Starving Fish

[pad slammer]

I was fishing a small private lake yesterday and noticed the fish were very skinny. I use to pull lunkers out non stop at this lake and yesterday nothing but dinks. I did catch one bass that had a huge mouth but its body was so skinny, like wasting away skinny. Its gills were reseeding and looked diseased and its belly flesh was missing in areas. Is this from starving or a disease of some sort or did another fish just take a bite out of it? Last year I did catch a 4lb bass that had a green circle like disease eating away at it gill and this fish last night had the same thing  Any input?

[shutupnfish]

I've seen exactly what you describe in catfish before.  Usually from being fed until they're nice and fat, then cut back or stop feeding altogether.  Could be that the lake has become overpopulated with LMB's or different species with the same food source.  I guess it's hard to say without comparing numbers from previous years and whether or not some sort of disease is spreading.  I'd keep 'em out of the deep fryer until you find out though.   

Steve

[Gangley]

being a private lake, it most likely isnt getting fished enough and has become over populated.  Starving fish are unhealthy, and their immune systems weaken as a result.  I would talk to the land owner and see if you could implement a thinning out process on that body of water.  I would create a slot and start removing bass instantly if it was determined to be over stocked.

[BassThumb]

I had a bass this year that looked like it was wasting away, but it managed to hit a buzzbait and put up a little fight. It came from my favorite lake that has good sized fish and a decent amount of pressure. The fish basically looked like a filleted carcass, with a huge head and no meat on it behind the gills. The spine looked razor sharp and the body was at most 1" wide behind the head.

It measured 22" and weighed 1.6 lbs. I have never seen a fish like that before or since, from any body of water.

[Josh Bassman]

I had a bass this year that looked like it was wasting away, but it managed to hit a buzzbait and put up a little fight. It came from my favorite lake that has good sized fish and a decent amount of pressure. The fish basically looked like a filleted carcass, with a huge head and no meat on it behind the gills. The spine looked razor sharp and the body was at most 1" wide behind the head.

It measured 22" and weighed 1.6 lbs. I have never seen a fish like that before or since, from any body of water.

22" and 1.6lbs.... that's skinny. I caught a LM 24" and 3.5lbs and I thought it was dieing of old age. Your fish is the skinnest I've heard of.

[BassThumb]

I had a bass this year that looked like it was wasting away, but it managed to hit a buzzbait and put up a little fight. It came from my favorite lake that has good sized fish and a decent amount of pressure. The fish basically looked like a filleted carcass, with a huge head and no meat on it behind the gills. The spine looked razor sharp and the body was at most 1" wide behind the head.

It measured 22" and weighed 1.6 lbs. I have never seen a fish like that before or since, from any body of water.

22" and 1.6lbs.... that's skinny. I caught a LM 24" and 3.5lbs and I thought it was dieing of old age. Your fish is the skinnest I've heard of.

Old age is my guess, too. They don't get much longer than that up here. They seem to stop at about 22-24" and then just get fatter. 

[Big Fish Rice]

The "green circle" sounds like fish rot, or a common fungus that is found in natural, and aquarium settings. Could have been a prior injury that never healed.

If you're pulling out unhealthy looking fish, that body of water is either overpopulated, or lacking in resources.

Sounds like a good time for a lot of research, and don't forget to call your local fish and wildlife to see if they have any information or would be willing to check it out.

If they can (legally and willfully), it would be a great experience for you to witness!

[Josh Bassman]

That LM was the longest bass I've ever caught. I was shocked when I put him on the scale. I could see he was skinny, but with a fish that long... I was thinking more like 5lbs. It looked good, had no sores, color was nice, so I figured it must be dieing from old age or maybe a deep hook?

[NBR]

Big heads small bodies is a sign of too many fish for the forage. Friends who have owned privcate ponds and lakes have DNR based goals in number of pounds of fish to harvest per year.

I bet your local DNR can give you some guidance.