What's Wrong With This Bass?

[TNBassin']

Saw a bass tonight cruising the shallows and it had all this brown gunk on him. We tried catching him by hand as we forgot the net but no luck. He was barely swimming and didn't spook at all when we tried to get him.

[Sam]

Female after her spawn???

[WRB]

The bass appears to be gravely wounded and is dieing from deases. The wounds look like a predator bird may have inflected the damage.

Tom

[TNBassin']

It wasn't wounded I don't think. Just had this crap all over it. It reacted to a skitter walk but never went after it. My wife even hit it once on accident walking the bait over top of it and it didn't react at all. The bass was also very dark as you can see by the pic.

[hookedahawg]

TNBassin was this Douglas? I saw the same thing the other day, just figured it was a wounded fish.

[BassinLou]

I agree with WRB. Just because the fish is still swimming true does not mean its not wounded. Regardless, that poor bass days are numbered.  

[Traveler2586]

It looks like a photo of a bass I saw that had Large Mouth Bass Virus. ( I'll try to find the photo on line)  I think it's in its final stage of the infection.  As I understand it the sores you see on the outside of the fish are caused by stress on the fish from the virus.

 

http://www.in.gov/dnr/files/LMBV.pdf

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view.asp?a=2702&q=474654&deepNav_GID=1620

 

 

[TNBassin']

TNBassin was this Douglas? I saw the same thing the other day, just figured it was a wounded fish.

Yeah it was on Douglas. I've never seen this before. It looked like it had brown moss or algae all over. You could see it kind of flow in the water as it swam. 

[NEjitterbugger]

I saw the SAME EXACT THING!!!! It was about 3 or 4 weeks ago... In the place I witnessed this it has a dense population of algae, when I saw the bass it was sitting still near a similar color algae or gunk that was coating the fish... Perhaps it just hung out in an area where algae was being produced and therefore the algae began to grow on the fish...

 

It's very bizarre... interesting as well since we saw the same exact thing and I'm in NH and you are locaterd in TN...

[Mainebass1984]

 It appears that the fish has a Fungal infection most likely Saprolegnia. I see it all the time, it is pretty common. It appears as a white to brown growth coming off the fish. Usually Saprolegnia will take hold in an area of the fish where flesh has been explosed. It is common in warm, high nutrient water or in high fish density waters. No cause for concern. Not every fish can be healty. Just a sick dieing unfortunate bass.

[TNBassin']

 It appears that the fish has a Fungal infection most likely Saprolegnia. I see it all the time, it is pretty common. It appears as a white to brown growth coming off the fish. Usually Saprolegnia will take hold in an area of the fish where flesh has been explosed. It is common in warm, high nutrient water or in high fish density waters. No cause for concern. Not every fish can be healty. Just a sick dieing unfortunate bass.

You are correct. I googled "Saprolegnia" and found this http://www.worldfishingnetwork.com/users/wdaweb/blog/catch-and-release-a-few-ways-to-do-it-properly-13304.aspx It doesn't surprise me, as people out here don't know how to properly handle a fish once it's caught.

[Grizzn N Bassin]

Good thing I fish healthy ponds with beautiful healthy bass.. thats a shame to see bass like that

[TNBassin']

We have plenty of healthy bass here on Douglas, as evidenced by the insane weights the pros were pulling out during the Bassmaster and PAA series, but you get idiot locals or noobies that don't know how to handle fish properly. 

[WRB]

Every time someone bounces a bass on the boat carpet, the fish looses it's protective slim coat, then diseases can attack the skin. Slim coat damage can also happen from predators grabbing the fish like osprey, gulls or herons.

Whatever the cause the bass Is sick. Bass swimming around like a zombie could also have brain damage from being caught in very water. Catch and release has it's limits and a small % of bass do not survive, you are a witness to a bass deing slowly. Reminder to handle the bass with care.

Tom

[BassinB]

I've seen many like that...