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What does this thing look like? caught a 16 inch LMB at dale, and it had what looked like black around the mouth, and there were grey spots on the fish.Is that it? have they ever detirmined the cause? Are live wells the culprit? And why are the spotted bass immune to it?
Sounds like you had a fish that just left the shallows. Usually in the spring it's not uncommon for bass to have black sore spots from moving out of cold deep water into the shallow warm water.
The LMBV can only be detected from laboratory testing, there are no certain external signs. The black spots on the bass are more than likely just a pigment, like a mole on humans. Sometimes you'll see bass with them all over the body making them look sort of calico colored. These are healthy fish, just have a few birthmarks. I always thought it would be cool to get one mounted like that. I've seen more of them this year than usual...not sure why.
i caught a bass out of the ohio river this weekend (1.6#) that had half of his face gone. all it had was a jaw bone with no skin attached to it.