Had something very strange the other night.

It was about 85 degrees out, I'd been there for about an hour, so I was fairly hot under the collar. Not mad, just sweating a bit.

I got a tap-tap, and the line moved off very slowly, and I thought to myself, self, here's a nice fish. Around here the bigger fish tend to hit softly and move slowly. It's hard bangs and quick runs that result in dinks. So I set the hook, and had what felt like a dink on the line. Not much fight at all. Bait was in about ten feet of water, so the fight didn't last long. When I got it in, it was a nice fat 3 1/2 pounder. Very strange, a fish that size with so little fight.

Here's the really strange part. When I lipped him, he felt HOT. Not water temperature, which cool to the touch. This fish was hot to the touch. And remember, I was hot from standing out in the sun on an 85 degree late afternoon.

Anybody ever experience this? Or have an explanation?

Cheers,

GK

edit; the other fish I caught that evening were all at water temp, slightly cool to the touch.

Is it possible he was suspended in direct sunlight?

Must have had a fever...

Is there a nuclear power plant in the area? How many eyes did it have?

Is there a nuclear power plant in the area? How many eyes did it have?

The fish or Gary?

Very strand indeed.  Were you using chili peppers for bait?

The heat had to come from some outside source.

I never heard of a largemouth bass running a fever.

Maybe Micro or other bass biologists can give you a good explanation.

All I can do is agree that the fish may have been staging in direct sunlight for some reason and just absorbed the heat.

No more drinking before fishing for Gary...........

Whether the fish temp gets explained or not, I'll say this...........there's a guy who is paying attention.  

Every cast, the lake tells you something.  Sometimes it can stump us with what it is offering but it's THIS kind of attention to detail that instigates learning.

I will throw this at my marine Bio prof. friend at URI tomorrow

It's the same thing at one of the lakes I fish at, but only thing that I can think of that might do it is that a decent amount of chemicals are put into the lake.

Let's see.

I had my reading glasses on; so four eyes for me.

The bass did not have his shades on; so two eyes for him. Which also negates the idea that he was hanging out in the sunlight.

The nearest nuke plant is 75 miles away; all the three eyed fish are up there.

Can't be a chemical thing, or all the fish would have been affected.

My consumption of "sports drinks" will not make the fish hot. It will make them much larger in the telling, though.

I think I'm going with Muddy and Sam, and say the fish was suspending right at the surface long enough to get that warm. He must have either followed the bait down, or had dove down right before I caught him.

You guys crack me up.

Fish adjust their body temp in only two ways: soak up sun (or move to heated water), or by muscle "friction" when swimming.

I have felt bass that were notably cooler than others -deeper caught. But a fish cannot be hotter than the water, except possibly a little -by swimming so aggressively (for a period of time) that it develops friction within its muscles.

But, this doesn't sound like a healthy situation for most summer bass, unless there is enough readily available food to support that body temp and associated metabolic processes. This is why summer bass in many waters get thin in mid-summer, and switch to low light, night, and early morning feeding.

The other thought I have is that it's very difficult to assess temp sensations because they are relative to our own extremities (finger) temp and perception of it.

Must have had a fever...

...and the only prescription is

Must have had a fever...

...and the only prescription is

hahahahahaha any song with a lot of cowbell is the cure... and the best to dance to