In the thread on the Moffit Angling System, The following was posted by MaoDiver:

"...I catch the fish in the mouth, not outside of it, when I do as well. If the fish isn't hooked inside out, then it is a foul hook, and the fish should be released, at least for me."

Snagging, to me, means using a hook or weighted hook without attraction and jerking on it to impale the fish and then bring it. I don't like the practice, even when it's legal, for gamefish of any kind. That's not what I'm talking about here.

I've always believed that 'foul hooking' was the inadvertant hooking of the fish someplace besides the mouth area. I've always believe that these fish 'don't count' and when I used to tournament fish, they did not count according to the rules.

But, I always tried to land them. Occasionally, I'll accidentally hook a fish near the tail. They fight really hard that way, but so far all have been released unharmed.

And that brings up the questions I have about it. I now release the vast majority of fish I catch.

So:

Is snagging a fish inadvertantly more harmful to the fish than hooking it inside the mouth? Given that you are going to bring the fish to hand and then release it?

If you intentionally set out to hook a fish outside the oral cavity because you believe it is less stressful to the fish, as the Moffit System claims, is that a 'bad' thing? I'm not looking for the 'legal or 'illegal' here, but more does it harm the fish being hooked and fought that way?

Does it really matter 'where' you hook a fish if you are going to release it? Even if you foul hook a fish, it still struck the fly, right?

What do you guys think?

Buddy