What Caused This Wound?

[Biglittle8]

Caught this fish today and noticed it had what looked like a bite mark on his side. The other side was not injured. Just a quick background on the pond... There are gators, Bowfin, Pickerel and as of a couple days ago at least one Otter. The wound looks clean and was not bleeding. It looks like an arc to me, so I think it's a bite.... Maybe not! 

[the reel ess]

A big bird probably

[Kenny Yi]

my guess is a heron, the cut looks knife-like with no serrations, a long-beaked bird

[Biglittle8]

10 minutes ago, the reel ess said:

A big bird probably

 

8 minutes ago, Kenneth Yi said:

my guess is a heron, the cut looks knife-like with no serrations, a long-beaked bird

Didn't even think of that... I guess because of the size of the fish.

[OCdockskipper]

That fish had spent his life drinking too many soda's, got a bunch of kidney stones to the point he actually had to have his kidney removed. 

 

The operation was 2 weeks ago, performed by a sturgeon. 

 

You caught him during his rehab.

[the reel ess]

6 hours ago, OCdockskipper said:

That fish had spent his life drinking too many soda's, got a bunch of kidney stones to the point he actually had to have his kidney removed. 

 

The operation was 2 weeks ago, performed by a sturgeon. 

 

You caught him during his rehab.

This is a clear case of fish organ harvesting. Went to sleep in a bed and woke up in a tub of ice.

[Bird]

6 hours ago, OCdockskipper said:

That fish had spent his life drinking too many soda's, got a bunch of kidney stones to the point he actually had to have his kidney removed. 

 

The operation was 2 weeks ago, performed by a sturgeon. 

 

You caught him during his rehab.

Makes absolute complete sense to me and it's HIGHLY likely the culprit in this case.

[slonezp]

13 minutes ago, Bird said:

Makes absolute complete sense to me and it's HIGHLY likely the culprit in this case.

Says the guy whos username is Bird...Just sayin'

[TriStateBassin106]

The more disturbing thing is the fact that you have a confirmed otter. Those things should not be in ponds and will eventually cause the fish population to decline, get help on that issue immediately. 

[Koz]

4 hours ago, the reel ess said:

This is a clear case of fish organ harvesting. Went to sleep in a bed and woke up in a tub of ice.

I heard a rumor that a gang of Asian carp was responsible...

[Biglittle8]

3 hours ago, TriStateBassin106 said:

The more disturbing thing is the fact that you have a confirmed otter. Those things should not be in ponds and will eventually cause the fish population to decline, get help on that issue immediately. 

I know, that concerns me, but it's on the golf course so all I can do is tell the manager... He won't care. I've seen the otter twice once with a large bluegill in his mouth. 

[Michigander]

My money is on a bird but I never discount turtles.

[Deleted account]

I was also going to say bird, but if you look closely, there is a mark on the  opposite side that matches the path of the cut. Looks like it passed or was put through something symmetrical with sharp edges.

Or Aliens...

[GreenPig]

Chinese Star

[Deleted account]

41 minutes ago, GreenPig said:

Chinese Star

It's a Shuriken, and it's Japanese...

[Randy Price]

13 hours ago, Koz said:

I heard a rumor that a gang of Asian carp was responsible...

Now we can't say that as Asian's are being targeted all over.  Haven't you heard?

[sschrad]

Maybe the talon of an osprey or an eagle?

[Biglittle8]

5 hours ago, sschrad said:

Maybe the talon of an osprey or an eagle?

We have those too.

[928JLH]

Big bird. 

[J Francho]

Otter

[WRB]

One slash wound leaves out animals teeth to punch when grasp or osprey with talons causing multiple wounds.

Pelicans has a hook upper bill that can do that and Blue Heron tends to stab fish then grasp it. My guess is a Blue Heron stab wound.

Tom

 

[RDB]

[OCdockskipper]

Ironically, I caught a bass this morning that had a wound in the same place, although it was slightly different.  Instead of a long slash mark, it was a shorter, wider cut and some of the flesh was exposed, hanging out.  Other than that wound, the fish was very healthy & strong.

 

I felt bad not being able to do anything to help her.  Am I correct in assuming that if I played amateur surgeon and tried to stitch the wound up with some braid that most likely, I would have hurt her more in the long run than just letting nature run its course?

[FishTank]

My guess is a bird with talons but I have seen this with braid.  I was using 20lb on spinning gear and no leader.  The fish jumped and turned the line over.  I pulled not knowing it had wrapped itself around my line and I sliced it> similar to the pic above. 

[BrianMDTX]

17 hours ago, FishTank said:

My guess is a bird with talons but I have seen this with braid.  I was using 20lb on spinning gear and no leader.  The fish jumped and turned the line over.  I pulled not knowing it had wrapped itself around my line and I sliced it> similar to the pic above. 

That sounds logical.