What is this creature?

[Happybeerbuzz]

My wife was surfing the Facebook group “I just know I’ll die trying to pet something I shouldn’t” and came across this image. The thing is about six inches long and has a mouth.  It was caught on a worm near Yuma Arizona. Anyone know what it is?

 

[j bab]

Oh good lord, that thing is alive?

At first glance it just looks like a waterlogged soft plastic bait

[JediAmoeba]

A hoax.  Looks to me to be a swimbait with the paddle tail missing.

[Sam]

At first I thought it was my mother-in-law but then took a closer look and it is definitely my first wife.

[slonezp]

I'm more worried about the emoji apocalypse that seems to be happening. 

[islandbass]

Sorry, but it looks fake to me. I’m with jediamoeba. The piltdown man cometh!

[WRB]

Definately a spoof worm!

[Big Rick]

Some thoughtless, selfish person was fishing a paddle tail, ribbed swimbait and lost the paddle tail on a short strike. Instead of putting the broken bait in the trash they threw it in the water. The salt in it starts the decomposition and discoloration that also makes it very soft yet swollen. This kid's bait dragged bottom and inadvertently "hooked" it. 

 

I caught a fish the other day that had a chunk of Senko in its mouth that looked a lot the same way. Some people are so thoughtless when it comes to disposing used plastics. 

[12poundbass]

23 minutes ago, Big Rick said:

Some thoughtless, selfish person was fishing a paddle tail, ribbed swimbait and lost the paddle tail on a short strike. Instead of putting the broken bait in the trash they threw it in the water. The salt in it starts the decomposition and discoloration that also makes it very soft yet swollen. This kid's bait dragged bottom and inadvertently "hooked" it. 

 

I caught a fish the other day that had a chunk of Senko in its mouth that looked a lot the same way. Some people are so thoughtless when it comes to disposing used plastics. 

It’s not possible that it was a well used lure and the hook finally ripped through and the angler lost it? I never throw my soft plastics in the water NEVER, but I still manage to lose soft plastics to the drink. Maybe I’m the minority here....

[The Bassman]

46 minutes ago, 12poundbass said:

It’s not possible that it was a well used lure and the hook finally ripped through and the angler lost it? I never throw my soft plastics in the water NEVER, but I still manage to lose soft plastics to the drink. Maybe I’m the minority here....

I've minimized a lot of my losses by using more Z-Man stuff. One exception is my Yamamoto Fat Ikas. No substitute for them. At nearly a buck a pop I hate seeing those go flying from a jumping bass. As salty as they are I bet they'd spook someone real good if they got hold of one that had been soaking a while.