Can a bass?

[GatorBK]

Digest a plastic worm? I catch bass on ocassion that have soft plastics in their throat/stomach. The baits  are sometimes rough on the outside I guess where the digestive juices try to dissolve them .

Does it hurt a bass to swallow plastics? It seems they would mess up their digestive system and possibly kill them . How do bass deal with something like that in their belly?

[Fish Man]

they will probobly regurgitate(spelling) it somtime after you release him/her

[GatorBK]

I guess they can regurgitate them but some bass seem to have had the plastics in their belly for a while . I noticed that the color changes in the plastic on the section that is deepest in their belly. And a few have been in there so long they dont have hooks , or maybe they ate plastics  that were flosting and came off peoples hooks or ones that were  discarded in the water.

[FL_fisher]

I dont think it will kill the fish, but I always keep and throw my worms away later. Even though I dont think it will kill the fish it cant be good for them.

[George Welcome]

In most cases the plastic will pass. Obviously they cannot digest it.

[Panamoka_Bassin]

In most cases the plastic will pass. Obviously they cannot digest it.

Just like the George Harrison song, "All Things Must Pass" 8-)

[hamer08]

No, they can't digest it and it may or may not pass. I see several photos of the contents of a large bass's stomach which had bits and pieces of several different types of plastics.

[G3-Basser]

I pulled a 7in worm out of a bass' vent hole (not sure if that's what it's called, but I'm talking about its bum) recently.  The worm was about 3/4 out and looked like hell.  I gently pulled on it and it came right out.  The bass was in great shape, about 2 lbs, and I released it without incident.  The certainly cannot digest a typical plastic worm and this guy was lucky that he could pass it.  I suspect that most just regurg them later.

-J