Tackle left in fish

[Burley_Boy]

Having lost quite a bit of gear lately both gang and single hooks as we keep getting bitten off at our MAckarel fishing, its got me wondering what happens to all that gear.
I have not pulled in a fish at Palm Beach reef with any gear attached to it yet everyone looses more fish than they catch lately (unless you're a heavy wire person) and yet I don't find fish with gear. Do they just go off their tucker for a while when they have a gang hook in their gob?? Or do they go to the fish dentist for an extractions??
How often has anyone found partially disolved hooks as opposed to newish hooks in the fish??

[basserman]

yeh alot of fish do go off thier food for awhile if they have hooks stuck in them
but alot of fish will just have the hooks fall out once the pressure is off or they will knock the hooks out by rubbing agaist some reef
but some fish can and do get caught with hooks in them still
one of the worst for this are the dolphin fish nothing seems to bother them ;D
i belive someone posted some pics of a fish they caught recently with a set of gangs in them ;D

[Zeeke]

Gutted a bream once and found a tacklebox in its guts... and a tiny little fisherman wandering around looking for a light because all his matches were wet

Tim

[Burley_Boy]

Yeah that photo got me wondering hence the post. But if you consider the amount of gear that gets bitten off on a good day at palm I would have thought that you'd get some new gear back or some partially corroded hooks on the same days.
Yesterday I got my entire burley trail back in one fish but no lost gear..

If there are very few corroded hooks found then those hooks have either fallen out or the fish have gone off the chew till the hooks go I suppose??? :-/

[Heath]

I've caught a few mackerel with hook still in them. Got a blue last year with a gang of SS hooks still attached :-/ latest one was last week, again a blue with a set of small long shanks still attached. Must have took a bait from someone bottom bashing, the hooks were all but rusted out & infact a slight tug was all that was needed to remove them. Have got a few spots that have still had hooks in them. None with lures hanging out their mouth worse luck :P would like to recoup a few ;D

[agnes_jack]

I've caught quite a few jacks with hooks still in them, also a few estuary cod.
I have never caught one with the hooks showing much deterioration though?

Regards, Tony

[eggbeater]

My daughter caught a moses Perch yesterday which had swallowed a hook and still had the line and swivel attached. She hooked it in the lip.I have often wondered myself what happens to our gear,having never boated a fish with tackle in it. Anyway little punky took care of that.

[Burley_Boy]

Interesting stuff, still wonder if people have found half deteriorated hooks?
Do they deteriorate??? Thats what we tell ourselves as we cut the undersize fish loose with a hook down its gullet....!
Ok ok I've gone digging for my hooks too but I'm getting better ok! ;D

[mackmauler]

Ok couple of things, yes have caught several fish with hooks, most hooks dont rust very quickly while continually submerged. if the fish cant feed because of the hooks its in trouble, gangs may well lock both jaws together, if the fish is hooked deep enough to be bleeding from the gills whats its chances ? leaving hooks in any fish is worse than removing them, will the hook as it breaks down poison the fish? they sure as hell believe it does and even large critters like grey nurse sharks..

[Volvo]

Hokeydokey,now my bit for yez:)..Have read somewhere's that if the hook is swollowed it'll break down within a coupla weks due to the acids...
If hangin offa the Lip??, maybe a tad longer...
Never thought about ganged hooks clampin the jawbones shut??...
Did catch a Spaniard once with a wire trace hangin out of its ringear about a meter long..Attatched to the wire trace was a hook ooonnnlllyyyyyy juuuuuussst hangin on by a whisker ...Soon as we grbbed the wire after landing the fish , it just fell off and the hook crumbled away so it was about to drop off anyway..
As for the wire??, she was nice superior wire, coulda given it a polish up, new swivel and attatch another hook or set of gangs off it lol...
Thats why i never use stainless hooks, should all be banned far as i'm concerned..
And as for wire??, again never stainles and only very short lengths..
But goes ta show ya, that over a meter of wire trace that mac swollowed and passed through his ringear ey..
Sumthin ta think about for sure ???..
Cheers

[agnes_jack]

I did hear or read somewhere a while ago that rather than the hook rusting out, it is far more likely that a fish will develop an ulceration around the site of the hook, and that the hook will be far more likely to drop out rather than rust or corrode away.
Makes more sense to me, as fish must continually have other fishes dorsal spines, bones, bits of shell, coral, etc stuck in thier mouths and this would be the most likely way a fish would naturally dispose of these naturally occuring spikes and spines.

Any thoughts on that one ???

Regards, Tony

[bugman]

I know a couple of divers who saved a big cod over on the Bulwer drop off.

The cod had at least 6 sets of tackle attached and line all over the place. It had obviously stopped feed because it was skinny as hell. The divers were able to remove all the gear under water because he didn't even put up a fight he was that buggered.

When they left him he was just swimming. They dive there a bit and gradually saw his health improve over a few weeks to the stage where he was almost back to normal.

They came back again and he was gone - probably caught and not released :'( :'(

bugman

[straddie]

Caught plenty of fish with hooks in the jaw, and stomach but the only one that was rusting was a squire that had the eye of the hook with mono and swivel hanging out its bum. The barb and point had set just before coming out. Where it was coming out its bum was the most corroded (and broke with a little pressure) with the rest not anywhere as bad.

Mate of a mate caught a cobia with its jaws clamped shut by a stainless gang, must have tried to eat the bait and got jagged on his hook. Fish didn't fight very much and was very skinny.

[Bullux]

caught a tailor once down the pin with pritty rusted up hook in its back
someone must have been using him for a livie