One afternoon last year on Lake Sonoma, I was quietly casting when I heard some splashing behind me, so I went over to see what it was all about. As you can see in the pictures below, what I found was this fish floating and twitching on the surface – a bass literally dying on the surface with a bluegill completely wedged in its mouth. I pulled the joined pair out of the water. Both were very pale from lack of oxygen, so I separated them quickly and let them both swim off. It’s one of those things I could hardly believe even though I was seeing it. Now, I have caught a lot of fish with small fish half digested in their throat before – even to the point of still hanging out of their mouth. But never quite like this.

Now it really makes me wonder every time I catch a 2 to 3 pounder on a Hudd or any other big bait – how often does a little fish like this bite off more than he can chew, and we never know?