# Legal Catch?



## Reel Lady (Jul 4, 2004)

So, I was watching Denny Brauer last saturday. He was fishing a spinnerbait with a trailer hook. He said that this fish had made numerous hits on his spinnerbait, and that if it wasn't for his trailer hook, that he would have never landed that fish. He ended up hooking the fish on the underside of his lower lip. So basically the hook entered the fish from under the lip and went through into it's mouth. 
Would this be a legal or illegal catch if this fish were caught like this in a tournament?


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## Smallie Gene (Jun 2, 2005)

I would assume trailer hooks would have to be illegal for tournaments?


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## Whaler (Nov 16, 2004)

If this fish were caught like that in a tournament no one would notice the hole in the underside of the jaw because they are always to busy holding the fish up for all to see at the weigh in. AS far as the legality of it I guess you'll have to check with the people running the tournament. Maybe Brauer's fish was illegal?


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## fishingredhawk (Apr 14, 2004)

Legal for sure. I was watching that too on schooled by Denny Brauer. I fish wasn't foul hooked because it was trying to eat the bait and missed. That is legal.


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## johnboy111711 (Apr 7, 2004)

i'd say it was a legal catch, not many will dispute something like that, but you might have to worry if you dragged in a 6lber with a treble in it's tail


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## ranger487 (Apr 5, 2005)

This fish is as legal as they come. as stated below the fish struck his bait so there for it tried to eat it. When fishing with buzzers this happens alout and I will tell ya the tournamnet guys dont throw them back.

Mark


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## Reel Lady (Jul 4, 2004)

I found this on the rules for the Bassmaster Tour...

"to be counted as a legal fish all bass must be hooked inside the mouth and must be verified by your partner before being unhooked." 


Link to Bassmaster official rules

I still wonder... because technically, the fish would be hooked in the mouth. The difference being that it was hooked from the "Outside" of the mouth, and not from the "Inside"...
Definitely an interesting debate...


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## Warpath (May 23, 2004)

Marcia,

I went back and read the rules because my mind was fixed on FLW rules. If you read closely....

:When visually fishing for bedding bass, to be counted as a legal fish all bass must be hooked inside the mouth and must be verified by your partner before being unhooked."

..... it only has to be "in the mouth" when visually fishing, i.e. sight-fishing. In FLW, it is the same way. If you are actually fishing for fish that you can see, you must hook the fish inside the mouth. If you watch FLW Outdoors, the other angler always checks to make sure of this. If you aren't sight-fishing, if it has a hook in it, it's legal......as long as you were not purposefully snagging.

Eric


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## Smallie Gene (Jun 2, 2005)

So, you can use a 10 foot long trailer with 30 different treble hooks but as long as the fish is hooked "inside the mouth" its legal.....right? What if the fish is hooked inside his mouth and but also has 3 stingers in its tail and another two stingers/trailers in its neck?


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## shysterorange (Apr 14, 2004)

This happened on this years classic. I believe it was KVD and a jerkbait. He kept the fish.


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## GarryS (Apr 5, 2004)

I would say that fish is legal.... It had to strike at the bait.... and it was around the mouth area.... If it was hooked in the tail.... It would NOT be legal. Alot of times they will just smack at a bait... or just hit the skirt... thats the reason for the trailer hook....


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## Warpath (May 23, 2004)

Actually, I saw the episode Marcia is referring to as well. It is completely legal to boat and keep this fish in a tourney. And if you can get a fish to hit a lure with a ten foot trailer and several treble also....you should get a medal and get to keep the fish. The question isn't where it was hooked, it's a question of whether or not he was sight fishing, which he wasn't. Only when you are sight fishing does it matter.

Off to Erie!!!!!!!!!!

Eric


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## Parrothead (Apr 15, 2004)

It may depend on the laws of the state where the tournament is being held. Here in Ohio, the regulations clearly state: "SNAGGING with a hook to pierce and hook a fish in a part of the body other than the inside of the mouth is illegal for all fish except forage fish."
Also, if not legally caught: "LIVE RELEASE OF FISH- Any fish not of legal size or not legally caught must be released immediately." 
Thus, any fish not hooked inside the mouth is an 'illegal' fish no matter whether tournament rules or not. I believe State Law supersedes any tournament regulations. I cannot understand why these rules would be different for a tournament. 

I know the reg's state somewhere also that the hook must be from the inside of the mouth-out, otherwise I would have kept about 10 times as many 'legal' walleye in the Maumee this year. 

YOU WILL get a ticket if they catch you keeping a fish hooked on the underside of the mouth even if the hook goes all the way through to the inside of the fish's mouth.


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## fishingredhawk (Apr 14, 2004)

> YOU WILL get a ticket if they catch you keeping a fish hooked on the underside of the mouth even if the hook goes all the way through to the inside of the fish's mouth.


Yeah right dude. If I were fishing a tournament, using a buzz bait with a trailer hook and a bass nailed it but missed and the hook was in the outside of the mouth there is NO WAY that (1) I wouldn't stick it in the livewell and (2) a wildlife officer would see this and give me a ticket. Wildlife officers, just like any other law enforcement, use their own judgment and a rational person would understand that this fish wasn't illegally taken.


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## BornToFish (Aug 22, 2005)

Didn't "IKE" have a similar issue at Wisconsin this year?


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## peple of the perch (Sep 13, 2004)

as long as the hook iis in the mouth it is legal in ohio they never said how it had to enter


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## Marshall (Apr 11, 2004)

Here is a situation for you guys/gals to talk about. While fishing a jerkbait such as a rogue or rapala floating minnow. This type of jerkbait has 3 hooks , one in the front, middle and back. The fish strikes the head of the lure as they do most of the time, it jumps a few times as bass usually do and the front hook comes out and the middle hook sticks on top of the fishes head and the back hook gets him on the side. The front hook may even be on the outside of the mouth. This is not a purposly snagged fish yet it is not hooked "inside" the mouth, but i bet you that fish hit that lure because it wanted to. It was not just sitting there and the hooks just happened to snag it. I think there is a big difference in that type of situation than dragging a hook with a salmon egg through hundreds of walleye jammed in a small river moving up to spawn. I'm not knocking you walleye run guys but id say you have a better chance of snagging in that type of situation.

I even saw a tourney where a guy set the hook and broke off the line. The angler was able to go over and grab the line and pull the fish in by hand and the tourney director was called and was a legal fish. The fish that jumps in the boat is not legal, you hear about that once in a while.

I would say the fish caught around the mouth is a legal fish unless someone is sight fishing as already mentioned. As for using a line 10' long off a lure with hooks all over it as mentioned , GET REAL!! A trailer hook is one hook threaded through the spinnerbait or buzzbaits hook that adds another 1.5 to 2" more hook. And most of the time they wack the first hook.


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## BornToFish (Aug 22, 2005)

That was "IKE" at wisconsin Marshall...


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## Reel Lady (Jul 4, 2004)

Isn't it kind of funny that we still don't have a "_Clear_" definition of what would constitute a legal catch? I went to the Ohio Revised Code online and still couldn't locate anything about the "definition of a legal catch". (although I will admit that I had limited time there because I am heading out the door to go to the Portage Lakes weigh in)
It's definitely been interesting to read different peoples different points of view or opinions regarding this subject. 
But still, there is no definititive answer or explanation.....


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## kmb411 (Feb 24, 2005)

My .02 and understanding based on the fishing regs is that "snagging with a hook to pierce and hook a fish in a part of the body other than the inside of the mouth..."
If the hook is in or near the mouth it should be legal, at least in Ohio waters. Pierce...in apart of the body is the key. I have foul hooked, not snagged a fish and livewelled it, and others that I fish with feel the same. If the fish is hitting the bait, as long as it is not body or fin hooked it is legal.

I am sure someone would disagree, but experience is what I follow. 

In the regs it also states hooks may not be larger that 5/8 " from shank to point in ohio waters. I have hooks, from live bait fishing that are larger. They are not kept in any tackle box, but on a shelf so that I do not have them with me in Ohio. Some wide gap hooks are illegal in Ohio.


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