Question: Bass Eating Plastic Worms

[BoyoBoyle]

Ok So I went fishing yesterday and I was using these 10" Powerbait Worms and I caught a real nice 19" LM. As I pulled it into the boat, my buddy noticed that it ate my big ol' 10" plastic worm. I unhooked it, took a few pictures, then released it.

Im wondering.... what happens to a fish when it swallows these fake worms, especially the larger ones? Do they puke it up? Do they digest it? Does the worm have some type of compound that breaks itself down if swallowed? I was also thinking about if it would kill the fish or not... it would be a shame to see a big fish like that die from eating a worm.

Well.... what do you guys think?

[WaffleJaw]

its possible, worms wont break down and can cause digestive blockage....
thats about as much as I know.


W.

edit:
I just read that the berkley big gulp worms (nightcrawlers) are 100% biodegradable and break up in water and fish stomach's!!!...thats awesome,Im sure this will be a new standard soon.

[JB]

unless you saw some of the worm in the gullet of the bass's throat, it may have knocked the worm off the hook as it hit/and the angler set the hook

[BigBassin144]

Are you sure it actually it the worm? did you see part of the worm in it's throat or had it swallowed the hook?

My guess is the worm came off the hook during the fight. But if the fish did eat it, then it may die, but it may also pass the worm. There are pictures of fish passing plastic worms, so it can be done.

BB

[WaffleJaw]

Originally Posted by JB

unless you saw some of the worm in the gullet of the bass's throat, it may have knocked the worm off the hook as it hit/and the angler set the hook

that was my first thought too.....thinking maybe during the fight and retrieve...the worm was ripped off.

[bigjim]

you would think that all the MFG's of plastic baits would make the baits so they could be broken down in the fishes digestive system in case they did happen to swallow it and prevent the fish from dying...but i guess its not much of a problem happening all the time for them to worry about it,since they probably break off more than getting ingested

[swimbaitkid]

yeah the power worms dont last longer than a fish or two,bc they rip so easy and there so soft

[Bassboss]

Originally Posted by WaffleJaw

its possible, worms wont break down and can cause digestive blockage....
thats about as much as I know.


W.

edit:
I just read that the berkley big gulp worms (nightcrawlers) are 100% biodegradable and break up in water and fish stomach's!!!...thats awesome,Im sure this will be a new standard soon.

I would think that they give it a good barfing!

Waffle, I don't think it will come soon, those gulp worms are not very durable! They work great on a wacky worm, but come off with a light cast... only 6 of them in a pack, and 5 bucks a pack, it get kinda pricey!

[WaffleJaw]

Originally Posted by Bassboss

I would think that they give it a good barfing!

Waffle, I don't think it will come soon, those gulp worms are not very durable! They work great on a wacky worm, but come off with a light cast... only 6 of them in a pack, and 5 bucks a pack, it get kinda pricey!

oh are they?....never used them so i didnt know...

but give them time and science...haha!

[BoyoBoyle]

yea im not sure if it came off the line. But on all of my other fish i caught, never once did even one part of the line come off the fish (i was using texas rig). No i didn't see the worm anywhere, but my hook was set pretty deep in the fish's mouth. Maybe I lost it, maybe he ate it. Its still something i wonder about, because I'm sure theres been instances where a fish has swallowed a plastic worm.

It seems to make good sense to make the worms degrade in the fishes stomach. Well I heard they make most hooks with a chemical that makes it dissolve and decompose from some chemical in fish. that way when your line snaps, the hook doesn't stay lodged in the fish's mouth forever.

It would suck to have a fish die from eating a plastic worm, especially when you catch and release!

[Bassboss]

Originally Posted by BoyoBoyle

yea im not sure if it came off the line. But on all of my other fish i caught, never once did even one part of the line come off the fish (i was using texas rig). No i didn't see the worm anywhere, but my hook was set pretty deep in the fish's mouth. Maybe I lost it, maybe he ate it. Its still something i wonder about, because I'm sure theres been instances where a fish has swallowed a plastic worm.

It seems to make good sense to make the worms degrade in the fishes stomach. Well I heard they make most hooks with a chemical that makes it dissolve and decompose from some chemical in fish. that way when your line snaps, the hook doesn't stay lodged in the fish's mouth forever.

It would suck to have a fish die from eating a plastic worm, especially when you catch and release!

I would think that the worm flew off when you where fighting the fish, I think you would be able to see the plastic in it's gullet if it did swallow it.

[wareagledc]

i have cleaned some bass that had plastic worms and lizards in their stomach before and the looked all nasty like they were breaking down.

[Cavs1123]

it probably came off during the fight

[bamabassman]

the bass will digest it. think about this, they eat crawdads right? now think of how the digest the shell? harder than plastic right?

[BoyoBoyle]

Yea sure bass eat some tough stuff... but its natural for them, and stuff like crawdads have nutrients and vitamins they want... plastic has nothing, the fish would get nothing out of plastic worm so digestion must be difficult.

I like the post about finding decomposed rubber worms in a bass! Thats interesting stuff!

[BassAddict]

I caught a Smallmouth once in the James River that was passing a 7" Culprit worm. Looked strange at first in the water until I saw what was going on. Good to know they will do that!