You should have told Larry Nixon where to find Ole George last week cause he sure would have been proud to have him.
Everyone, meet George, my crooked-backed spotted bass. Certainly, fish can be conditioned to a response, like pond catfish coming to feed. But they certainly don't have learned behavior, because I've caught ole George 4 times now off the same brushpile. I think that is quite interesting. The evening thunderstorms we are having here now are cooling the water a bit and the bite is improving. No matter, any day fishing is a great day.
Quit Wish'in and Let's Go Fish'in
Darryl Morris
FAMILY FISHING TRIPS GUIDE SERVICE
501-844-5418 --- [email protected]
You should have told Larry Nixon where to find Ole George last week cause he sure would have been proud to have him.
This is what happens to fish and people when they eat too much mercury!
Originally Posted by Darryl Morris
Regards,
Moose1am
May I ask how you know mercury caused the fish to look like that.
Originally Posted by Moose1am
The hunchback of fishing fame!
I bet he can swim in a circle easy
Shoals Area Crappie Association
A lesion like that can be caused by a number of factors including dietary, genetic, parasitic, toxicosis, or an injury/insult when the fish was a juvenile. George doesn't seem to be right in the head either.
Sure pox you may ask. :p But I hope you know that I was joking! Something caused that fish to become deformed. What I can't say for sure. Could it have been mercury? Probably not? Mercury does effect the brain and spinal column and nerves but I don't think it will cause the backbone to be so deformed. Now there could be a hunderd other toxin that the fish could have been exposed to when it was still an egg dividing and any one of those could have caused this genetic defect. It also could have been a complex combination of toxins or radiation that caused the fish grow a curved spinal column.
Now mercury is dangerous if you injest too much of it and Jerry Blake has just posted in another thread about what is happing with the USEPA mercury regulations being postponed. That basically will allow the power plants to continue to put out smoke with mercury in the smoke for the next 10 years or longer without any real control of those mercury emissions.
Hope this answers your question. If not sorry as this is the best I can do right now.
Last edited by Moose1am; 07-19-2005 at 10:05 PM.
Regards,
Moose1am
What about the curved spinal column? Something happened to that fish's spinal cord sometime in it's development. I have seen those type of deformed bass before. I caught a couple of 4lb bass at KY Lake back in November of1983 that was deformed like George. I'll have to get the photo from storage and scan and post it in here someday. But it sure does make me wonder what caused these deformaties. Also makes me wonder where all the honey bees went a few years ago. They almost vanished from my area. Some suspect it was a bee mite infection that wiped out a lot of the honey bees. But then it could also be due to the fact that many homeowners spray chemicals on their lawns to kill the weeds. This may also have the unattended result of killing the honey bees too.
Regards,
Moose1am
ahh, it's all because of SUV's and global warming
Shoals Area Crappie Association