Severe Gill injury

What about the creature in your other pictures?

it could have been from an osprey or eagle that captured it in a certain way and dropped it or a heron that tried to stab it and somehow it got a away. it wasn't a pike because there would be tooth marks somewhere else on the body. when you were fighting it it could have it its gills on a rock and maybe it damaged the gills somehow since it was still bleeding.

Cut is so clean it looks like your line may have caught under gill plate and sliced through...

thanks guys.

Devon those are some great thoughts but I think Scotty is correct. I2fly and SGM pointed out the same thing. That the fish got cut by the line when it was rolling. And this fish was rolling in the line a lot. I've had tons of trout roll on me and this is the first time this ever happened to me. Bottom line is, I screwed up and should have kept the fish. My initial thinking when it was caught was that this was an injury the fish already had and was living with.

Jim, as we discussed yesterday. It’s not your fault. I think this is a hatchery thing. Because we all have caught fish with missing pectoral fins on one side or both. I have caught several with this missing piece of gill plate. No sign of trauma. Thank goodness this is an anomaly. Without the gill plate those tender gills are exposed. Damage to a fish during the fight is unwanted byproduct of our spot.... unfortunate but it happens.

Also I noticed last week the the water temperatures are creeping up 60 degrees. To mitigate damage and death to released fish. Consider pinching the barbs, keep em wet, be quick with photos, and handle gently. Tight lines and singing drags.
I2

That is clearly an attack from an Arctic Bass..

Much like a vampire goes for the jugular, they always strike on the gills first.

anglerwannabe,don't beat yourself up over this one.We all have made a mistake in our lives.I don't think this will upset the balance of the fish population at Spinny(some lucky critter may get a treat) You did what you thought was right and I can't find fault there.

thanks for the support guys! The way I look at this is, I screwed up.. asked for your thoughts... you provided them... Then I learned a lesson form your feedback.

We all make mistakes, it's what we do with those that can define us.


Ajax- I think so too! They're making a comeback.

that's the largest chunk missing from a gill that I've see...not entirely sure what it would be. but like the others have said, I have caught a couple trout up there that have small notches taken out of the gill plate.

Regardless if it was a mistake or not, nice fish!! Tight Lines man!

Just yesterday, my wife who spinner fishes while I try the fly was on a local stream, she caught about a 13 inch brown. While reeling it in she noticed a bright red spot on the fish. She initially thought it was a fish with another spinner impaled on its back. Upon netting we saw that it was a big (one inch by one inch) deep (approx one half inch) red gash right on the head side of its dorsal fin. We determined that it was either an eagle, osprey or heron who wounded the trout. It was a rough couple of days for that fish.

Right or wrong she released it to either live or feed the local scavengers.

WG

Clearly this was someone who was upset about your blog post, gilled it and put it back just for you to catch.

All joking aside I would lean to the line theory as well but still question it. I’ve hooked a quite a few fish where it seems to be just right to where it hit a vein or an artery or something where they have bled quite a bit. Even with something as small as a #20 fly. I’m sure we have all noticed it from time to time as well. I can’t tell you how many damaged fish I’ve pulled out either. From pike bites to talon punctures. Never seen this though, and to be fair I would have put him back also.

It shows a lot to your character to post something like this, and acknowledge the possibility that it could have been your fault. Unlike many of these keyboard warriors now a days who would deny even the slightest assumption they were at blame. Kudos to you.