RTi, how can you say a fish with a "hook stuck outside the mouth, rather than inside - in which case it is considered a snagged fish and illegal to keep"?? a fish hooked in that manner would not always be snagged, it could have made a fair chase at the bait/lure and just missed getting the hook into its mouth...since parker referenced the regs in an earlier post, lets open our books to page 13 again and follow along at home - under Selective Gear Rules (last sentence) "If any fish has swallowed the hook or is hooked in the gill, eye, or tongue, it should be kept if legal to do so."..."legal to do so" meaning if that particular species/size etc is legal to keep during that time of year. a fish's eye and gill is very much outside the mouth and under the rules would be legal. i grew up near redondo and would cast buzzbombs off the pier for salmon when i was younger, we would hook a salmon in the tail once in a while. someone told me (i have no idea if this is true or not) that a salmon would swipe at its prey with its tail to stun it, then turn around to take it. this seemed to explain how that would happen, but in no way can that be considered snagging especially in saltwater where they are so scattered.