Have you ever caught a fish without hooking it in the mouth?

[Sittin there reelin em in]

Don't know if there is a thread for this or not but post here your pics of how you caught your bass.

[mllrtm79]

I should have taken a picture, but my hands were cold... caught one last night on a Livingston something or another that I got from one of the boxes. Hooked him just behind the lip on top of the skull. I thought when I pulled him up that the tail hook was in his eye socket, so I went to work on freeing him instead of taking a photo. 

 

[mrmacwvu1]

caught a small catfish one time when it wrapped itself around my line

 

the hook never went into any part of him

[Darren.]

I foul hooked a 6+ pound bass (don't recall specific weight,

but was over 6) on her side about 4" above her ?anal fin? I

believe it is called.

 

Took me for a nice ride in my kayak before I landed her.

Got a pic somewhere, but after the hook was out...

[mixel]

Foul hook bellies and sides sometimes. Small fish can feel like a big one when reeling it in sideways.

[Brayberry]

I caught about a 13" Rainbow Trout, while jigging a small spoon.  The line had wrapped around the fish, and kinda lasso'd it.  The hook was about 15 inches below the fish in a huge knot.  Luckily my girlfriend was with me or even she wouldn't have believed it

 

[gim]

Anglers that target paddlefish (where its legal) try to snag them.  They are filter feeders so there's no other way to get them to bite or eat bait/lures.

 

I've caught lots of smallmouth bass (smaller ones especially) by hooking them in the top of the head, around the eye area, or even up near the dorsal fin using crank baits.  They often miss the lure and then a hook gets them somehow after they've missed.

[reb67]

[The Bassman]

I hook bass on top of the head with treble hook baits pretty often. It's not unusual to have one knock a topwater in the air. Whats a real rush is to have one "porpoise" by jumping and striking a bait as he lands!

[scaleface]

I caught a crappie  when the  line wrapped around it and  the jig hook caught the line and pulled tight like a noose .

[geo g]

Over the years I have caught many on trebles and single hooks that were not in the mouth or throat.  I have caught them from the head, to mid body and in the tail.  If you fish long enough, many strange things will happen!!!!

[lectricbassman]

wish i had a pic, but i once set a 4/0 worm hook on a fish that tore a gash from the fishes belly to about midway up its side.  It was a dink so i couldn't legally keep it, had to throw it back but I felt bad, pretty sure it didn't make it...

[Scott F]

Don't most states have a law that says it's not legal to keep any fish not hooked in the mouth? It makes it illegal to intentionally snag fish

[Bluebasser86]

I caught a bass once on a plastic worm where the bend of the hook was behind it's teeth on the lower jaw and when I set the hook, the eye of the hook wedged against the roof of it's mouth, propping it's mouth open. The hook point never touched the fish but the hook was wedged so hard that I landed the fish. 

 

I caught a paddlefish while catfishing. It's bill had been splintered by something, and my line slid into one of the gaps until it hit my sinker, which got stuck and I managed to fight the fish to the bank with the sinker wedged in it's bill while my hook trailed under it's belly.

 

I caught 2 flathead catfish in 2 days that inhaled my bait with so much force that the bait went in their mouths, came out their gills, and the hook buried in their sides near their pectoral fins and stayed there for the entire fights. The big one ate a finesse jig, the smaller one was caught on a Ned rig. 

[everythingthatswims]

 Not sure how I did that with a jig.

[Sam]

Yes. On Lake Anna. Snagged a  bass jus like photo above but mine was much, much, much larger.

[HookRz]

I've caught them on a Chug Bug, wedged between the top and bottom jaws, no hooks, a few times. Then again if fish the old style CB a LOT! The new ones just don't have it for some reason. Don't catch a lot on them. Even on the hooks. Lol. 

Seems like 15"-16" LMB are about the right size to make this happen. 

[Turkey sandwich]

Trolling with really light tackle for walleye years back I hooked a musky in the 36" range with a crankbait (it may have been a spoon, memory has its limits) in the tail.  A tail hooked musky on 8lb line and a super slow action rod made for one weird fight.  Everyone near us thought I hooked the Loch Ness monster.  When I finally got it to the boat it was madness - teeth and hooks fying everywhere.  Good times. 

[JDNKC]

When I was a teenager, my buddy was rowing a small Jon boat around a pond and somehow flipped a bass into the boat with the oar inadvertently.  It was a nice one.

[crypt]

was fishing a night tourney on East Lake Toho and had 2 bass jump the boat when we got around a bunch of schoolies. both were keepers but had to throw em back cause we never hooked em. that was the weirdest thing I saw. caught plenty by the tail, dorsal etc. but never had em just  jump in the boat !!!!!!

[Catt]

When Gene Larew first came out with the Hoodaddy I was showing my brother how effective they were by reeling a 3# bass all the way to the boat without setting hook...ain't caught nothing em since!

[Dwight Hottle]

I caught a 6lb bass that broke off my buddies texas rigged creature bait in the morning. I was slow rolling a spinner bait in the afternoon when his broken braid got caught around the blades clevis making me think I had legitimately hooked this bass. I realized what had happened after grabbing the bass at the bank of a pond we were fishing for the weekend. 

 

 

[RMax]

10 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I caught a bass once on a plastic worm where the bend of the hook was behind it's teeth on the lower jaw and when I set the hook, the eye of the hook wedged against the roof of it's mouth, propping it's mouth open. The hook point never touched the fish but the hook was wedged so hard that I landed the fish. 

 

I caught a paddlefish while catfishing. It's bill had been splintered by something, and my line slid into one of the gaps until it hit my sinker, which got stuck and I managed to fight the fish to the bank with the sinker wedged in it's bill while my hook trailed under it's belly.

 

I caught 2 flathead catfish in 2 days that inhaled my bait with so much force that the bait went in their mouths, came out their gills, and the hook buried in their sides near their pectoral fins and stayed there for the entire fights. The big one ate a finesse jig, the smaller one was caught on a Ned rig. 

Jeez! That first one is a freaking tank! It could eat my pb catfish in one bite.

Edit: I mean the first catfish.

[Bluebasser86]

6 hours ago, RMax said:

Jeez! That first one is a freaking tank! It could eat my pb catfish in one bite.

Edit: I mean the first catfish.

The little one was 23 pounds for size reference, one of the few things we grow big in Kansas lakes.

[Fisher-O-men]

10 hours ago, JDNKC said:

When I was a teenager, my buddy was rowing a small Jon boat around a pond and somehow flipped a bass into the boat with the oar inadvertently.  It was a nice one.

Where I fish I don't use hooks. The fish are so mean they just hang onto the lure until you land them!

 

(first liar doesn't stand a chance)  just kidding!