Reasons for bass dying.

[skekoam]

So my son and I were playing golf today and we started walking the bank at one if the ponds and smelled something horrible. Right at the bank there was a dead bass.  Looked to be about 2 lbs.  next to the bass was some line and a bobber.  The fish was whole and not fillet or killed by a scavenger.  This ticked me off to think that someone killed the fish and just left it to rot.  Do you guys think he was maybe gut hooked and couldnt be saved or do people really just catch and kill bass for kicks?

[The Bassman]

I found a completely decomposed bass with a bubblegum fluke in its throat a couple of weeks ago. It was pretty far up on the bank so whoever caught it just tossed it. No excuse for that. 

[Bird]

That would also be a person with no regard for human life. Imo

I stay away from those type of people. 

[TnRiver46]

His line might have broken on the Hook set or the bobber rig got stuck in a tree and broke it off with a fish eating it later. Let’s not label him Charles Manson just yet 

[the reel ess]

When your hobby is sticking animals in the mouth with sharp objects there will be some unavoidable carnage. Fish swallow hooks, lines break. Let's not assume this is a genocidal maniac. 

This being a golf course pond, maybe they weren't supposed to be fishing there anyway.

[Tennessee Boy]

Probably not the case with a golf course but some pond owners will only let you fish their pond if you promise not to throw anything back.  Overpopulation can be a big problem in ponds.

[the reel ess]

3 hours ago, The Bassman said:

I found a completely decomposed bass with a bubblegum fluke in its throat a couple of weeks ago. It was pretty far up on the bank so whoever caught it just tossed it. No excuse for that. 

It could be an animal drug it up there. It could also be that it died due to being hooked in the throat and was tossed up there.

[the reel ess]

23 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

Probably not the case with a golf course but some pond owners will only let you fish their pond if you promise not to throw anything back.  Overpopulation can be a big problem in ponds.

My buddy makes me put everything I catch from his pond in a floating basket that he empties out regularly. It's hopelessly overpopulated. I caught a 6.5 lb the first time I fished there 16 years ago. I haven't caught anything big in it since. A 1.5 lb bass is a big one there and the average is about 3/4 lb. Most fish I catch there have concaved bellies. The one in this pic is the biggest I've caught there in recent years and it had a bass down its throat. It's about 14". I did throw it back because I thought it had a chance to grow big if it can eat bass.

[Jig Man]

12 minutes ago, the reel ess said:

My buddy makes me put everything I catch from his pond in a floating basket that he empties out regularly. It's hopelessly overpopulated. I caught a 6.5 lb the first time I fished there 16 years ago. I haven't caught anything big in it since. A 1.5 lb bass is a big one there and the average is about 3/4 lb. Most fish I catch there have concaved bellies. The one in this pic is the biggest I've caught there in recent years and it had a bass down its throat. It's about 14". I did throw it back because I thought it had a chance to grow big if it can eat bass.

If your brdy wants a healthy lake he needa to harvest 20 bass per surface acre of lake each year.

[Scott F]

Bass and every other creature don’t live forever. Some bass do die of natural causes.

[the reel ess]

24 minutes ago, Jig Man said:

If your brdy wants a healthy lake he needa to harvest 20 bass per surface acre of lake each year.

I harvest way more than that out of it. But I'm the only person who fishes it regularly. He's a hunter. And, while I can let myself in, I don't just go there without asking. I've caught 50 bass in a day there. It's hard to put a dent in the population. Even the bedding bass are small. He really needs a professional assessment. But he's not going to do that. I told him we need to make a device to shock them up and take a lot of the dinks out. The majority of the bluegill are too big for 3/4 lb. bass to eat and they're competing for the same minnows. It's out of balance from the bass's perspective. It's heaven if you're a bluegill.

[WRB]

Just a WAG that someone watched the bass towing around the broken off bobber or found the bass already dead and tossed up on the bank.

Bass die every day you just don't see them often.

Tom