Ripping Lips?

[Dirtracer35]

The thing to remember is that we've found this in several bass around the lake. It wasn't an isolated incident. Over 30 bass with jaws broken or ripped like this.

[5bites]

And how many have you guys caught like this!?!

[DADAKOTA]

Wow. Never seen one like that. Looks intentionally cut. Any chance a fish could do that twisting off a trotline?

[dprice]

I've had 40 and better I haven't counted Them but. I am accurate ....I figured when I mentioned this that fellow fisherman all around the lake were seeing great numbers of these. I don't see hooks or handling the particular fish i am talking about causes this . If these were fish damaged when they were small a " Greater prey like a flathead or a walleye or another bass would have smoked these things!" Blood in the water .... you can take this to the bank.

T me someone is doing this - all I ask is reconsider and change

I am proud that this forum can accomplish people thinking.

Dprice

[5bites]

That's definitely intentionally done. I can only assume that someone is tired of catching them while chasing another species.

[conorsixtakc]

This is disturbing. Why are we trying to give this person the benefit of the doubt by cooking up all these hypotheticals? It's very obviously the work of a blade, based on how clean of a cut has been made in that second pic dirt racer posted.

It makes me sick to even think of, and it's the definition of animal cruelty. I only hope that it ends, and whoever's doing it gets what they deserve.

[rangerman]

I kind of agree on the trotline theory...I am like pd, I fish nothing but walleye and bass are a complete nuisance, even the 6 pounders. But i never purposely hurt one. I have kept my share of legal Kentuckies but never smalllmouth or largemouth. I used to trotline a lot on table rock as a youth and can't remember the number of bass I caught using green sunfish. (Even small ones) Even then I never hurt one releasing it. I caught ALOT on the bottom lip. My theory was they would pick the bait up off the bottom and swim up with it, resulting in it being hooked in the bottom lip. I always hooked my bait by next to the anal fin so it would swim up. I used to love trotlining however, I could see some, not all by any means, but some catching one and using the shake off method resulting in a torn bottom lip.

From what I learned from trotlining both lakes and the Missouri River, I tried to picture how fish would pick up a bait resulting in the hook set. And this was just from my conclusion, everyone else may have had something different. It seemed a majority of the blues were hooked in the corner of the mouth froma slashing grab of the bait, flatheads seemed to be hooked in the bottom as they would engulf the bait and swim up with it. But who knows just my theory.......

[dprice]

I have found thAt bass feed forward and upwards in sudden bursts when in presence of other fish ? Troot line is a good theory but these are in areas with none. Dprice

[evilcatfish]

This kind of makes me sick to my stomach

[smbasser]

that's really irritating to think someone would intentionally do this. I want to think not