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Went out Saturday to a local water supply lake that I have had a lot of success on. I hooked into this guy and when I saw its mouth I really thought I had a big bass. Once I landed the fish I was shocked at how skinny it was. Has anyone else seen any fish in the state that look like this? Could it be sick? Have soft plastics stuck in its stomach blocking its digestive track? Just spawned? Thanks!
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Just by looking at the tail and the fact it has not been wore down and aint bloody i would say it has not spawned. Now there are several other factors that can cause that fish to be poor. one it could be a large male, 2 the size of the impoundment, 3 food availability, 4 LMB virus, 5 maybe it just hasnt been eating much yet.
I have heard a few other people say it could of been a large male. Also, the lake itself is plenty big, has a very healthy ecosystem and a large amount of baitfish. Here is a good female I caught a few days prior that has yet to spawn.
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Maybe he cant see
billy e, you are a corker.
I caught a bass like that one time on a chicken liver catfishing. His tail was all gone, it was like reeling in a log. Throwed him back figured he had spawed or was real sick.
I'm going to agree with slabsntaters in impoundment size.
He looks normal to me,he looks solid,belly is full just not enough food to keep it full for growth.
thats one of those Jenny Craig fish
Don't know if the fish had been dead long, but the gills look awfull bad. Could one of several ectoparasites or bacterial infections. Non-of them bad, as long you don't eat your fish raw, and even then most fresh water fish parasites/bacteria can't survive in a human. Probably sick (unless he'd been in a cooler more than about 20 minutes when the pic was taken)
LMBarnett, this fish had only been out of the water for a few seconds when the picture was taken and released right after.
We catch an occasional Crappie or Bass here skinny like that. Alot of times the rest will be fat and sassy? Always suspected them to be sick or something.