Fish Just Gotta Eat

[roadwarrior]

Have you ever caught the same fish twice?  Last fall I was fishing with a couple of guys that caught the same fish within a couple of hours. It is a 2-2 1/2 lb smallmouth with a crooked tail.  It appears to be healthy, the injury must have occured when the fish was much younger. Well, last Saturday I caught him!

There are a couple of things this brings to mind. Number one, we are fishing minnows and fish NEVER learn to avoid this bait.  Secondly, when a fish is caught that doesn't mean they run off and hide, they sometimes go right back to where they were. And finally, fish are strong and resilient.  Be as gentle as you can, but get that fish back in the water as soon as possible. They can survive an injury better than you might think.

[earthworm77]

Kent, sounds like he wants to meet your frying pan! lol

[squid]

Wow, that is a great thought on that, but no, I have never caught the same fish twice in one day.  

[Big_Bass_Rich]

I caught a 5 1/2 lb largemouth on a blue flippin jig one fall, I recognized her due to the roughed up tail and unusually black/red mouth. Well a week and a half later I lent the flippin jig to my friend and in the exact same spot he catches the same bass.. only this time it's about a half a pound bigger from the fall binge!! I told my buddy that he must have a horseshoe hidden somewhere inside his body. lol

[KU_Bassmaster.]

I ran into a kamikaze fish last summer.  This community lake just opened to the public and it was the first weekend.  I was using a 1/4 oz. spinnerbait and was working the outside edges of weed beds in 4-5 of water.  The water is extremely clear so I could see many bass cruising the edges.  I caught this one particular one that when i released him he just went right below the boat and stayed there.  I was washing hands in the water and noticed that he made a dart towards the front of the boat.  I picked up my rod to start fishing again and he had taken the spinnerbait that was dangling over the side of the boat.  All of these fish were nuts in this lake for the first couple of weeks.  You would catch these fish that their mouths were just one bloody mess with hardly any tissue left.  It was almost like a trout haven for that first month.

[BCAlbin]

All of these fish were nuts in this lake for the first couple of weeks.  You would catch these fish that their mouths were just one bloody mess with hardly any tissue left.

KU,

     Just curious, do you remember there being a noticeable lack of forage on that lake? You say the lake was just opened, does that mean it was fairly new? Had they stocked bass but not baitfish? or at least in adequate quantities? I've never heard of bass being on such a feeding frenzy that their mouths were bloody messes from hitting so many lures. With the lake newly opened, maybe they were crazy because they had never seen the variety of artificial baits that were being presented to them but it sounds like they were starving! I'm sorry for the number of questions, but I am honestly very curious. Answer all, some or none. Thanks...

[Will]

I have caught the same fish twice before. He was easily recognizable by a crooked tail and he was really skinny. It was open water so I wasn't sight fishing. The fish was caught on the same grub within 30 minutes of catching him the first time. I then lost another good fish which I think was him again when I seen the fish flash. Oh, by the way the fish looked to weigh 2 pounds the way he was, but probably would of weighed 3 pounds or more if he wasn't so skinny.

[Aaron_S]

I kinda caught the same fish twice.  I was bluegill fishing with crickets and 4lb line on my ultralite when this aggresive bluegill grabs my bait and takes off and I almost get him in and he broke my hook.  Therefore, I tied another one and cast back to where I hooked him and this time I caught him and he had my old hook as well as the one connected to my line in his mouth.

[KU_Bassmaster.]

This lake had been stocked for maybe 5 or 6 years and the lake was only open for kids under 13 and no boats were allowed. The lake has plenty of bait fish and plenty of cover (brush piles, trees, and tons of weeds).  The fish weren't fat by any means, but they seemded to be fairly healthy.

[D.Taylor]

Got to watch them fish with humped and curved backs and tails. My local lake has a few of them the same size I have caught 3 of them from the same spot on the same bait but none had hook holes in the mouth from catching them before

[L.D.]

Never got the same fish twice the same day, probibly because the way we float the river. But I have caught the same fish (with the big knotch in it's tail), three days in a row in the same spot with the same lure.

L.D.

[Cephkiller]

Last fall I was bank fishing twitching a Swimmin' Image much like one would twitch a floating minnow.  I got a strike and started reeling in a 4-5" bluegill (I could see it well in the clear water).  He soon disappeared in the mouth of a 4 lb largemouth.  I fought that fish for a minute or so and brought it to within 5 feet of myself and it spit the bluegill, which I landed and released successfully ;D  Two casts later, I caught what I am sure was the same bass because this pond was really small and I placed the bait back in the same spot where I recieved the first bite.

[D.Taylor]

I was bluegill fishing in a local stripmine lake. The Water was so claear I could see 20 bulegill that were not interested in my bait. Well in this boredum I stepped on a stump in the water. Out swimms a bass in excess of 6 lbs. Being in the age range of 10 to 11 years old I was shocked. All of a sudden the bluegill all fly at my bait. One grabbs the bait and I set the hook and start reeling it in rather easily. I was using a 5'6" Lucky Stick with a ultralight reel.

The rod doubles instantly. I look down that bass is eating my bluegill. I yell for my dad and the bass comes off. My dad comes running thinking I am hurt. I guess I was yelling to loud and paniced.

I tell my dad of the huge bass I lost on my bluegill he didn't believe me. So I cast the same bluegill back out there. It was half dead and it's tail was smacking the top of the water. With out hesitation there was a huge boil. I said still think i'm lying. I landed that bass and released her to back to the lake. Funniest thing is I never had her hooked.

[Chris]

When I was younger I would shinner fish with small silver short shank hooks. I hooked a fish in the top lip and couldn't get the hook out so I cut the line and tossed it back. I caught the same fish 4 times that day because it had 4 little silver hooks in it at the end of the day.