Dave,
Glad you guys had a great time at Santa Margarita! Good job, Thane, on a fat topwater fish! Tough getting those hooks out of the back of their throats but a good pair of dikes (as in diagonal cutters) would help if you could get them that far back. Shimano makes a really nice pair of titanium coated cutters that would do the trick. It's nice to hear about people who really care about the fish. Talk to you soon.