Big Indiana Bass

How A Bass Jaw Works

Let The Bodies Hit the Floor

If you hang around online a lot (who doesn't now days), it won't take long to see a lot of negative comments from posters any time someone posts a video or picture of a bass hitting or lying on the boat carpeting. You'll see lots of claims from guaranteed death, to boat rash, and rubbing off of the slime coat. Even the booklet, "Keeping Bass Alive" states, "Swinging or flipping fish into the boat and onto the floor is a poor technique! 'Rugburn' can cause extensive damage to the mucus coat." It all seems to make a lot of sense from a practical standpoint, but is there any scientific basis for these assertions? Some recent research suggests these claims of harm might be misplaced.

Every fish has a layer of mucus covering its body, an epithelial layer, that provides a first barrier line of protection from things like bacterial and viral infections. Damage to this layer exposing the skin underneath can lead to these type of infections, and potentially even lead to death in severe cases. This study looked at what happens when a landed bass is allowed to lay on boat carpeting. They simulated this by placing caught fish in a plastic container lined with artificial outdoor carpeting, and then allowing that fish to do whatever it wanted (lay still, flop around, etc.) for 30 seconds unrestrained. They then used a compound called fluorescein to evaluate the damage.

Fluorescein reacts positively with epithelial damage via chemical reaction. The result is a glowing green light that can be captured easily via photography and analyzed for extent of damage using imaging software. It has been used successfully in other published research on similar skin damage in both northern pike and rainbow trout. What was the result with bass exposed to carpeting for this length of time? Basically, nothing.

There was no statistical difference in damage detected via this method when comparing those bass subjected to the carpeted box to those bass which weren't (controls). This brings up some interesting questions. Is there really no harm in letting your bass lie on the floor of your boat for a short period of time while you land it or cull through fish? The data would suggest no - it is one possibility. It is likely that different fish species have differences in their mucus layer, things like thickness and how well it holds up to external damage, intra- and inter-specific variation. Perhaps bass mucus layers are 'tougher' or more 'attached' or bound to the underlying skin, affording bass greater protection than other species. That would be a good thing.

Another possibility is that the fluorescein technique might simply not work well on bass for some reason, and the negative results from this study might not represent what is actually occurring in real life. Obviously, more research in this area is needed, including comparisons with other freshwater fish. So, while it is always good practice to limit the amount of external stress we place on our fish during angling, what is perceived to be a bad practice may not actually be harming our fish as much as we think. Lets hope that is the case.

 

• Evaluation of common angling-induced sources of epithelial damage for popular freshwater sport fish using fluorescein
  Alison H. Colotelo, Steven J. Cooke

What Matters Most

A recent Tackle Warehouse order to stock up on the things that matter most...and 'just released, custom color, magic baits' aren't part of that plan. You have to have dependable line, split rings and hooks no matter what baits you're throwing, and these are some of the best available IMO. Winter downtime is a great time to change out everything that needs upgrading, as well as relining all the outfits with fresh fluoro.

Bank Bass Still Biting

A few of the bass I caught on blade baits this afternoon.

First Cataract Keeper of 2019

Caught on a jig out of about 10' of water.

From the Vault: Knight Tube Worm

Also courtesy of Matt Gibson (top pic), the Knight Tube Worm. At the time, a very unique and expensive bait on the bass fishing scene. You only got 3 worms in a package, and just 1 if it was pre-rigged. They came in both 4" and 6" sizes, and later made a crappie size version "Tiny Tube" if I remember correctly.

Knight Manufacturing, of Tyler, Texas, started as a garage business in 1965 by Wayne Kent, and his wife, Judy. The company introduced the Tube worm in 1976. In 1989, Knight merged with Creme Lures, infamous for the first soft plastic worm on the market. It was a favorite of mine, as much for the unique construction as for its fish catching ability.

Still Have Open Water

Wouldn't have guessed it being as cold as we've been, but still finding open water on the big reservoirs and have been taking advantage of it every chance I get. Just wrapped up 3 trips in the last 3 days, and boated 300 crappie along with a few white bass and largemouth. Found some floating ice today and ponds this morning were heavily skimmed over, so no telling when it will all end.