What do you do when...

[spotfin]

We came across a striped bass floating on the surface. The fish was still alive, but not doing well. We grabbed it up and placed it in a cooler with water. It died a short time later. Will checking it for cause of death, we found a hook lodged in its gut, just above the stomach. There was a lot of internal bleeding from the hook. Tough call if gut hooked fish survive or not.

 

[Knowdafish]

Use one of these. They've been around forever and are cheap too!

http://www.psfishing.com/hook-disgorger.html

 

[Plec123]

I have caught a fish with a hook already in its mouth. So I guess they can survive it but who knows if its painful or not?

not to be blunt, but i once caught an LMB that was crapping out a stick. i think they can take pain...