Caught this fish today and noticed it had what looked like a bite mark on his side. The other side was not injured. Just a quick background on the pond... There are gators, Bowfin, Pickerel and as of a couple days ago at least one Otter. The wound looks clean and was not bleeding. It looks like an arc to me, so I think it's a bite.... Maybe not! 

A big bird probably

my guess is a heron, the cut looks knife-like with no serrations, a long-beaked bird

10 minutes ago, the reel ess said:

A big bird probably

 

8 minutes ago, Kenneth Yi said:

my guess is a heron, the cut looks knife-like with no serrations, a long-beaked bird

Didn't even think of that... I guess because of the size of the fish.

That fish had spent his life drinking too many soda's, got a bunch of kidney stones to the point he actually had to have his kidney removed. 

 

The operation was 2 weeks ago, performed by a sturgeon. 

 

You caught him during his rehab.

6 hours ago, OCdockskipper said:

That fish had spent his life drinking too many soda's, got a bunch of kidney stones to the point he actually had to have his kidney removed. 

 

The operation was 2 weeks ago, performed by a sturgeon. 

 

You caught him during his rehab.

This is a clear case of fish organ harvesting. Went to sleep in a bed and woke up in a tub of ice.

6 hours ago, OCdockskipper said:

That fish had spent his life drinking too many soda's, got a bunch of kidney stones to the point he actually had to have his kidney removed. 

 

The operation was 2 weeks ago, performed by a sturgeon. 

 

You caught him during his rehab.

Makes absolute complete sense to me and it's HIGHLY likely the culprit in this case.

13 minutes ago, Bird said:

Makes absolute complete sense to me and it's HIGHLY likely the culprit in this case.

Says the guy whos username is Bird...Just sayin'

The more disturbing thing is the fact that you have a confirmed otter. Those things should not be in ponds and will eventually cause the fish population to decline, get help on that issue immediately. 

4 hours ago, the reel ess said:

This is a clear case of fish organ harvesting. Went to sleep in a bed and woke up in a tub of ice.

I heard a rumor that a gang of Asian carp was responsible...

3 hours ago, TriStateBassin106 said:

The more disturbing thing is the fact that you have a confirmed otter. Those things should not be in ponds and will eventually cause the fish population to decline, get help on that issue immediately. 

I know, that concerns me, but it's on the golf course so all I can do is tell the manager... He won't care. I've seen the otter twice once with a large bluegill in his mouth. 

My money is on a bird but I never discount turtles.

I was also going to say bird, but if you look closely, there is a mark on the  opposite side that matches the path of the cut. Looks like it passed or was put through something symmetrical with sharp edges.

Or Aliens...

Chinese Star

41 minutes ago, GreenPig said:

Chinese Star

It's a Shuriken, and it's Japanese...

13 hours ago, Koz said:

I heard a rumor that a gang of Asian carp was responsible...

Now we can't say that as Asian's are being targeted all over.  Haven't you heard?

Maybe the talon of an osprey or an eagle?

5 hours ago, sschrad said:

Maybe the talon of an osprey or an eagle?

We have those too.

Big bird. 

Otter

One slash wound leaves out animals teeth to punch when grasp or osprey with talons causing multiple wounds.

Pelicans has a hook upper bill that can do that and Blue Heron tends to stab fish then grasp it. My guess is a Blue Heron stab wound.

Tom

 

Ironically, I caught a bass this morning that had a wound in the same place, although it was slightly different.  Instead of a long slash mark, it was a shorter, wider cut and some of the flesh was exposed, hanging out.  Other than that wound, the fish was very healthy & strong.

 

I felt bad not being able to do anything to help her.  Am I correct in assuming that if I played amateur surgeon and tried to stitch the wound up with some braid that most likely, I would have hurt her more in the long run than just letting nature run its course?

My guess is a bird with talons but I have seen this with braid.  I was using 20lb on spinning gear and no leader.  The fish jumped and turned the line over.  I pulled not knowing it had wrapped itself around my line and I sliced it> similar to the pic above. 

17 hours ago, FishTank said:

My guess is a bird with talons but I have seen this with braid.  I was using 20lb on spinning gear and no leader.  The fish jumped and turned the line over.  I pulled not knowing it had wrapped itself around my line and I sliced it> similar to the pic above. 

That sounds logical.