several years ago on another forum there was a hellacious debate over a fish being legal to weigh in or not...
the situation was a guy was fishing a jig and hung a big bass in or near a brushpile....fish wrapped him up in the brushpile and guy spent several minutes trying to dislodge the fish from the brushpile and finally gave up and broke his line...
he is sitting down on front deck re-tying when the fish swims to the surface next to the boat and guy grabs his net and scoops him up still with his jig in his mouth...as I recall his story,he didn't know whether he could weigh the fish in or not and his partner convinced him they couldn't so he took his jig out of the fish's mouth and turned the fish loose.....
what's your thoughts? legal fish or not?
(wish I knew how to do one of those polls where you vote)...

If it's your jig, certainly legal. I broke one off in the pads about 9am on braid in a Basschamps. Came back about 2pm to fish the area and the trolling motor got hung up on something. I pulled it up to find the braid wrapped up in the TM. I unwrapped the braid and decided to go get my hook back from earlier. I broke off a full cast, appx 50ft of braid. As I got to the end where it was wrapped up in the pads I realized there was a 5lber still on the end. Partner grabbed the net and scooped her up. Culled up 3lbs and got a good check. I see no issue when guys do this as long as it actually was theirs. Ethically there's no issue in my opinion

what about you hooking a fish and it jumps right beside the boat,the hook comes out but your partner catches it in the net..... since you were disconnected from the fish....would you count the fish?

IMHO there is nothing morally,ethically or logically wrong with weighing in a fish a fish that you hooked whether the fish broke off and surfaced by the boat or he fell off the hook as you netted him..MAIN THING TO FOCUS ON IS THAT YOU ENTICED THAT FISH TO BITE AND YOU LANDED THE FISH......it isn't like this happens every tournament,99% of the time you are not going to catch that fish that broke the line and only once or twice in a career are you gonna get that lucky.....

If he knew it was the fish he broke off earlier and could pass the polygraph then I would say Yes.

One caveat is related to the rules requiring you to complete a cast and retrieval before another line can be used. The break-off completes the cast/retrieval. If it is immediately brought in without making another cast, maybe... However, I think in the example it was sometime later, would that essentially be the same as having two lines in the water if you claim said fish?

I would put her in the box. I would also probably ask the TD just to clear my conscience.

What if your lure flies out of the fishes mouth during a jump and you get the net under her? Same type of deal

Completely different. Spitting the hook and catching it in the net is in the act of completing the cast. Have it float up after....to me you have already ended that cast.