Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Weird colored Large Mouth

I was down at my pond the other day and saw a 14" large mouth bass that looked like it was freezer burnt. It had some white splotches on it. Has anyone ever seen anything like this after a long winter? Will a fish that looks like this return to normal (new scales/skin)? I only saw the one bass and when I got close it took off pretty fast and did not see any other fish like that one.

It's fungus and is not uncommon in fish that have been stressed over the winter. Sometimes only a few fish will have it, sometime lots.

Did you have any oxygen problems this winter i.e. lot of snow cover? Did you do any catch and release of you bass this fall when temps were under 50 F. Or did you overmix you water column this winter? Fish overcrowded?

If none of the above I wouldn't worry about it as occasionally some fish just don't holdover the winter as well as others. If you did have problems you may see more of this as the water warms up and bacteria takes advantage of the fish.

Fungus is typically a secondary invader of weakened or injured fish. It depends on how severe it is on whether a fish will recover.

Cecil, Thanks for the reply. My areator in the shallow end went out for about a month (the other in the deep water is turned off in the winter)and the pond iced over. I did clear the snow off to allow light to pass through. My pond is only 2-1/2 years old so I don't think I have an over crowding problem. I stocked plenty of minnows in the fall for the fish to eat this winter. Once the ice came off. I didn't see any dead fish floating. I appriciate the info!!!

You're probably O.K. then. I had one bass about 4 lbs 4 oz. like that last year. It stayed shallow and had fungus on some of the fins and gills and I removed it as it was too weak to swim away and couldn't keep itself upright. As far as I know the rest of my bass were fine.

Just one of those things that happen I guess. Like one fish farmer said, "Sometimes fish just die!"

Thanks for the info. Can't wait until it warms up!