rubber worms

[captbrooktrout]

not tring to piss of bass fisherman but its time to stop rubber worms second brook trout this ice fishing season i have caught this year dying from a rubber worm in its guts  gotta be a better way

[badbrad2186]

not tring to piss of bass fisherman but its time to stop rubber worms second brook trout this ice fishing season i have caught this year dying from a rubber worm in its guts  gotta be a better way

I'm super surprised there isnt a biodegradable "rubber" worm

[Raquettedacker]

I'm super surprised there isnt a biodegradable "rubber" worm

  They do look up this company I have bought from them..

[Papa Sly]

Yeah I'm wondering if maybe we should stop using hooks also because hooks kill a lot more fish than people realize when they throw the fish back and they think it's going to live and it doesn't. So maybe we shouldn't allow anybody to use hooks or at least go to all barbless hooks on our lures on our poppers and on all of our hooks

[badbrad2186]

  They do look up this company I have bought from them..

I don't use rubber or plastic baits but thanks for the information

[icefishman]

You kept the fish and ate it, but it was on its way to the grave?

[RyanW]

How can you determine it was about to die from ingesting soft-plastics? If it were truly dying, it wouldn’t have bit your line. Dying fish tend to be extremely lethargic and don’t even acknowledge much of anything other than trying to breathe.

[jimmyclaude]

not tring to piss of bass fisherman but its time to stop rubber worms second brook trout this ice fishing season i have caught this year dying from a rubber worm in its guts  gotta be a better way

You caught two brook trouts? kudos!

[fishermantim]

Here's an important question in my mind:

Are the plastics being rigged ON a hook or on a wire screw (like a pen spring) attached to a hook?

Seems that the only plastics I've lost are either ripped off the hook while in the fish's mouth or broken off on a snag while still on the hook.

Sure, it's a problem, but in the overall scale of things, how much plastic is being found in fish? Could this be a slight over-exaggeration of facts to try to sway the market? I'm just saying that more attentive anglers would notice things like a loose/torn rubber worm and replace it. (I take my home and dispose of them there.)

[RuralMT]

Sure, it's a problem, but in the overall scale of things, how much plastic is being found in fish?...more attentive anglers would notice things like a loose/torn rubber worm and replace it. (I take my home and dispose of them there.)

I tend to agree. I check the stomach contents of nearly all the fish I clean and can't recall with certainty finding any soft plastics in their gullets. Does it happen? I have no doubt, but not to an alarming extent in my case. Like you mentioned, if I notice a rubber worm that's likely to be flung off during the cast or torn off during the fight, I replace it. I also save the old ones and, using a lighter, repair them to be used later.

[fishslap]

not tring to piss of bass fisherman but its time to stop rubber worms second brook trout this ice fishing season i have caught this year dying from a rubber worm in its guts  gotta be a better way

What did you catch them on?

[snow snake]

   Hey how  about    using GUMMY WORMS     
   

[captbrooktrout]

blue and silver swedish pimple

[lowaccord66]

Sooo.. you killed the brookies but you are mad at bass fishermen???  (I dont fish for bass)

[hunts2long]

Lowaccord, great answer!....h2l

[KingPerch]

Great answer Jon, you beat me to it.

Being a bass fisherman… (NOT pissed off) … along with thousands like me. I’ll stand up and say that we don’t intentionally throw used plastics/ rubber overboard while fishing. If anyone was to look on the decks of bass boats at the end of the day of fishing, you would see that those decks are our disposal can. We have a pile of baits to dispose of when we return home. What happens on the end of the line during hook sets is beyond our control. Yes, plastics rip and tear off. We have come up with rigs to help reduce the tearing of certain baits during battle. 😎

[captbrooktrout]

both fish had a piece of rubber worm visable pulled out with forceps and released just for u know it alls

[CrappiePerchDude]

Careful y’all - the EPA will be all up in your business soon if you keep it up….

[jerryfishing]

I am not 100% sure on this but I do believe that fish will eventually pop the rubber worms out. Fishing with corn has been banned in some states because "they" thought that trout would not be able to pass the kernel of the corn and die. This was debunked in some areas and now its legal to fish with corn. I have caught trout with a belly full of corn. I guess either people were chumming with corn or they threw leftover corn down the hole at the end of the day. I have also pulled crayfish out of butthole of trout and bass before. I really don't think these foreign objects are a major fish killer. I have read that most fish in waterways die of old age rather than fishing pressure. Even lakes that get heavy fishing pressure. No need to worry IMHO.

[jimmyclaude]

I know Browns I have caught (Pan size) usually have bellies full of snails. Larger ones will have large Crawdads... With some large claws (ouch).
They seem to pass/ digest them OK.

[FishGut]

So you've already testified that in your own experience, trout that have eaten plastic worms aren't so aversely affected that they can't eat.

As to your surgical removal of the offending piece of plastic, were you able to release the fish afterwards?