Bodofish wrote:Metal wrote:Excellent example knotabassturd!

And no where does it say they can't get O2 if the water is moving from back to front. So far you're still taking a pretty big leap with huge assumptions. We all know they prefer water moving from front to back but those gills just like having water in contact with them. I stand by all my previous statements. I'm also going to state a foul hooked fish has a much better survival rate if released correctly than one that's been hooked in the mouth somewhere. I've seen too many Salmon with large chunks bit out of their bodies, swimming happily and doing what fish do to think a hook in the back or belly is going to slow them down one bit. Not to mention any creature that feels pain would be dead from said pain if they had a bite that took up to a quarter of their body.
This is my point exactly, what I've been saying all along. I still don't buy the suffocation argument. And most fish that are snagged are coming in SIDEWAYS. Which means they're still facing upstream. Hence the term, "brought him in sideways", because the hook is in the belly, dorsal or pectoral fins, more so than getting a tail shot. And nearly 100% of the fish that I catch on roe are getting pulled in by the throat, gills, eyes etc. They eat that roe. That's the point.
You put 12 pounds of drag on the hook attached to the throat of that big fish, you're going to tear something, and even a small bleed is deadly. Try putting a small bleed in your carotid. How long will you survive? A lot less than if you got a hook in your butt. If we're going to argue that snagging kills more fish than sportsmanlike conduct, you're just wrong. If you don't like the way folks fish the Skok, don't go there.
The Skokomish is a famous fishery. There are guys coming down from Bellingham to fish it, folks coming up from Vancouver. There are the locals like me, that grew up fishing that river. There are plenty of fish to go around, plenty of good water for all the different types of angling. But when you've got upwards of 500 anglers on the water everyday, you're going to either play nice, or get frustrated. When you've got 30 guys throwing in the dame hole, fish sharking up and down running away from lead, you're going to have a fish run right into your hook. If you're snagging fish on purpose, no doubt you're breaking the law, and I never would encourage people to break the law. I was making the point that it's healthier for the fish to get snagged than it is to get pulled in "in da mouf".