Turtle swimbaits, anyone?

[Melones_IS_Mine]

Believe me or not, but God as my witness, this just blew me away....

I fished from the levee off Guard Rd. & 12. Fish everywhere I looked. They re-opened the gate this year, and I'm making up for lost time(8 years no access). Towards the end of the second big channel bend, I spot an 8 with a much bigger fish. I pitched a Beaver past it and the 8 follows it down into the deep hole. Tick-tick, hook set, and a nice short fight.

Three days later, both fish are still there. This time, I tried a 6" Hudd. The smaller bass taps the tail a few times, whatever. I look down and see a small 6" Turtle crawling by along the waters edge. The fish saw this, came up, and when the turtle slipped a little deeper, was bumped by the bass.

A few minutes go by, and the turtle crawls back the other direction. This time, it slipped a little deeper. The bass came up, took half of it in, dropped it, then sucked the whole thing in and spit it out a couple seconds later.

I was wondering if anyone has seen anything like this before? And maybe someone should come out with a Turtle bait. That would be a cool novelty lure at the least.

[milehi]

If I remember right, there's a shot of the same thing in Glenn Laus' Bigmouth.

[mac (Doyle McEwen)]

Bass are opportunistic feeders..I don't think turtles are one of their primary forasge foods, but I do not doubt they will devour them at times..I would think a three to four inch turtle in the right area might just get eaten..Someone once posted a picture of a bass that obviously had a turtle in its stomach..I don't remember ever catching one, but I have caught catfish that had them in their stomachs..

mac

[davet.]

How in the hell do they pass the shell?? "OUCH!!"

[fishingflip415]

I have personally saw this myself one time. I spotted a nice female on a bed with the male. All of a sudden the big female gets totally aggressive and next thing I know she was bumping at what I first thought was a rock on the bottom next to her bed. Then I seen the rock start moving and realized it was not a rock but a turtle. Then I saw the female totally suck the turtle in and move off and spit it out. I don't think the fish was actually trying to eat the turtle, but just wanted it away from her nest.

[elfish16]

this year in the pre-spawn I cast a drop shot worm at a turtle for the heck of it. I missed the turtle by a few inches, but in 15 ft of water the worm never hit bottom. I set the hook and had a 6lber. The bass had to be watching that turtle.

[Oldschool]

Big spawners are not trying to eat the turtle, they attack anything that is an egg eater approaching the nest site. Turtle swimbait...why not, we have carp, catfish, bluegill, crappie, trout, striper, bass, shad, perch, frogs, crayfish, rats, mice, black birds, lizards and water dogs. The new hot color; painted turtle.
Tom

[godzilla]

im pretty sure bedding bass will attack almost anything!!! check this video out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hf3ChU4qoGs

[Cesar L]

2 weeks ago at the delta I found a 2" turtle in my livewell. One of the bass I had must have spit it up.

[Flippinjigs]

MILEHI,
In the Glenn Lau's Bigmouth video it was a baby duck swimming long the surface. It gets hammered, sucked under and then gets spit out. Really cool I still have that tape. Them bass eat anything I've had a rat spit out in my live well at the Delta.

Good Fishin