Soft plastic lures..... the silent killer.

We've all seen anglers throw their lures in the water after they have no use for them and most of us cringe. Sometimes we just retrieve our hooks to find that the bait has been robbed. One way or another, these soft plastics find their way into the lakes and the fish we love to catch gobble them up. Most are impregnated with salt, coffee, garlic, etc., so of course they end up getting eaten. I now know that a really skinny fish is usually skinny for a reason, especially if you find he doesn't match the health of the other fish you've been catching. I caught an unusually skinny fish this past weekend which was a clue that something wasn't right. This guy had something wrong which was most apparent when viewed down his spine.

His body didn't match his head and he didn't have any weight to him given his length. After closer inspection I was able to see what looked to be the head of a trick worm down in his belly once I relaxed his crushers. With some pistol grip needle nose I pulled some pieces out of his stomach which I would assume were blocking passage of any other food or at least sending signals that he wasn't hungry when in reality he was.

After removing the partially digested plastics he was released to go find some REAL food and I was left with the thought.... I sure wish I had been looking for this years ago when I caught a fish that looked sick. I've come across my fair share and rarely done any type of exam to see if I could help them. It took all of ten seconds to remove the debris from his stomach and was quite easy to do. I will do a lot more of an inspection on the super thin fish I catch in the future.

Tight Lines,

Jackson

P.S.? Let the dental jokes begin! ;)

Jackson, you make an invaluable point. I haven't thought about this much, but I'm sure you're right. I'll be more alert from now on. Thanks for posting this. (Say "Aaaaaah.")