Tonight I was fishing one of my usual little neighborhood ponds. It's a tiny little pond, less than an acre, right in the middle of our subdivision. It's a very popular spot for people to fish, particularly families with their kids.

I was using a T-rig 5" Senko. First catch was a 1.3 pounder. Second catch was a bigger one at 2.5 pounds. This second fish, unfortunately, got hooked through the gullet. The fight didn't last too long, and I lipped him out of the water right at the bank. I got the worm out of the way and approached the hook with my needle-nose pliers via the gill plate area on the side--a technique I've seen on YouTube many times when specifically studying what to do when hooking a bass in the gullet. I pushed the hook through the eye-end instead of the barb end. Worked like a champ, no tearing, no blood. The fish was still struggling. I did put it on my scale via the gill plate, got the measurement, snapped a pic on my phone then put him back in the water. All told he was probably out of the water for about 45 seconds. I held him for a bit while he slowly wiggled, and then I let him go. He went down toward the bottom of the bank.

I started tending to my rod and getting my bait situated again. When I turned back to the water, I saw the fish floating in the water. With the tip of my rod I nudged him back toward the bank, gently cradled him while still in the water and tried to move him so water would flow through his gills and maybe get him going (fish CPR?). He acted like he was coming back to life again so I backed away.

While he wriggled a bit ultimately he just stopped moving. By this time he was a good 15 or 20 feet from the bank, and I couldn't reach him.

So, now I feel like [censored]. It's a tiny pond, and that's a good-sized fish that I likely killed. On top of that I'm worried about neighbors or their kids seeing the dead bass in the pond. I guess my questions are, Should I have taken the fish out of the water when I had the chance so that it wasn't left there floating? But really was there anything else I could have done as far as how I approached landing the fish and removing the hook?

Thanks for hearing me out. Appreciate any guidance y'all might have.

-Mark

Just a fish, you did more than most to try and revive it. I wouldnt worry about it

Why didn’t you try mouth to mouth?

COVID.

Crayfish and turtles gotta eat too.

It will be fine, chances are something will run off with it tonight and take care of it for you. It happens.

Repent!

If you're taking a pic of a 2.5 pounder you should probably be on the Red River!!

Why not just snag it with a topwater bait.

so how did it taste after you fried it? I hope you added a shot or 2 of the lady to your batter.

Plus #1.

Your siggy doesn't say where you are so I will just assume you are in TX. When the water temp is 90 degrees there will be some fish you simply cannot revive that get hooked in the gullet. It's part of fishing. I've had fish die in my livewell that were not hooked in the gullet but tongue hooked. And that was with ice to cool the water & Sure Life treatment with the aerators running wide open.

If you are that concerned about folks seeing a dead fish in the tiny pond, run over there this morning and look around the shoreline. The fish should be floating against the leeward bank so you can remove him.