This pond me and my boy fish on, we have caught several bass with strange holes/wounds in their side. See picture below. The first bass I saw, had 2 holes right next to each other, I thought it might have been a snake bit, but the one below is a single hold. Also, this hole on the picture below looks like an old wound; I have seen fresh ones too. What is this from?

kinda looks like a leech bite but not real sure

dang ....looks strange never seen that before .w/r/j

Looks like it could be from some kind of "fishing bird". Like a Heron or something.

I remember once time i had some fish on a stringer down the shore, and I kept seeing this Heron attacking "baitfish" down by my stringer...only it wouldn't move, just stayed in the same spot.

finally I went down to see what it was doing. The bird flew off, and I realized it was attacking my fish!

The fish on the stringer were all beaten up and full of holes where the heron had been pecking them, and they looked a lot like that picture.

Don�t think it is a leech, or would have pulled in a bass I think with one on it. A bird sounds more like it. I seen one all beat-up on the side too, like Starless Dragon describes. There are lot of diving ducks on the pond, seen some geese as well. Don�t remember seeing a Heron out there, but I will look better next time. Interesting, I only see it on the bigger bass I catch. Perhaps this is because the smaller bass get speared and caught, while the bigger bass get away.

That's a pretty nasty looking wound, I'll bet it's from a bird.

I would have said bird, or even another fish.

Cormorant bite? I have caught a ton of bass with the telltale "stripe scratches" from cormorants, that they got as they escaped their fate of being eaten. If it is a small pond that is low on water, could be turtle bites too. Low water conditions and shrinking living space make God's creatures do strange things.

Rudy

Cormorant, I bet that is what it is! Seen a ton of them out there. Water is not low. Funny, my 8 year old son has been saying it's a turtle from the beginning, plenty of them out there too. But I bet is a comorant, all the wounds are on the top half of the fish too, those dang water turkeys! They eat a ton of fish I have heard.

Looks like it's from a talon or beak.

I have been doing a little research on those gosh dang ding dern cormorants. Those things got anglers in an uproar all over the country! Cormorant populations have exploded in recent years; devastating open water game fish numbers and requiring lower fishing catch limits.

In 1999, our great president George W. Bush signed state legislation in Texas for a resolution to remove the double-crested cormorant from the Migratory Bird Treaty Act that protects these pests, referred to in his legislation as "water turkeys," "sky rats," and the "fire ants with wings". Not sure what happened with that legislation, but I found that many states have passed similar legislation, with the aim of allowing states to establish hunting seasons for cormorants to contain the size of the populations. These pests swim under water and hook fish with thier sharp hooked bills. See the picture below.

Damn Water Turkeys. You can apply for a permit from the state to kill these. They eat a ton of fish.

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/business/permits/land/wildlife/

If they are native, they have a place here. Humans eat more meat...don't they? I don't think they should be free from being hunted though.

FristName, they have their place, but the problem is that there are too many. There numbers dropped 86% from 1950 to 1973 because of toxic chemicals, oil spills, etc.. and got to very low numbers, that is when the fed stepped in and protected them under Migratory Bird Treaty Act, since then, thier population taken off, it appears really in the 1990�s. It is a major issue for all North America. In the 70�s they needed protection, now they don�t, I don�t think they are protected any more under the act.

however romantic it may seem for a bass to be attacked by a cormarant the fact is that the wound is probally due to black or yellow grubs. these grubs are parrisites that bore into the living tissue of fish, and are spread by birds from one body of water to another in diffrent forms of maturity. i think snails host these guys too in there early stages of the parasites lifecycle. the migratory bird treaty act only applies to game birds that migrate, and not trash species. all water birds needed protection in the 70s due to DDT in the water suply and thinning eggshells. cormarants are invading many waters they used to not, but the most damage is in canada. i for one like to catch tons of cats under the dead trees they roost on, and like them b/c they help me get on fish... and it is fun to scare them with the bassboat in the evening after a long day of fishing, i know someone has come accross a big group of them on the middle of the lake befor too, haha. back to the point. the wound on the fish is infected and rotted, that dose not look like it was speared by a cormarant...