NCbassraider

It is horrible for the fish and often is a death sentence. Experts agree with me, you must be the other people.

LMB but please don't lay it on paper towels if you are releasing. That's a death sentence for the fish. Don't lay it on anything is a pretty good rule of thumb.

BPS scissors. $2.00

Muskrats aren't eating your fish. They are omnivorous but eat mostly a vegetarian diet along with some small fish and frogs. They are a problem if the pond had a dam. They burrow deep into banks and can easily collapse a dam. Be sure they are not Otters. Otters will clean out a pond of every big fish. Otters have very thick tails and will tend to periscope up out of the water to look around. Scale piles on the bank is a sure sign you have them.

That is a very light colored cottonmouth you have pictured there but you are correct, it is a moc. A lot of people would think its a copperhead and that makes people think that they share the same habitat. They also see Northern water snakes with a similar pattern and associate copperheads with water. Copperheads prefer dry habitats and will rarely swim. Obviously, mocs will be found in water habitats. Most of the time, in the Southeast you either have cottonmouths or copperheads in you area but not usually both, although there are exceptions. Here in the Charlotte area, we have copperheads, no water mocs. The Northern water snake makes it confusing as they are everywhere and have adapted color patters to mimic the copperhead and cottonmouth. Here is good rule of thumb, if you see a snake swimming and the entire body is on top of the water, you are looking at a cottonmouth. If only about half of it's body is buoyant, it is not a cottonmouth and chances are very slim it is a copperhead, even if it looks like one. It's most likely a non-venomous water snake.

Not plenty, very few. Like NC, they are very limited. The link below shows how limited they are. Again, most are mistaken identity. https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.virginiaherpetologicalsociety.com/venomous-look-a-likes/cottonmouth-look-a-likes/images/Virginia-cottonmouth-map.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.virginiaherpetologicalsociety.com/venomous-look-a-likes/cottonmouth-look-a-likes/cottonmouth.htm&h=344&w=778&tbnid=NEM4Go6vcPLzBM:&tbnh=93&tbnw=211&usg=__uGswyNBq13VpHHg5hlWEzk_0KIs=&vet=10ahUKEwjm9P3FipjUAhUCNiYKHZu0AbwQ9QEILzAA..i&docid=_mbToSI58MP-PM&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjm9P3FipjUAhUCNiYKHZu0AbwQ9QEILzAA

Wow, that's pretty far north to find a moc. Most of the confirmed sightings of mocs in NC are in the SE part of the state. The rest are mistaken identities. NC Wildlife has Chatham out of the range of the water Moc on their map which means there has never been a confirmed sighting there. The Northern water snake has evolved over time to take on the colors, patterns and behaviors of mocs and copperheads for defensive purposes. They will even hold their mouth open and show off an adapted white mouth to mimic the "cottonmouth". They are much more convincing as a water moc than a copperhead. Most experts will tell you that the majority of sightings of mocs in NC are mostly mistaken identity. Also, pool owners in FL will tell you that a moc will rarely get itself caught in a skimmer. They are too good in the water and typically push the skimmer lid right off.

Wow, that's pretty far north to find a moc. Most of the confirmed sightings of mocs in NC are in the SE part of the state. The rest are mistaken identities. NC Wildlife has Chatham out of the range of the water Moc on their map which means there has never been a confirmed sighting there. The Northern water snake has evolved over time to take on the colors, patterns and behaviors of mocs and copperheads for defensive purposes. They will even hold their mouth open and show off an adapted white mouth to mimic the "cottonmouth". They are much more convincing as a water moc than a copperhead. Most experts will tell you that the majority of sightings of mocs in NC are mostly mistaken identity. Also, pool owners in FL will tell you that a moc will rarely get itself caught in a skimmer. They are too good in the water and typically push the skimmer lid right off.

Thanks

Thanks for the reply. What times do the ramps get busy on the weekend mornings?

We have a lot of those here in NC. It's a Northern water snake posing as a copperhead. At first glance, it's tough to tell though

Had a large black snake try to climb in my boat last summer. I think they just think it's land and they are vulnerable in the water to fish and birds of prey so they just want to get out. Luckily, here in central NC, we don't have to worry about venomous snakes in the water. Too far north for mocs and the copperheads don't like to swim. Mostly just black snakes and northern water snakes posing as mocs here.

Not sure where you live but the blue gill should not have had a spawn yet. It's a little early here in NC. I typically see a spawn in mid June on my property so it's probably not spawn related and 6 dead on a pond would be a lot to be related to spawning. When you see a small fish kill that is species specific it is typically a virus and is actually a good thing. It will kill the weak and make the rest of the species stronger. If you were seeing several different species floating then you are dealing with something like a contaminant or a lack of oxygen. What you are most likely looking at is Darwinism.

Some friends and I are traveling from the Charlotte area to put two boats in at Jordan on Saturday AM. Looking for some local knowledge and any other advice. We will be putting in at Ebenezer ramps. I've read to get there early as it gets crazy, anyone know at what time it gets busy on a Saturday? Will 6:30 AM be crazy? I've read to head east off Ebenezer into the finger lakes. Thoughts? Any navigation advice would be welcome. I know it's a shallow lake and I've seen a lot of stick ups traveling the bridge. Thanks in advance.

That's what happens to fish that are placed on marine carpeting or dirt and grass. Not saying that's what happened to the fish in the pic above but I've seen fish that develop those same infections by being placed on the wrong surfaces.

In conclusion, fish grippers are safer for the fish and the angler and this thread is absurd.

I would love to see these studies as well. Also would love to see documentation of the countless dead fish he has encountered and the proof that they were all killed by fish grippers. Not holding my breath.

I can't even begin to debate nonsense like this. And I would love to see proof of all the dead fish you say are a "direct result" of fish grippers. And who performed the autopsies on all these fish that lead you to arrive at this conclusion? What a joke. Yes, that's what he's saying.

Noticed nobody "liking" this post. Lol When used correctly, which is almost impossible not to do, they do not damage anything. Ever. It's actually impossible to hold the fish past vertical with them so the angler must support the fish which solves almost every case of dislocated jaws. They are also best for the bass when weighing the fish as you don't have to gill hook it. I almost always use them with treble hooks as I've had a bad experience that I do not want to re live. With the disturbing number of people who post pictures of their fish laying in the grass or on marine carpeting, it's hard to take this thread seriously.

Most states allow trapping permits for nuisance animals. For instance, we are out of season here for trapping muskrats but because they are burrowing in my damns and threatening the property, we have permission to trap still. They do the same for beaver and otters here also.

River otters are cute too look at but that is where it ends. They can decimate fish population in smaller bodies of water very quickly. I recently had some invade my 8 acre pond using a newly created beaver pond (another issue) on my property to travel from a near by river. They can be up to 30 lbs and eat half they're body weight in fish each day. They prefer larger fish and can easily catch any size bass. They got into my pond and wouldn't leave so I hired a trapper to get rid of them. I had a mating pair and 2 pups that went through my larger bass in a matter of weeks. During the recent spawn and throughout pre-spawn fishing I have noticed a drop in the number of large bass throughout the pond. In NC they cannot be relocated as they are considered a possibly rabies carrier so trappers must destroy them. They are also not to be messed with. A large otter will stand and fight a single coyote. They are fierce. Rivers and large lakes is where they belong. Your post seems to read that your otters are in a river system but if they find a small lake or pond, they will continue to return until the fish are gone. Small bodies of water are a canned hunt for them and they like easy meals. I felt bad trapping them but they had to go.

It didn't upset me at all, I was just stating an opinion. My experience is that most people over-estimate the weight of fish even when not trying to. I always ask my friends to guess the weight of any large bass we catch while on the water. Nobody has ever been low with their guess and most of the time they are way off. The fish pictured in my previous post was 6 lbs. My buddy in the boat, who is an experienced angler, guaranteed me it was 8-9 lbs.

Etiquette as a guest in a boat is 5 rods or less and 1 bag.

I doubt the bass in the OP was even over 7lbs, looks like a spawned out female, not real fat. Here is a pic of one right at 6 lbs I recently caught. Probably very close in weight, definitely not 3 lbs apart.

Great fish there young man...but keep her off the grass to ensure she lives on to be caught another day.