These two lake trout from this morning.

Gotta love the Senko !

I think you gotta set the hook a little sooner there bud!

Too bad for the trout who eat one and swim away. Zero chance of getting rid of it. I imagine if you are doing the same thing with 15 pound stripers or something of that size... they might be able to deal with it.

Pete

The flesh is way different comparing the two... do you think the plastic had a impact on the flesh? Is the color common? do you notice a flavor difference?

Generally flesh colour relates to what the fish eat.
I’ve never seen a white fleshed trout from this lake and I’ve caught hundred I. This little lake.

My best guess would be that it’s full stomach forced a dietary change that led to a colour change.

I caught a few perch last year on tip ups ice fishing in a lake in upstate NY that had taken the bait, and also had senkos hanging out of their mouths. These perch were in the 12-14” range. I’ve never seen anyone ice fish with senkos or that style bait so I have to believe the perch picked them up off the bottom and couldn’t get them down. Filleted quite a few pike and perch that trip, no soft plastics in their bellies, but made me wonder how many fish get bellies full of soft plastics.

We have a problem here in maine with fish eating soft plastics they should make those things biodegradable

I read in Blue Ridge Outdoors that the average American eats a credit card's worth of microplastics each week.

I agree, they should make them that they break down after a period of time.

Micro plastic in lake and river water is a issue like so many others people choose to deny or don't understand..I really don't know what impact will be or what the answer is? Pretty sure most of us won't live long enough to see it taken care of or change.
I've seen bass with the plastic twister tail hanging out their butt. So some fish must be able to pass those things..Might be the next sea turtle with a plastic straw in it's nose type poster child???
Probably be easy enough to make them baits like a gummy bears. But then guys couldn't leave them rigged and fish them for days and days..Would have to replace them to often..

Mac

I wrote a pretty extensive report on the use of soft plastic lures vs. biodegradable lures as well as steel shot vs. lead shot and effects/performance overall. In college a friend of mine did her senior paper on the lure aspects of it. It was quite interesting. The biggest complaint was what Mac alluded to, biodegradable baits break down over time and become a goopy mess in your tackle box. The pthalates in soft plastics though are very harmful to fish when ingested. The soft plastic also acts like a brick in a toilet tank when swallowed, making the fish feel more full than it really is thus eating less and not getting the proper diet.

There's some really great information out there on it.