What I found in a bass...

[CALVINIST]

I was out with my friend Dan this morning doin' a little bass fishing. The first bass Dan tangled with was gut hooked REALLY bad, and there was no chance for it to ever live. So I brought it home to eat. Look at what I found in it's stomach

A plastic worm with hook...

And something really weird; I don't know what it is! It is a spongy plastic material, very gross!

Here are the two together. (Knife added for scale. Not found in fish)

Here's a picture of Dan with a decent bass....

So, does anybody want to take a guess as to what that weird looking thing is? I have never seen any type of plastics that look like that!

Anybody else find weird things in a fishies stomach?

[ocf1]

I'm looking at a power hawg right now and could bethat with partof it eaten away.

[JohnMickish]

Bunny ears??

[sparcebag]

Ya he must have eaten a TV

[harvey lee]

Could it be a tail section from a larger spinner bait for muskie?

[RobertELee]

It looks like the flaps off an Exude B-A-Hawg. That would also explain why its soft and spongy.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Its some sort of jig and pig trialer.. not a BA Hog, but a decent guess...Most plastics as this one has, will actually expand in water over time, hence its size...I bet it was 1/3 smaller when it was used as a lure.

[basssmasher*]

That was going to be my best guess,was some part of a creature-bait type plastic but everyone chimed in before me.. lol.. hey Dietz, how long before a hook is dissolved if left in a fish??

[picksbigwagon]

I caught two bigger than average bass last week, and both of them had senko's in them. The senkos were sticking out in their mouths. no hooks, just senkos. My guess, people were throwing out their ripped plastics into the water. Both fish were released, and both senkos went into the garbage on my boat

[palisade1kid]

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I caught two bigger than average bass last week, and both of them had senko's in them. The senkos were sticking out in their mouths. no hooks, just senkos. My guess, people were throwing out their ripped plastics into the water. Both fish were released, and both senkos went into the garbage on my boat

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It's funny what guys throw in the water.

WTG on picking up after them.

[jigginjim]

People think its ok to throw these things in to water. After watching some the fishing show guys do it.

[EatSleepFish]

sweet beaver plastics also look like that...

[Deitz Dittrich]

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hey Dietz, how long before a hook is dissolved if left in a fish??

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To be honest.. I dont know. I would guess,a long time!

[basssmasher*]

I was told 3-5 days and just wanted somone elses viewpoint..anyone else can chime in with info please!

[Deitz Dittrich]

Just my opinion here... but maybe the old hooks from yesteryear... I have a feelin the newer hook may take a few weeks to rust out. Again, just opinion, I have no fact to base it on.

[JohnMickish]

Musky Hunter or Esox Angler magazine had an article a few years ago about that. If I remember right it takes almost a year for the new hooks to disolve but in the meantime they are cutting the stomach and creating infections. Not good.

[basssmasher*]

wow i didnt think it was THAT long.. I had heard something one time to the effect of fish had some acid in their system that could dissolve a hook within 3-5 days!! Just wondering now did I open a new can of worms?? I mean if the hooks are cutting the stomach and causing infections which will mre than likely make the fish die anyway, do we KEEP these fish if legal or simply cut the line and try not to remove the hook?!?!?!

[CALVINIST]

CrappieMagnet told me it is a beavertail, kind of like the one Yum makes. I too heard that plastics expand and become spongy over time.

Last night I was watching Animal Planet. It was a program about Hawaii and some of the islands that way. It seems that the islands pick up MASSIVE amounts of plastics that end up in the ocean. Really ugly!!! Worse, the albatrosses there are in rough shape because they eat the plastic. They find the decomposed carcasses of the birds on shore and they are just filled with plastic. everything from golf balls, cigarrette lighters, fishing lures, toys, caps, combs, etc. It won't pass, and the stomach becomes full, and they starve to death! Pretty sad to see this kind of stuff going on

[Mark Christianson]

Here is a pseudo answer as to hooks dissolving in a fish. Pretty generic answer, but understandably its got a lot of variables.

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/fwt/back_issues/december98/ask_dnr.html

[Bushwacker]

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sweet beaver plastics also look like that...

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BINGO- That's my bet too

[fdr01]

looks like it might be one of those deals that when put in water swells.my kids have an octopus and a sting ray and they are slimy when wet,they swell up big and if in a lake with a swimmin hole it is possible