On Fri, 29 Jun 2001 11:02:19 -0500, Mike Wallace <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

>On 29 Jun 2001, at 8:05, Crusty Russ wrote:

>> Only a few weeks ago during our trip to the BVI we saw a Queen
>> Triggerfish with a hook and six inches of line dangling from it's
>> mouth.  A sad sight indeed since the QTs are one of my favorites fishy
>> critters.

>I expected to get a response or two about seeing fish with hooks but
>I'm surprised by the "commoness" of them. If the hooks are not
>stainless then they will rust out pretty quickly in saltwater, hopefully
>without too much damage but I bet they are mostly stainless these
>days.... Definitely a sad sight.

It's definitely "common".  The hooks are not only rust-proof, but the
bigger ones (such as those tuna-fish hooks modified to make "reef hooks"
in Palau, they are so unbendable that anything hooked by those hooks
and the like could probably be removed only by surgery or ripping the
fish's mouth apart.

That reminded of ANOTHER hook-in-the-mouth encounter I also reported
in Scuba-L in 1994 during the weeks I was diving with Dan Manion.
One large BLACK grouper seemed to have a tremendous number of little
fellas (dozens) swimming along.  My theory was that they were little
vultures waiting for the grouper to die.  The grouper had a hook in
its mouth and a long line dangling.

The grouper approched me several time (during different dives) perhaps
instinctively seeking help.  But those were the only times I swam
AWAY from a grouper, having been told and understood that they could
be dangerous when they are suffering.

Not a fish story, but yet another story I recall having told before.
I am sure there amny other similar incidents lurking around in my
memory, not yet recalled.

Just remembered one.  A baracuda with a hook in mouth!!   Now I
definitely didn't fool with that fella.  Usually I tried to swim
slowly staring at any big barracuda, face to face, to try to get
a close shot or look.  They usually took off from 0 to 200 mph
within 2 nanoseconds at the critical moment of close encounter.  :-)

-- Bob.