Bass Ailment

[Trouthunter]

A buddy of mine consistently catches 19-21" bass out of a local metro lake, however they all seem to have these really disproportionate heads and bodies. The fish in the picture goes 21" and could be a nice 6-7lber if it was fat.

I've seen pics from spring fish as well as throughout the summer and they all seem to be misshapen.

Anyone ever come across a lake where lots of fish had this characteristic? Any thoughts as to what causes it?

[Dynasty]

Thats weird, they look healthy and must be in decent shape to grow to that size. Is it just this year? the cooler weather may have had an impact on minnows/forage that they tend to feed on. That might be why your catching so many on artificials also.

[Trouthunter]

This problem seems to have afflicted the lake for the last 10 years at least. I can remember fishing the lake in high school and having the same problem.

We've never had good luck catching fish on bass sized gear...always the fish are caught on crappie jigs, either 1/32 or 1/16 ounce. So now we spool up our ultralights with 10lb powerpro.

Seems like the fish just dont know how to eat a grass frog or a spinner bait.

[This message has been edited by Trouthunter (edited 09-22-2004).]

[Deitz Dittrich]

Without know ing the lake.. I woud guess that there is just not enough bait in decent size to get the fish to grow a good belly. Which may also explain why they wont hit "normal bass gear"... just a thought...

FYI, I have seen lakes with the exact opp... The city lakes for instance.. seems like all the bass in Harriet and Calhoun are the most small headed fattest bass you have ever seen...

[tylerflom89]

trouthunter could u email me the lake? [email protected] and some spots? im going out by myself (just got my permit) and have no clue where to go

[Trouthunter]

The lake is completely surrounded by private property...You have to know someone who lives on the lake to gain access. Also, it's in Wayzata/Orono, so crossing a multi-million dollar estate with a canoe in the dead of night could be somewhat of a commando mission. Bring some raw steak for the guard dogs!

[Dan Wood]

It is difficult to know for sure without knowing the lake, but I would agree that there probably isn't enough forage to support that size fish in that lake. Big bass need large relatively easy meals to grow those big bellies.. Especially in this part of the country where the water temps are cool the majority of the year and bass only feed agressively for a short portion of the year.

The other possiblity is that these bass just have good genetics and are under age for their size. They just haven't had the time to fill into their frames sort of speak.. Bass really slow in growth around that 20-23" mark and the majority of the growth is in girth when they get to trophy length. They need time to build those bellies hog bass are famous for!

The fact that you catch them on small lures leads me to believe that it is more of a forage issue though...

[Mark Christianson]

Your best bet is to contact the DNR area fisheries office that manages that lake.
They can give you the latest info they might have.