Bass With Blood Splotches On Side And Tail,why?

[lanzbass]

In my 3 years of Bass fishing I have caught some that have blood streaks in the tail and splothes on their sides ! At 1st I was thinking other fish may be attacking them causing this but noticed a yellowish green mix in the marks on their sides ! Does anyone know what could be causing this ? Also the water I fish in is very clean and does not have any sign of contamination 

[aavery2]

Still healing from the spawn, they use their tails to prepare the beds and fan out rocks and gravel that damage their skin.

[lanzbass]

 I have seen it on ones to small to spawn ! I think that'.s true with the bigger ones as you wrote Aavery2 !

[TWMstr]

Well spawn is way over. Could be lamprey. Or battle scars.

[lanzbass]

Ok I checked Lamprey it says it's a jaw less sucking fish like a eel , it then shows a photo of a shark with a eel looking fish attached to it's side ? Guess I'm still at a loss ? I have seen scars on fish these look differnt TWMstr , but thanks for the feed back

[livetofish28]

It could be a disease of some sort

[Kevin22]

Lamprey marks are easy to identify. Round red sores with a hole in the middle. Usually around the pectoral fins. 

[Kevin22]

What you are seeing is probably a fungus. It looks like red swollen up sores and are often on the fins. They can be groups of sores or just one big patch. 

[lanzbass]

Now this is what I have been thinking Livetofish28 ! I have seen this same thing on trout in Montana years ago and on Catfish and Carp ! Sometimes its around the mouth or on the tail like its eating it away The meat inside looks normal , but I usually give it to the cat (the meat not skin) , cat never got sick . Just wonder what kind of infection or disease it is called .

[lanzbass]

Hey Kevin22,  I  think it might be just that , a fungus ! But would like to know more about it if it is ! Maybe someone else may know ? Like can you still eat the meat or what can I do to help the fish ?

[Mccallister25]

Iv often wondered about this myself. I watched a youtube video a few days ago, and the guy caught one with the splotches. Before he released it, he said the fish with the splotches were post spawn females.

[lanzbass]

Thanks BigBlock496 ! Well that may be it ? If you can find that video again go ahead and post it for us here

[Mccallister25]

Will do. Ill try to remember where I found it. Ill look tomorrow, and if I find it, Ill def. post a link to it!!

[lanzbass]

Great ! I have seen these marks on fish to young to spawn so I would like to see what they look Like in the video Thanks  again ! 

[MichBassMan]

Quite possibly a caught and released fish that someone let flop around on the ground or on their boat carpet. Fish slime removal under those conditions often leads to delayed mortality do to disease.

[lanzbass]

Very possible MichBassMan ! Also I was thinking if a person caught a fish and was handling it with their bare hands and then released it , I hear that the oils in human hands is very bad bad for fish could be that also ? Thanks for the input