Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Diseased bass?

I saw this bass swimming around slowly by our boat dock today. It was really odd. Any idea what's wrong with him? I went around the whole lake and didn't see any others like this or dead fish anywhere.

Wow!! I don't know what that is but it looks like a real bad fungus of some type! I would not leave him in the pond. Sorry to see that man!! That looks real bad. Hope the rest of your fish don't catch it!

ayup....fungused up bad and won't live long...it happens from time to time usually from an injury and unless I saw more fish in the condition, I wouldn't sweat it.

Rex is right; the fish is toast and probably had an injury or was handled roughly as in catch and release with epithelial damage.

There could be a bacterial component to this as I'm sure your water in Plano, TX is warmer than 59 F.? Columnaris?

At least up here in the north fungal issues are prevalent in cold water but in warmer water it becomes a bacterial issue which in the case of columnaris looks similar to fungus.

Thanks guys. It really freaked me out that it had possibly spread to many other bass.

Well I found him floating and barely alive. I think it's the only one thank goodness. He's gone now.

His relative weight is quite low which could mean he's under nourished or just old and this may have contributed to his demise. Is this typical of your bass?

There are some stunted ones. We're working hard last year and this year on this issue. It probably didn't help that the lake went to 1.5 acres from 7.5 and now it's back full. Next year should be much better though. We just added in 5,000 coppernose and have pulled out about 70-80 12" bass.

Looks weird. Never seen anything like this on other fish. Lets hope that it was the only one.

Just found this thread and agree with Rex that it looks like a really advanced case of fungus. I just had this happen with my LMB that I have in an aquarium at home as many here know. I am not sure how it happened, but it began with a spot I noticed on a fin when I was leaving to go out of town for a few days. By the time I came home four days later, the fish was covered in multiple spots and patches on his fins, body, and eyes. I can easily see how a fish could get covered in fairly short order if not treated. My fish recovered fairly quickly - probably about a week with medication in the tank and a partial water change. Definitely keep an eye out on your others. I have no idea how you'd actually treat an entire pond if that stuff spread. Good luck with it.