I netted up today another FOOTBALL dead. weighed 5 pounds dead but only 18 inch long.Only the second dead fish I have had in almost 4 years. other one was a little bigger than this one. I tried texting Todd at Overtons some pictures of my autopsy but can't get them to go through. I bought these from him at 4 inch long. No eggs whatsoever. Maybe a huge male?? Stomach was empty except for what looked like some fish food. Probably been dead only one day. Here is the "odd" part. There was a large "black" spot on the "liver" about the size of a golfball or larger. I have cleaned a many of largemouth bass and don't ever remember seeing anything like that. Anyone any ideas?? I have good pictures but I have trouble posting on here.

What type of LMB ? Fla males do not get big.

How did the liver look ? Pics of fish ?

See this on sexing LMB.

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=103583&page=1

James, this probably has nothing to do with it, but I can't help asking what kind of feed they were on.

Been on Cargill feed from day one. That's what Overton's was feeding them and I have stuck with it the whole time. These are pure Florida strain lmb. The black substance was either the heart or the liver. Maybe the heart and because it was dead for a day the blood in it just turned dark like black?? The largemouth bass I have cleaned over the years were fresh and not dead and floating so I really don't know if what I am seeing may be normal??

Bass was probably juicing steroids. 18" at 5 lbs. is off the hook.

We always knew the feed couldn't be 'natural' to the fish's health.

Can you share the pics with a member who can post? I don't have a current hosting site or I'd get them up for you.

Feeding may get out of hand for certain very aggressive fish who take in beyond what is healthy. Just like humans!

Was able to get pictures to Todd. He said the dark area was the liver. He wasn't sure though why the fish died.

One thing is for sure, we can rule out starvation.

Pic of Flame's bass...

And here I thought the hogs in Texas lived on land! What a shame. Nice fish.

Looks like a football.

Snipe, did you get the picture of the autopsy of that fish?? Maybe you could post it and let others see the dark liver and see what they think. Thanks for the picture you posted here!!

That's a hefty fish.

Fish looks very young for that size. What would you guess is the % of feed in its diet ? See recent PB article on feeding .

The good, bad and ugly....

Glad I looked at this picture before lunch.

Feeling like sushi......

Yeah...I can SMELL this picture