Weird Bass

[Bass_Akwards]

Weird day yesterday. Anyone have any photos or descriptions of oddly formed bass they've caught?  I caught this humpback yesterday and it got me to wondering how many other anglers have caught something weird like this.

A few casts after this I caught a 17 inch long bass with a 4.5 inch Yamamoto Large Flappin' hog in it's belly.  Just a tiny peice was sticking out of it's throat and I pulled it out with my pilers.  I can't imagine how long that thing was stuck in there and I can't imagine how on Earth that fish's stomach acids would have dissolved this huge lure.  I was blown away the fish was able hunt and eat effectively.   Anyway, check out this basses topside.  It's lateral line looks like a ski hill.

[Raul]

Mammy bass had a wild night with daddy crappy ! 

[Paul Roberts]

I've caught a number of malformed fish. Spinal deformities are not all that uncommon. Is that one also missing it's spiny dorsal fin?

As to the ingested soft plastic; It's more common than we might realize:

http://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/skinny-fish.html

I see, or suspect it, several times a season. A couple weeks ago I caught small but pot-bellied smallie that then spit up a plastic worm at boatside. When I lipped it, the belly skin was distended, but was now like an empty sack. I suspect the worm had been in there a while. It appeared healthy but wish I'd really checked it for muscle mass. Fish can go a while without eating.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

I saw a picture earlier today of a 4lb+ fish with a head & mouth you'd expect to see on 7lb'er.

[J Francho]

Pshht!  Just one kink in the spine?  Check out this brown trout:

[Bass_Akwards]

Pshht! Just one kink in the spine? Check out this brown trout:

WOW!  It's an optical illusion.  Depending on how I look at it, I can't tell if the tail is sticking up in the air or is laying flat on the ground.  Beautiful fish no matter what it's shape though.

[Raul]

Son of a gun, a mammy trout had an even wilder night with a daddy eel !  :

See, that 's what happens when you drink too much or do drugs, it get 's really crazy !

Just say no. 

[J Francho]

Pshht! Just one kink in the spine? Check out this brown trout:

WOW! It's an optical illusion. Depending on how I look at it, I can't tell if the tail is sticking up in the air or is laying flat on the ground. Beautiful fish no matter what it's shape though.

Actually its the head section that's bent.  the tail fin might be slightly bent too, but for the most part, its lying flat.

[Nitrofreak]

That is just not right, That fish is wacked!!!

[Bass_Akwards]

Pshht! Just one kink in the spine? Check out this brown trout:

WOW! It's an optical illusion. Depending on how I look at it, I can't tell if the tail is sticking up in the air or is laying flat on the ground. Beautiful fish no matter what it's shape though.

Actually its the head section that's bent. the tail fin might be slightly bent too, but for the most part, its lying flat.

I know!  That's what makes it so cool.  The way the fish's body is so kinked, makes the tail fin look as if it's in the air.  Kinda cool.

[Bass_Akwards]

I've caught a number of malformed fish. Spinal deformities are not all that uncommon. Is that one also missing it's spiny dorsal fin?

As to the ingested soft plastic; It's more common than we might realize:

http://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/skinny-fish.html

I see, or suspect it, several times a season. A couple weeks ago I caught small but pot-bellied smallie that then spit up a plastic worm at boatside. When I lipped it, the belly skin was distended, but was now like an empty sack. I suspect the worm had been in there a while. It appeared healthy but wish I'd really checked it for muscle mass. Fish can go a while without eating.

Yep.  No dorsal.  Surprised this thing lived to be this big without getting eaten.  If I'm an adult bass, a juvi bass with no dorsal fin looks like a good lunch.

[brushhoggin]

I've caught a number of malformed fish. Spinal deformities are not all that uncommon. Is that one also missing it's spiny dorsal fin?

As to the ingested soft plastic; It's more common than we might realize:

http://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/skinny-fish.html

I see, or suspect it, several times a season. A couple weeks ago I caught small but pot-bellied smallie that then spit up a plastic worm at boatside. When I lipped it, the belly skin was distended, but was now like an empty sack. I suspect the worm had been in there a while. It appeared healthy but wish I'd really checked it for muscle mass. Fish can go a while without eating.

That makes me want to come up with a digestive friendly soft plastics line.

[Paul Roberts]

I've caught a number of malformed fish. Spinal deformities are not all that uncommon. Is that one also missing it's spiny dorsal fin?

As to the ingested soft plastic; It's more common than we might realize:

http://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/skinny-fish.html

I see, or suspect it, several times a season. A couple weeks ago I caught small but pot-bellied smallie that then spit up a plastic worm at boatside. When I lipped it, the belly skin was distended, but was now like an empty sack. I suspect the worm had been in there a while. It appeared healthy but wish I'd really checked it for muscle mass. Fish can go a while without eating.

That makes me want to come up with a digestive friendly soft plastics line.

There are a number of 'biodegradable' SPs out there. I just haven't bit yet. Not that they wouldn't work, I just have so many other ones. Lately I've been using the 3X type and they are darn tough for fish to get off a hook. The worst, wacky-rigged plastics, esp those super soft, crumbly (and darn effective) Senko's.

[zbigbadaaron]

I caught a fish with that had a hunchback too. But the difference is its stomach curved in more.

[Glenn]

What hump?

[Dwight Hottle]

Hey John aren't trout spine deformities more common in hatchery raised trout?

[J Francho]

Don't know if they're common, but my bet this is a hatchery fish.  They stock tens of thousands in the creek where I caught him.  Back in my aquarium keeping days, I'd see similar deformities in my own stock.  Almost always it was related to water quality.

[Paul Roberts]

Warped spinal columns are often the result of damage or disease when fish in the fry stage.

As to the origin of John's brown:

Hatchery trout, at least ones raised beyond fingerling size, end up with warped fins -the dorsal, pecs, and pelvics -in that order. It's blamed on crowding in the hatchery. Severity ranges from severe warping, to just a concave bend or kink in the leading edge of the dorsal and/or pectorals. I have pics of all of this, but not in digital format at this point.

If the fish was stocked as a fingerling, as steelhead are in tribs, or various species in the lake itself, then it can be harder to tell. Seems a lot of browns I caught in LO had warped fins so they may have been stocked a bit older. In I Creek it was easier to tell: With so many yearling browns and domestic bows stocked for put-n-take, all of which had warped finds, the streambred fish stood out with their full fins. There are habits differences too (related to residency) that result in color differences, but I've gone sufficiently OT as it is.

[airborne_angler]

I've caught a number of malformed fish. Spinal deformities are not all that uncommon. Is that one also missing it's spiny dorsal fin?

As to the ingested soft plastic; It's more common than we might realize:

http://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/skinny-fish.html

I see, or suspect it, several times a season. A couple weeks ago I caught small but pot-bellied smallie that then spit up a plastic worm at boatside. When I lipped it, the belly skin was distended, but was now like an empty sack. I suspect the worm had been in there a while. It appeared healthy but wish I'd really checked it for muscle mass. Fish can go a while without eating.

That makes me want to come up with a digestive friendly soft plastics line.

Isnt GULP! Digestable? It is Biodegradeable

[D.R.BassSeeker]

Looks like both that bass and the trout had a chunk bitten out of them when they were smaller. I've caught some weird looking ones as well, most of which appeared to be the results of some type of traumatic injury in their past.