Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Is this critter eating my LMB?

I usually catch quite a bit of bass and bluegill in my pond. This year so far not one bass and the bluegill are all only a couple of inches long. I catch & release. Yesterday and today I found two dead half eaten bass in the water. These are the tracks I found in the mud around the edge of the pond near where the fish were found. Any idea of what they belong to and could that be where my fish are going? The tracks are a little bigger than the size of a silver dollar.

They look like raccoon tracks at first glance (front feet)

Coons don't eat a lot of fish (can't easily catch them).

Otter can do a ton of damage .

Tracks I can't tell .

I agree with Drluke, those are Raccoon tracks. They are definitely not Otter. Are Raccoons eating your Bass? Yes but only if they were already dead. A coon is not likely to catch a bass. I would look for another reason for the bass to die, but I would also try fishing a big old night-crawler and see what happens. Your bass may be fat and happy on the small Bluegill.

+1 the tracks are from a coon and not the culprit. Any otter or mink in your area?

Could a winterkill have happened and only the smallest fish survived? Agreed, 'coon tracks.

Thanks for the help! We do have mink in the area. I've seen 3 in the last few months within a half mile from our house. The pond is overrun with bluegills so that is probably why the bass aren't interested in my little redworms. If a winter kill happened, wouldn't I have noticed a lot more dead fish?

If a winterkill happened, and you weren't at the pond within a week to two weeks after ice-out then there is a good chance that you might not have seen any dead fish.

If you enlarge the last picture, you can see the much larger "heel" print in the mud of the rear foot. (coon) A mink will catch a few fish, not like an otter unless food is scarce and the fish are in a controlled environment.

Yes, a larger bass won't hit a redworm, you will have to fish with larger lures, something about 1/4 the length of the bass you are targeting if the lure is a slim profile.

Use a free swimming 3 to 4 inch blugill for bait.

The first time DD1 told me this I kinda was like.... yeah right ok.. I put a 3 inch BG on a hook with a bobber about 2 feet up and in about 10 mins or less I had a LMB on!! Hook em just behind the dorsal fin so they can kinda swim natural. And hang on!! lol

A LMB can't stand a struggling fish... he will hammer it if given the chance....

RC

If you got an otter you got trouble . They eat 5 to 7 lb a day.They are wastfull and enjoy to chase and kill like a cat.Swimming cats I call them. If you got them they will leave scat that is totally fish scales. If you want to be leagal get a depridation permit first and killem all quick as you can.Bad news for a pond.