I was fishing some new hidden underwater structure... anyways, thought i was hung up in a tree, and did the thumb on the spool and pulled. I thought i had a limb until it started running straight at me...

on to the point - it turned out to be a strong 2.5#'r.... i got it out of the water and it had these red looking sores, most were on its tail fin, and then one right on what i call their tounge. I couldnt see well due to how bright the sun was, but when i got it home, they looked awful. I thought maybe some distorted looking leech, but when i rubbed one off with my filet knife, blood started oozing. This is the 2nd fish i have caught out of this lake like that

I wish i had takena  picture, but i came in to get the camera and a good thunderstorm came up... by the time i got back outside to look it over my dog had already eaten it. Amazing how a dog can get in a cooler livewell.

I didnt eat it because it kind of scared me... any ideas on what it could be? He was holding close to stumps or the trunk of an old tree in about 5' of water.. the water is about 80deg and 4-6" visibility. It's creek fed and is a DNR managed watershed. There is also a guy who lives on the lake who flys the water planes, and where i caught the fish is the area where he takes off and lands at

I'd definitely contact your local DNR to ask a biologist about it.  Here on the Shenandoah River we've had some very serious fish kills in the last two years.  They're still a mystery at this point, but sores on the fish have been reported.  I'm sure they're unrelated issues, but I'd still report it just to be safe.  

Our fish kills were all adult smallmouth, btw.

-JC

i havent seen any dead fish floating around, except for one small catfish... i caught 2 smaller bass from the same spot i got this one, and they didnt have any sores on them.

going back to the sores, the red stuff looked like clotted blood in a lump, when i brushed it away is when i saw the small 1/4" diameter sore... i thought maybe the lump i brushed off might have been some type of organism, but it didnt move at all

The fish in Oconee are eat up with sores too. I know some of it is associated with spawning but I also think bass beat themselves up feeding during the shad spawn.

that would make sense because its only on the bass that are 2+ in lbs

We have a lake here that has terrible water quality. At one time it was just a low lying swampy area that a creek ran through, the city dammed it and created a lake. Years ago when we moved here, before the city had grown, the lake was in good shape. But as the city grew, and the more cars that were on the road, the water quality just went to crap.

Now 90% of the bass we pull out of this lake have sores on them just like you describe.

Alot of the bass on our lake have the red sores.Alot of them are caused by lamprey or leeches.I have caught bass with a leech attached.A friend of mine saw a nice bass floating last year that had a leech or lamprey on it.I believe alot of the bass are able to rub them off.Maybe if ouchitabass or rolo comes across this post they could enlighten us on it.

this is a fairly old lake, and its is out in the country... they do allow boats with gas on and there are some boats that come by me sometimes and they bout knock me over with the fumes. i know they aren't leeches, but im not sure what lamprey are.

im going to try to catch another one and then take a pic to post... the other thing im going to do is get in touch with DNR and see if they know anything about it.

i like to catch the 5# out of here to eat occasionally, 1 of them will feed me and my parents. Everything else i catch gets tossed back.

The sores you see could be a few things.  Before the females lay eggs they rub on stumps and rocks and stuff to help stimulate and to loosen the eggs inside of them.   Here on the Mississippi three or four years ago in one area in particular I caught a slug of bass with sores or lesions on them.  One fish actually had a hole completely through it just under the spine.  This fish fought well and appeared nourished and healthy outside of that.  The DNR attributed it to a bacteria.  I have also heard the LMBV can cause lesions.  Could have been a lot of things.  If you have lampreys or eels that could also be the culprit.  

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/VM059 & http://www.dunnsfishfarm.com/bass_spawning.htm

i think these 2 just answered my questions.. thanks for your responses - this lake doesnt have lampreys or eels... i just got off the phone with DNR and they said more than likely it was post spawn lesions. I described that reeling the fish in was like pulling a log until it started running. that is probably the strongest 2.5lb i have ever reeled in

He also told me that since they were external lesions, the fish are fine to eat. He just told me to be sure to filet everything out of there for the next month or so. That's not a problem because I filet and skin everything i decide to eat fresh.

i was fishing for kokanee and caught quite a few with marks just like that. i believe its an advanced parasite. thats what the biologist told me anyways.

upstate NY we have a bird called a Coremerads (Wrong spelling) but there are a water bird that can dive up to 80'.  They have bad eye sight and sometimes bite fish that are way too big to eat, leaving the fish with lacerations.  The usually habit an island and their crap is very acetic and kills all plant life.  They can destroy a good fish population in smaller lakes.  A buddy of mine told me about them.  I guess they had them bad up at henderson harbor (Lake Ontario), hurting the fishing, so a bunch of charter captins went up there and blasted them.  Some rich bird watcher put up a $1500 reward and someone turned them in.  

I caught a fish yesterday that had a red lesion on its side as well.

iv sen this alot to but iv alwayes thought it had something to do with the power plant  we have on the river i live on the altamaha in ga but i havent seen them so much on fish in the river lately but what i call slue fish have alot

Russ010 got you the correct answer, The lesions are a product of the spawn and will be gone before the next season in most cases. There are a mutiple of reasons including being caused as the male butts the female to loosen the egg mass.