Thread: I couldn't believe what I found deep in this bass's gullet

A lot of years ago in Florida Sportsman magazine I believe, there was a story about a man that found a largemouth flopping around on the surface as he headed out one morning. The fish was ultra skinny and clearly in need of help. He got to feeling around on the fish and felt something hard inside. He looked in the mouth and couldn’t see anything but the object was moving so he did his best to persuade it back out the way it had come in. A few moments later he was able to get ahold of the end of what turned out to be a sizable piece of wood that it had eaten and swallowed , unable to digest or pass. He pulled on it and it came out without much effort and he revived it for a couple of minutes and it swam off on its own. Nothing found in a fishes stomach surprises me since reading of this. My thought was that it struck the wood thinking it was food in low light conditions. That fish was blessed with a Good Samaritan.

It's happened to me twice this year. First time was at Normandy and I caught a two pound smallmouth. He had a large plastic crawfish sticking out of his stomach. There was no hook attached and I was able to pull it out no problem. Few weeks later on the Cumberland River same thing but this smallie did have a hook attached to plastic worm. I was able to unhook him/her also. So sad to see this stuff. While i'm rambling i'll tell a true fishing story. Hooked a smallie about a pound on the river and fought him up to the boat before the ned rig came loose. No kidding but I saw him immediately grab it again and get hooked! He had a fresh hole in his mouth right next to the hook! I would never of believed it if I had not been the witness.