Hey folks...

I had a really good fish break off with a small nymph in his lip with some of my tippet attached and that got me thinking about something that I'm betting this esteemed group might be able to address.

Assuming that we're only talking freshwater - how long does a hook stay in a fish's mouth before it rusts/wears/falls out?

I've always heard that it usually "removes" itself after a "couple of days"...but really, what does THAT mean? A week? A month? And does it fall out or rust out? If it's rust, then I'm GUESSING that it's probably a lot longer than a month.

Any thoughts out there? Any anecdotal stories or empirical research that anyone has found on this?

Thanks!

Jim