BY MIKE STEVENS
LAGUNA NIGUEL – A concerned angler reached out to Western Outdoor News when he and his son discovered a strange situation while fishing for bass at Laguna Niguel Lake.
“I fish the lake often and after the fish die off, there has been 10-plus fish caught with pink rubber bands around their tails,” said Chris Woodward. They’re all nice, chunky 2-to 5-pound fish, but they almost all have their tails completely cut off by pink rubber bands. I personally have caught three with bands on them, and I know quite a few other people have also caught fish with rubber bands on their tails, but we didn’t start taking pictures because we thought it was just an unfortunate situation the fish got themselves in.”
Woodward went on to tell WON the mouths of all the fish were “clean” suggesting they were not recently caught. That along with the fact that with many of these fish, the rubber bands are partially embedded into the fish’s tail, or there is significant damage or scarring as a result, and that all supports the idea that these largemouth bass were “banded” recently.
Billy Egan of WON contacted AquaTechnex (aquatechnex.com/laguna-niguel-lake) which monitors and manages water quality at Laguna Niguel Lake, and they were unaware of any type of tagging activity going on at the lake.
“We care greatly for the well-being of the fish and the health of Laguna Niguel Lake, and are working with the Department of Fish and Wildlife to investigate, said Supervising Park Ranger, Adam Martinez. “O.C. Parks does not stock bass and does not band fish, and as you already heard from AquaTechnex, they also do not mark fish in any way.”
Visitors observing any suspicious activity should call Laguna Niguel Lake staffers at (949) 923-2241 and (888) 334- CALTIP.
