I have never caught or seen a fish caught with a hook in it (mouth or gut) that had been clipped off.

I have caught the same fish more than once but never one with a hook still in it.

Anybody else ever see one?

Lots ... unfortunately, some of the light-liners out our way like to just grab the leader and "pop-it" in the fish (bust the leader) ... leaving a pair of small hooks inside. Dozens every year ...

If you mean have I ever caught a fish with a hook in it, yeah, tons, including a steelhead that had my hook in it from breaking me off earlier in the day, along with another hook that someone either left in him or cut off. I pull all 3 out and let him go

Last year I caught a 19 pound coho at Buoy 10 with a whole anchovy and a 2 hook mooching rig in his belly. Looked like red gamis - your loss, my gain

SO's reply made think of a funny story:

Buddy and I are flyfishing a tail. He hooks a big fish and plays it for a few minutes before it breaks off ...

About an hour later. I hook a big fish. Tows me 1/2 mile downstream. Finally pull it into shore, a big buck of 25-26 pounds. I reach down to get the fly out and low and behold is my partner's fave pattern also stuck in the jaw.

I remove both flies and walk back up to the drift. Art asks if it was a biggun 'cuz I'd gone so far down with it. I said, yep, 42" or so. Paused for a moment and then said "Oh would you like your fly back??" and held it out to him.

He grabbed it and asked "Where'd you ...". I was grinning sheeplishly before he could go any further ... he took it and I took my place in the run up from him

If only ReiterRat had been there too to see the look on Art's face!!

once i was drift fishing bait and i must have jerked a half dozen times on what i swore to god was a fish, that bugger would rail me and i would come out my hip boots setting the hook, finally after an hour playing with this ghost biter i got the hook in em, and low and behold when i got em in the rocks he had his mouth wired shut with a pixie spoon and i actually hooked him in the beek..

I caught a trout this spring with line haning out his mouth and a small egg hook sticking out his a$$....

Thank you friends. ):


Herm

Twice. A few years ago on the north fork I caught about a 12lb native hen with a knotted leader hanging from her mouth. My hook wasn't in her mouth, it was tangled in the leader. The other fish was a big native buck on the Sauk. He came floating down past me, barely breathing. He had a large hook in the back of his throat with the leader broken or cut at his mouth. I tried to help him out but the last thing I saw was him drifting down river.

this year at the cowlitz doing a little summer run fishing, i hooked and landed this large bright steelhead, the guy who nettted the fish for me was like "psst... psst.. i wont tell" i went "tell what" and he's like your hook..(pointing at the fish)... i look at the fish and what do i see,,, a big PRONG stuck RIGHT INSIDE the mouth of the fish..

and yes.. the fish did "BITE" my hook the prong was stuck on both the top and the botton of the fishes mouth, my guess is that when the fish took my bait it also got the prong stuck on the top and bottom of his mouth, but yeah.. the other day i hooked a chum with my dads hook stuck in it from probably 2-3 days before i hooked it.. oh course that fish "Broke" him off...

Casey