my favorite fishing stories:  I broke off on a respectable bass while using a floating Rapala.  I briefly mourned my loss and then continued to fish in the area.  A few minutes later, I saw a bass (the bass, MY bass) approaching the surface.  I could tell it was "my" bass because the lure was still in it's mouth.  Anyway, about this time it tail-walked on the surface, shaking it's head until the lure flew off and out.  It was close enough to me (I was on the bank) that I was able to cast to and retrieve my Rapala.  Thank you, fishy!

Having said that, I think that often (though perhaps not always) bass are able to rid themselves of their unwanted "guest."

[Last_Cast]

20 hours ago, Ratherbfishing said:

One of my favorite fishing stories:  I broke off on a respectable bass while using a floating Rapala.  I briefly mourned my loss and then continued to fish in the area.  A few minutes later, I saw a bass (the bass, MY bass) approaching the surface.  I could tell it was "my" bass because the lure was still in it's mouth.  Anyway, about this time it tail-walked on the surface, shaking it's head until the lure flew off and out.  It was close enough to me (I was on the bank) that I was able to cast to and retrieve my Rapala.  Thank you, fishy!

Having said that, I think that often (though perhaps not always) bass are able to rid themselves of their unwanted "guest."

Thats pure luck.

As far as the fish, I'm sure they're all fine.

[MassYak85]

I think the worst instance of getting something caught in a fishes mouth was when I caught a pickeral and was holding it off the side of my kayak with some grippers. Well.....it shook hard and I dropped the grippers and watched the fish slowly swim away with the grippers still in it's mouth. I hope it got free from them but those grippers work pretty well so I have a feeling it didn't. 

[Grandpooba]

Last fall I had the same concerns as Kevin when I gill hooked a 6.5lb smallmouth then the next week throat hooked a 4lb largemouth. Both times I had to leave the hook in when I released them and wasn't feeling too good about their chances. So I did some research. Most of what I came across wasn't encouraging. We've all had experiences when lucky things happen, but the data says when a hook is left in the fish it has a small chance of making it.

Here's what I found:

Here's one that says live-welling fish takes a toll: http://www.lsu.edu/seagrantfish/resources/factsheets/catch_release.htm

This is a good diagram and how-to on taking out a throat hook: