Valdezy

Hey everyone! New to the forum. I'll probably make an intro tomorrow after work if I remember. For now I've got a question about an incident that just happened that kinda bothers me a bit. I was out fishing on the lake at my friend's college campus tonight, casting out to see if the bass were any good. I caught a good 3 largemouths a little less than an hour in, and then another bit. Reeled it in, pulled out the front treble at the lip and went to set it back in the water. The bait wouldn't budge so I held up my lamp to take a look and saw that the back treble had set in its pectoral fin. I carefully lifted the fin so I could unhook, but it wouldn't budge. Upon closer inspection, I realized that the hook had set in the fin, and then into the muscle immediately connected to it. The flesh was so thick that I couldn't unsnag the hook. I tried using pliers to pull (then, from the other end, push) the hook out but it was no good. I sucked it up and tried yanking it a bit but no luck. Long story short, after many attempts in and out of water for a good 15 minutes (with pretty much no fight from the fish), he gave me one good thwack with his tail, tore the hook right through his fin, splitting it in horizontal two, and swam off. No bleeding, no awkward swimming, nothing. It was as though he were unimpressed by my lack of dexterity. I've been angling since I could be taught how and I can't say I've ever recalled a time where the hook set in the fin muscle. I've never had to deal with such a tough snag, and I didn't have any tools with me to do precision cutting (though now, I'm glad I didn't). Of course, the simple lesson here is to just be sure not set the hook in too early, but what recommendations does anyone have if this situation comes up again? I hated seeing a good game fish swim away with a torn fin, even though it seemed alright. Is it safe to pull it out of the flesh there with enough force? Should I bring a wire cutter next time so I can break the treble? Any advice is appreciated!