Many many moons ago, I remember a member losing some LMB because of a large heron wounding his fish by stabbing them with his beak.
I caught a weak fish,13.5"" male 77% RW, that I thought was just a small branch caught on my line, no fight. He had a 1/2 inch round dorsal wound slightly behind his head & near his spine. It was down to the bone, 3/8" deep, not through & through & not fresh. I had first thought it was a stress fungal lesion, LMB just off their beds. When I opened his abdomen foul grey-black water poured out. Later I wished I had checked to see if the wound was contiguous with his abdomen. I only did a quick pinky probe. I do have a Great Blue & large White Heron that patrol the banks daily. This is my first time seeing something like this.
If a heron or osprey kills a fish, the fish deserves it!
Comments & thoughts Appreciated.
So no problem then, your fish obviously deserved it.
I caught a similar LMB that had a completely fresh hole stabbed all the way through it, it was dead within minutes.
I am with DD1, I am not a fan of them, especially not stabbing a fish that is too big for them to eat or handle, just killing them because they can, my fish didnt deserve to die that way.
