No hook in the mouth?

[Choporoz]

Do pro tournament fish have ro be caught in the mouth?

I don't watch much pro fishing, but I DVR'd a couple MLF and Elite tournament shows recently and was surprised that competitors in both weighed or kept kish that didn't have any hooks in the mouth.  Jerkbaits and cranks were snagged around the mouth.   And it is easy to believe that the bass probably ate or intended to eat those lures.  But when landed, there were no hooks in the mouth.  I assumed they wouldn't count, but apparently they do.  Just surprised me a bit. 

[Team9nine]

Depends on the time of year. Most big tourney orgs require bass be hooked inside the mouth during spring events timed around the spawn. Usually a competitor has to show either his partner or the official this is the case before unhooking. The rest of the year, outside the spawn, anywhere counts as long as the act wasn't intentional. Watch some spring videos and you'll see guys mentioning, showing officials or the camera, that the fish was hooked in the mouth. Just watched one myself yesterday that was like this.

[jbsoonerfan]

This ^^^^^

 

If you go back and watch the BPT event on Fork from back in the Spring when they were spawning the anglers would show the official the hook was inside the mouth. 

 

It would be hard to tell if a fish was foul hooked intentionally with a jerkbait, especially all those dinks  

[J._Bricker]

*spawn = sight fishing

[BASS302]

Probably depends on the state's regulations.

In California "Snagging is prohibited. Snagging is defined as impaling or attempting to impale a fish in any part of its body other than inside the mouth by use of a hook, hooks, gaff, or other mechanical implement."

I assume tournaments have to abide by state regulations?

[Jig Man]

It is the law in MO.

[J._Bricker]

32 minutes ago, BASS302 said:

Probably depends on the state's regulations.

In California "Snagging is prohibited. Snagging is defined as impaling or attempting to impale a fish in any part of its body other than inside the mouth by use of a hook, hooks, gaff, or other mechanical implement."

I assume tournaments have to abide by state regulations?

 

It would be wise to follow state regulations if the organization wants to continue to host tournaments.  Most black bass tournament orgs in California put in the rules that fish must be hooked inside the mouth. 

[TnRiver46]

I can’t even successfully snag a carp. It’s usually 1 out of 100 at best 

[Bluebasser86]

They have to follow state regulations. If a state requires them to be hooked in the mouth, then that's what they follow (like Steve Kennedy on his crazy swimbait day in California many years ago having to turn DD fish loose that were hooked JUST outside the mouth, great video on Youtube if you've never watched it). Otherwise, it only applies to sight fishing. I can clearly remember KVD boxing a fish hooked squarely in the back on a crankbait in a tournament once before I understood that rule and I had to look it up. Figured he knew what he was doing since it was on a televised Bassmaster tournament, but I wanted clarification for myself.

[Sphynx]

Intentionally hooking a fish outside of the mouth...either you fellas all have vastly superior eyes to mine, or you all know something I do not...I may occasionally see a fish following my lure right when I pull it out, or if I put a stalk on him in spring, but I never see fish other than those two times, and how a fish interacts with my lure is up to him, I have no say in it...it may occasionally work out that I foul hook one on a treble hook bait, but I couldn't claim Intentionally having done so...

[Choporoz]

@Sphynx, like anything else, it takes practice.  Check out the Mike Long tutorials. 

[scaleface]

In BASS its legal as long as the angler is not sight fishing .

[Sphynx]

5 hours ago, Choporoz said:

@Sphynx, like anything else, it takes practice.  Check out the Mike Long tutorials. 

Lol, I don't especially want to start foul hooking fish, but I may check those videos out just for fun.

[TnRiver46]

8 hours ago, Sphynx said:

Intentionally hooking a fish outside of the mouth...either you fellas all have vastly superior eyes to mine, or you all know something I do not...I may occasionally see a fish following my lure right when I pull it out, or if I put a stalk on him in spring, but I never see fish other than those two times, and how a fish interacts with my lure is up to him, I have no say in it...it may occasionally work out that I foul hook one on a treble hook bait, but I couldn't claim Intentionally having done so...

Like I said , I can’t even snag a carp and they are easy to see haha. Our waters aren’t very clear, I’ve rarely seen a spawning bass in a reservoir 

[Choporoz]

59 minutes ago, Sphynx said:

Lol, I don't especially want to start foul hooking fish, but I may check those videos out just for fun.

I was joking.  Mike Long is a disgraced cheat who was exposed by an investigative reporter a year or two ago.

[Sphynx]

5 hours ago, Choporoz said:

I was joking.  Mike Long is a disgraced cheat who was exposed by an investigative reporter a year or two ago.

LOL...I see, I don't keep up with professional fishing very often, most of those guys are contractually obligated to present a certain message whether it's honest or not, it's a super high pressure environment and I do not envy them a bit in that regard, I'm sure most of them are really decent people at heart, they just happen to be in a business that isn't nearly profitable enough to support all the people who want (and are trying) to earn a living at it, and the basic laws of economics apply, lots of competitors perfectly willing to say they caught the winning fish on their sponsors lure whether it's true or not, and those who aren't pushing products generally aren't going to make it very long, tournament winnings aren't even close to being enough for most of those guys to survive on.

[WRB]

Bass tournaments have their own specific rules and must meet all state and local regulations. 

California hook inside the mouth regulation is clear. Often a bass will start the strike getting a multiple hook lure inside it’s mouth and hooked outside the mouth. If the mouth hook tears out the fish must be released even if it was unintentional. 

Most states allow for unintentional snagging, not California.

The most famous snagged bass is Dottie the WR 25.1 lb that had to be released because she was snagged on the top of the head with a jig.

In all my years of bass fishing I never snagged a bass with a jig on the top of the head or ever heard it happening until the Dottie incident.    

My theory is the jig had a trap treble hook. Trap hooks are not allowed for IGFA record catches.

Tom

 

 

[TnRiver46]

Florida makes exceptions to the state regs for tournaments, I saw it in person at Toho. I knew the regs were 14 inch minimum on largemouth and we went to see a weigh in. Lots of 12” fish being weighed in so I asked my cousin what was going on. He said they issue a special exemption for tournaments that allow a fish under the legal limit to be kept 

[scaleface]

11 hours ago, WRB said:

trap treble hook

What is that ?

[WRB]

A trap hook according to the IGFA as a hook added to the lure attached by a line or wire. Bass anglers often add stinger hooks to soft swimbaits that could be considered trap hooks. 

 Trap hook added directly onto the original hook like a spinnerbait that isn’t considered a trap hook.

I haven’t read the IGFA rules in awhile so the rule may have changed recently. 

 

[Bluebasser86]

On 1/2/2021 at 5:17 PM, TnRiver46 said:

Florida makes exceptions to the state regs for tournaments, I saw it in person at Toho. I knew the regs were 14 inch minimum on largemouth and we went to see a weigh in. Lots of 12” fish being weighed in so I asked my cousin what was going on. He said they issue a special exemption for tournaments that allow a fish under the legal limit to be kept 

We have a similar deal here. You buy a special "bass pass", to weigh 15" fish for tournaments. Just the states way of making a few extra bucks.