Can plastic baits harm fish?

[jungleboy]

Got to thinking about this today ,wondering if fish can pass plastic/ rubber baits if they happen to swallow them . I found this article and thought I would share it. I know it is about bass, but should still be relevant to other species.

https://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/skinny-fish.html

[trigger7mm]

I would think they certainly wouldn’t help the fishes health. I honk they definitely would harm a fish.

[pikeman06]

Interesting question. I'm bad for diggin thru the guts of anything I keep, you learn alot about size of presentation, color, etc from such observation. And I got thinking I've never seen a plastic body in the guts of a fish personally. Tons of "bait" tho. Store bought minnows maggots leeches smelt herrings you name it...that's why they all work so good. The only baits I personally think would harm a fish would be for trout. Corn is one I seen in the guts of trout that would not digest properly. Not sure if guys chum them a bit or just dump a can of corn when they are done fishing and the trout gorge on it. You know what un chewed corn looks like coming out the back end. Could see how it would " bung" up a lil trout. The digestive juices of pike and other predator fish must be strong because I've seen whitefish in big pike stomachs that were still in their throats lookin like they were just swallowed and the tail end totally dissolved. Interesting topic, maybe they barf that artificial stuff up..

[.243dude]

I once caught a rainbow trout from a local stocked pond with a pine cone in it's belly believe it or not and it was not in good shape. I’ll try to find pics.

Sorry not trying to hijack your post.

[FlyTheory]

Simple answer: yes. Plastic ingested accomplishes two things: 1) takes up space in the fish’s GI tract which can displace real food; 2) many plastics have sorbtive properties that can be a vector for things like polyaromatic hydrocarbons and heavy metals, both of which may cause damage to the fish.

[Smoky buck]

Interesting question. I'm bad for diggin thru the guts of anything I keep, you learn alot about size of presentation, color, etc from such observation. And I got thinking I've never seen a plastic body in the guts of a fish personally. Tons of "bait" tho. Store bought minnows maggots leeches smelt herrings you name it...that's why they all work so good. The only baits I personally think would harm a fish would be for trout. Corn is one I seen in the guts of trout that would not digest properly. Not sure if guys chum them a bit or just dump a can of corn when they are done fishing and the trout gorge on it. You know what un chewed corn looks like coming out the back end. Could see how it would " bung" up a lil trout. The digestive juices of pike and other predator fish must be strong because I've seen whitefish in big pike stomachs that were still in their throats lookin like they were just swallowed and the tail end totally dissolved. Interesting topic, maybe they barf that artificial stuff up..

Don’t worry corn may have poor nutritional value but trout don’t become bunged up. They was actually a study done on the effects of corn on trout do to past beliefs that too much corn could kill trout. The only side effects from an exclusively corn diet was poor growth rate do corns poor nutritional value

Most people don’t realize that it is not uncommon for trout to eat rocks well taking prey off the bottom. They will even pass the stones

As for plastics I don’t know what side effects it could have but I would bet if you search hard enough a bio has studied it.

[Elchinodiablo]

I have picked through plenty of guts on Pike and Walleyes and have seen plastics inside. Plastic jigs bodies and twist tails etc. They always look like they just came out of the package and I wonder if a fish has the ability to excrete it someway.

[Azashi]

100%. This year I caught one small trout, 8" or so, and while I was holding him to unhook him, I squeezed a bit and he coughed up a huge plastic worm. There was no way he'd be able to fit anything else in his gut.

I also caught a fair-sized pike in the river that was very skinny. He had a hook deep in his mouth and still partially attached to the hook was one of those big rubber lures that looks like a fish. I pulled out the hook and then the lure with my pliers, but IDK if he survived.

When I pulled him in he was so weak I thought I was pulling weeds.

[jungleboy]

Good info. May have to reconsider the soft plastics and stick with hair jigs and hard lures.

[Smoky buck]

Good info. May have to reconsider the soft plastics and stick with hair jigs and hard lures.

I would highly recommend doing a search to see if there has been a study regarding soft plastics before jumping to conclusions. I doubt the ingestion of soft plastics is good for fish but I would not jump to conclusions

Fish ingest and pass foreign objects all the time

[58thecat]

I would highly recommend doing a search to see if there has been a study regarding soft plastics before jumping to conclusions. I doubt the ingestion of soft plastics is good for fish but I would not jump to conclusions

Fish ingest and pass foreign objects all the time

And I would say the companies that put these little bags of worms etc out have run extensive tests cuz some type of anti probably challenged this type of fishing many moons ago...?

[Azashi]

I would highly recommend doing a search to see if there has been a study regarding soft plastics before jumping to conclusions. I doubt the ingestion of soft plastics is good for fish but I would not jump to conclusions

Fish ingest and pass foreign objects all the time

It depends on size. I have no issue using a little plastic worm for a trout, but the 5-6" long, almost pinkie-thick honker... I doubt that fish was going to pass it.

And that pike from 2 years ago was definitely starving.

1. He bit on a small crank I was using for trout, despite being a big fish that would normally ignore such a lure.
2. He was very light and quite skinny.
3. He didn't fight at all. Like I said, it felt like pulling weeds.
4. The lure he had stuck in him could have been a woman's plastic pleasure toy (seriously, this forum censors the word for that?) I really doubt a fish is going to poop that out whole.

I have no issues using plastic lures myself, but I make sure they're hooked on properly and I don't like leaving long loose bits for the fish to bite off. A small fluke on a grub that gets bitten off? Not concerned. Running a 6" plastic worm on a #4 hook for trout, and reeling it in only to see a bit of the worm on plastic left? Ugh, I'd feel like crap.

[Smoky buck]

It depends on size. I have no issue using a little plastic worm for a trout, but the 5-6" long, almost pinkie-thick honker... I doubt that fish was going to pass it.

And that pike from 2 years ago was definitely starving.

1. He bit on a small crank I was using for trout, despite being a big fish that would normally ignore such a lure.
2. He was very light and quite skinny.
3. He didn't fight at all. Like I said, it felt like pulling weeds.
4. The lure he had stuck in him could have been a woman's plastic pleasure toy (seriously, this forum censors the word for that?) I really doubt a fish is going to poop that out whole.

I have no issues using plastic lures myself, but I make sure they're hooked on properly and I don't like leaving long loose bits for the fish to bite off. A small fluke on a grub that gets bitten off? Not concerned. Running a 6" plastic worm on a #4 hook for trout, and reeling it in only to see a bit of the worm on plastic left? Ugh, I'd feel like crap.

I don’t doubt there can be issues or your story. I also was in aquaculture for years and have watched fish eat and pass many foreign objects. I was surprised many times. I have also had bass regurgitate 10inch rubber worms and lizards making me wonder how often they are spit up after being eating

Just experienced too many odd things regarding fish eating foreign objects I won’t jump to conclusions without a solid study on an issue with soft plastics

Odds are fishing with bait and the amount of deeply hooked fish is a far greater risk to fish then soft plastics

[Azashi]

I don’t doubt there can be issues or your story. I also was in aquaculture for years and have watched fish eat and pass many foreign objects. I was surprised many times. I have also had bass regurgitate 10inch rubber worms and lizards making me wonder how often they are spit up after being eating

Just experienced too many odd things regarding fish eating foreign objects I won’t jump to conclusions without a solid study on an issue with soft plastics

Odds are fishing with bait and the amount of deeply hooked fish is a far greater risk to fish then soft plastics

Well fair, I'll take your word for it and be comforted by that whenever a fish swallows part of a plastic lure I'm using :)

BTW, does anyone know how long it takes moderators to approve an account? I've been doing these image verification things for weeks now, whenever I want to post.

[buckman]

I once caught a rainbow trout from a local stocked pond with a pine cone in it's belly believe it or not and it was not in good shape. I’ll try to find pics.

Sorry not trying to hijack your post.

Same thing in a Brookie I caught in Cameron lake in Waterton. I also found a 4 inch rubber bait in a Pike in Little Bow.

[WayneChristie]

pike have bitten off so many soft crank tails I think there would be a lot more bunged up fish . probably gets puked or pooped

[barbless]

I'm pretty sure they will not grow very big on the plastic's as no nutritional value. Can't see them being very good for the fish but when they are hungry, they eat. Lots of fish have certain acids in their stomachs I think to combat that. Not sure though. I just hope it fell off or can see it in their throat. What about the ones that fall to the bottom? My guess no flavor it gets spit out. Are they biodegradable?

[barbless]

Just found this. Don't know if it matters here
According to the creator of the Berkley Gulp baits, John Prochnow”, the revolutionary Gulp baits will take about 2 years to disintegrate in saltwater, and around 8-10 months in a well run landfill. You can see his interview about the Gulp baits with Field & Stream here. And this is no slant on Berkley at all. They are the best in the fishing lure business and their plastic fishing lures are more biodegradable than any of their competitors (Keep in mind, the other competition’s plastic lures NEVER biodegrade). This comparison is to only educate anglers on the difference when you see “Biodegradable lure” and “Certified Biodegradable lure”.
As you just learned, the next step up in biodegradable fishing lures is 100% Certified. Once you have been “Certified” by BPI (Biodegradable Products Institute), your biodegradable fishing lures will be obsolete (aka returned to the natural life cycle, only releasing carbon, hydrogen and oxygen) in 8-12 weeks. And that is for their freshwater lures. The 100% biodegradable saltwater lures they are working on at MHG will biodegrade even quicker! You can read the full article about these biodegradable lures here on the MHG blog page.
That is a pretty big difference. And a HUGE difference compared to most plastic fishing lures.

For what it may be worth. Might make a difference in a fishes stomach

[Dielbo]

. The lure he had stuck in him could have been a woman's plastic pleasure toy (seriously, this forum censors the word for that?) I really doubt a fish is going to poop that out whole.

This forum is like going back in time to the lates 90s, when AOL "chat forums" all looked like this and had the same modding technology. It's a trip lol.

[MetisHunter]

Only bad if it’s catch and release