Red Markings/Scars on Bass

fishman123 · Post by **fishman123** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 12:28 am

Many of the larger bass that I pull in have what appear to be red scabs or scars on them. Does anyone know where they come from?

Birds?
Other fish?
Natural processes?

I'll try to get a good pic of one next time I go out (assuming I catch a fish with them)

Bigbass Dez · Post by **Bigbass Dez** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 7:28 am

fishman123 wrote:Many of the larger bass that I pull in have what appear to be red scabs or scars on them. Does anyone know where they come from?

Birds?
Other fish?
Natural processes?

I'll try to get a good pic of one next time I go out (assuming I catch a fish with them)

Bass are coming out of the spawn so your going to see markings on there body and pieces of there tails missing etc. (WAR WOUNDS)...

Trent Hale · Post by **Trent Hale** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 8:31 am

:thumleft: BigBass dez is right the male bass will fight over a spawning nest. My buddy Marc saw this happen last week at Horseshoe Lk. And we seen this today in another lake.

Anglinarcher · Post by **Anglinarcher** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 6:37 am

Also, depending on the water, the marks could be from leaches. The leaches attach, feed, then drop off leaving only a red mark or scar.

Birds, sure, can be in some cases.

Other fish, absolutely. Other Bass, Pike in the right waters, etc.

Red marks in the jaw, probably left from MY hooks..................... never mind. (LOL)

tmusky1 · Post by **tmusky1** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 9:52 am

I've caught bass with holes punched completely through them, luckily missing anything vital, from those damn blue herons. God I hate those things.

Fish Antics · Post by **Fish Antics** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 12:34 pm

It might make an interesting thread for discussion if pictures were posted.

fishman123 · Post by **fishman123** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 4:13 pm

Micropterus wrote:It might make an interesting thread for discussion if pictures were posted.

My last 2 trips I've caught 4 of them with the red markings on them. I'll try to get a pic on Monday on my next outing.

Fish Antics · Post by **Fish Antics** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 4:43 pm

Great Fishman123 . . I'll keep an eye out for your posting.

Gone Fishin · Post by **Gone Fishin** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 10:03 pm

Anybody know what a WDFW scale sample looks like on fish? I know some of the pike I have been catching are tagged by the Kalispell tribe and WDFW. It seems the pike that are tagged are coming out with very similar markings. At first I thought it might just be from other pike but I have only seen it on their tagged fish. I know when they shock they take scale samples a lot.

fishman123 · Post by **fishman123** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 9:01 pm

I caught another bass with one of these markings on Monday. I have the pic on a microSD from my camera phone so I need to borrow my freinds thumb drive so that i can post it.

Trent Hale · Post by **Trent Hale** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 10:39 pm

Ducks will also bite bass that are trying to eat there ducklings. We saw this happen at Horse Shoe in Kitsap.Wish I had that on flim.

BassinBomber · Post by **BassinBomber** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 2:06 am

Great question,..I would love to see some pics of these fish!

Trent Hale · Post by **Trent Hale** » Sat Jul 05, 2008 12:21 pm

brownbomber wrote:Great question,..I would love to see some pics of these fish!

Hillbilly Geek has one on the "sinko" topics. The fish has red marks on it.

HillbillyGeek · Post by **HillbillyGeek** » Sat Jul 05, 2008 12:53 pm

Trent Hale wrote:
brownbomber wrote:Great question,..I would love to see some pics of these fish!
Hillbilly Geek has one on the "sinko" topics. The fish has red marks on it.

Yep. At first I thought she had gotten those wounds from our battle, but they had obviously been festering for a while before I caught her. They looked like giant fish pimples!

Here's the pic:

Fish Antics · Post by **Fish Antics** » Sat Jul 05, 2008 4:27 pm

Looks like a parasite to me but hard to tell from the pictures. Your description of "pimples" leads me to suspect something encysted in the skin. There are books written about infectious organisms so it would come as no surprise . . . It will be interesting to see what others think.

Bigbass Dez · Post by **Bigbass Dez** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 7:48 am

Looks like the beak from a Blue Heron , Those birds are known for stabing bass all over the country ..

Fish Antics · Post by **Fish Antics** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 8:11 am

Bigbass Dez wrote:Looks like the beak from a Blue Heron , Those birds are known for stabbing bass all over the country ..

Not disagreeing . . . just wondering if the bass was grabbed by a heron there should be beak marks on both sides that match. If the bass was poked at by the heron I am surprised the bass hung around long enough to get poked multiple times. There's certainly room for a post-beak secondary infection from a heron injury.

I am not diminishing the role herons, mergansers, and cormorants play in stabbing and consuming fish. As a matter of fact, it is worth everyone remembering that if you ever encounter a wounded or ill heron , one must remember their beak can be used as an effective weapon to protect itself. can't blame the bird - but you don't want to take a hit.

Someone once brought a wounded seagull to me in a box. i opened up the cardboard box to take a peek and the bird instantly leaped upwards and bit me right on the nose. Fortunately for me . . it was quite a nice clean wound.

Once I was unwrapping a Great Horned Owl that was caught in some netting. With lightning speed the bird reached up and scratched the full length of mu upper forearm.

Yup! Those beaks are sharp!

More pictures???

fishman123 · Post by **fishman123** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 7:45 pm

Here are those pics that I said I would post. Sorry I'm so late on this. I caught this fish in Lacamas lake 2 lbs 2 oz. Take note of the red marking under his side fin.

the1fishingpro · Post by **the1fishingpro** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 8:05 pm

Weird, I have been fishing Lacamas for a couple years now and I have never noticed the red mark. Did it seem to be a flesh wound? If it was a flesh wound, I doubt it was from spawning males, since bass have no teeth. I personally dont have a clue, there are blue herin that fly around the lake, but there are also a ton (and i mean ton) of cormorants. If I was to guess, I would say its damage from Cormorants or maybe somehow lacamas lake has some kind of chemical spill or waste that is affecting the fish. You could always keep 1 and take it in to WDFG and see what they think.

lemagoat · Post by **lemagoat** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 8:17 pm

I've caught some bass like that, the two biggest smallmouth I caught last week both had markings almost exact except not as red fleshy, there is one of my spots I fish where i have caught some bass with chunks taken out of the back, I think I posted them last year to show. I think those were from otters or osprey. those marks on that fish look like they could be from otters? have you seen any there? just my 2 cents.

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