Saw something odd today..sick bass?

[Red]

It started to get very windy today so I put the boat back on the truck and drove to a spot I wanted to fish from the bank.  As I approached the bank I noticed a very large fish in the shallow water just sitting there.  I threw a couple different baits in front of it without even a sniff.  I knew it wasn't a gar but was not sure if it was a bass.  So then I hit it with my spinnerbait and it barely moved then slowly swam off.  I move about 50 feet down the bank and I see it swimming along again very slow, and this time it was much closer to me, maybe 10-15 feet away.  So I hit it again and it barely moves.  Then a couple seconds later it jumps kinda half hearted out of the water!!  It WAS a bass and a really freakin big one too!  I bet its eyes were the size of a quarter.  It was sick looking though.  Skin was a gray color, I didn't see any green.  Plus I saw some whiteish spots all over it.  My question is do you think it was sick?  Coming to the end of its life naturally?  Anyway it was a pretty neat experience, too bad I couldn't get her to bite!

[aarogb]

That is pretty weird, never heard of anything like that before.  More than likely it was sick like you said.

[Micro]

They must die of natural causes.

[CAdeltaLipRipper]

I'm not sure but it sort of sounds like mad cow disease to me

[Red]

Yeah it was weird.  It was kinda freaky the way it jumped.  It kinda stuck its big head out slowly and held it up for a couple seconds then pushed itself almost all the way out.  It was a really big fish too, bigger than anything I have ever caught thats for sure.

[Grey Wolf]

You were probably watching the end of a great fish.

[Outdoorsman60]

I'm not sure but it sort of sounds like mad cow disease to me

no it's mad bass disease 

[Bassin-Yakin]

I had a similar experience a month or so ago...  not as big of a fish..but about 5 or 6 pounder I would say...  very very slow moving near the top of the water... and then I noticed white spots on the fish.... this is bound to be some disease...

[Red]

You were probably watching the end of a great fish.

Weather it was the end or not I don't know, but I do know it was a great fish.

[OHIO]

This same thing has happened to me twice at two different ponds.

The bass would just sit about 5 feet from the shore and not move unless I hit them with a jig or something.

I didn't see any white on them though, they were both extremely dark.

[Bassnajr]

You were probably watching the end of a great fish.

I agree...sounds natural....you witnessed a glimpse of nature most don't see. Just makes you realize how great these fish are and why we all chase them with wild abandonded!!!!

Peace

AJR