Bass Question?

I’m wondering what is considered a foul hooked Fish both from a tournament and Ethical standard.

I caught a fish recently that ended up being hooked practically in the middle of the fish by the rear treble on my Shad Rap I’m assuming he had the middle treble at some point and maybe thrashed and got hung up on the rear treble and then spit “I use barbless” the hook.

How does a fish have to be hooked in order for it to count in a Bass Tourney or say if it was a 22″ Small Mouth that ended up being hooked in the tail could one keep the fish.

Thanks Pier.

It depends what state you are fishing in PierBridge. In Wisconsin it is illegal keep any foul hooked fish. Some states, California comes to mind after watching the Bassmaster Elite Series Event on Clear Lake, any fish hooked outside the mouth is considered foul hooked. The official Bassmaster rule is, it is illegal to keep a foul hooked fish while sight fishing, but their rules always default to state regulations.

Hope that helps.

I’m not %100 sure on this, but I believe some tournies are a little more flexible and have a rule where anything below the gill plate is foul hooked?? I mean I have snagged fish with swim jigs in the side and that is obviously foul hooked, but you don’t know so much with a crank bait..I have witnessed it many times even with my barbed hooks Fish throwing the middle trebble at the boat and they are just hooked by the rear in the gill plate. I think it would definitely be a debateable thing if someone were to get called on it in a tourney.