Thanks to everyone who played along.

One reason I stopped fishing competitive B.A.S.S. tournaments was that many of the competitors actually did this. While 'pre fishing' they would use lures with the hooks removed, and would get testy if you actually hooked or 'sore mouthed' a fish outside of tournament hours. I always looked at fishing time as precious, and I just couldn't get into the mindset to see this as a positive.

Buddy