Caught my first squarebill bass of 2021 yesterday, unfortunately the back trebels hooked the fish in the tongue which caused some bleeding after being removed. The fish started to bleed as I began to put it back in the water and it swam off like nothing happened to it. Even with smaller trebel hooks are tounge hooked bass still on death row? Is there anything I could've done to prevented this?

 

What was even more surprising is the bass was caught on a 1.5 kvd with stock trebels. For a 1.15lb fish he basically inhaled my crankbait because now there's teeth marks all over the sides. 

unfortunately you have zero control of where the trebles hook the fish. i'd be more ecstatic about the catch and less worried about where the fish was hooked if i were you lol

It should be fine - tongue bleeding will stop soon enough in the water...it's not like you ripped a gill or two loose.

4 minutes ago, EWREX said:

unfortunately you have zero control of where the trebles hook the fish. i'd be more ecstatic about the catch and less worried about where the fish was hooked if i were you lol

I was pretty stoked to catch it on the squarebill but I never like bleeding fish. Especially ones that are a nice size. I always thought it was common knowledge that tongue hooked fish are goners. I remember other people on here making threads about the same topic. 

Just now, TriStateBassin106 said:

I was pretty stoked to catch it on the squarebill but I never like bleeding fish. Especially ones that are a nice size. I always thought it was common knowledge that tounge hooked fish are goners. I remember other people on here making threads about the same topic. 

it's not always a death sentence, but there are definitely better spots for the fish to be hooked. it happens, just like gut hooking happens all the time

They eat bluegills with spikes and crawfish with shells and pinchers. They chew them in their gill rakes when they don’t swallow them whole. They are designed to be stabbed in the mouth by sharp things.

I've always heard that a tongue hooked bass is a dead bass. But from my own practical experience I know this isn't always true. Case in point: I caught a 3lb bass on a popper a few summers back and the back hook was in the tongue. It bled but I got it unhooked and back in quickly. A week or so later I caught the same bass on a wacky rig and it was healthy.

Roof of the mouth kills them faster. Not by the lips but further back. It happens. Turtles gotta eat too.