[Fiskadoro]

I hate to contradict you, but all kinds of things could of killed that fish, and that hole in it's gut is too big and not the shape that would of been made by a gaff.

If I had to guess I'd say that seabass was killed by a large mako. It's one of the only predators local that kills big fish like swords and black seabass.

They attack large fish by chasing them down with superior speed, then rip the tails off the fish to cripple them. They then come back too feed after the fish has bleed out, usually ripping off huge chunks from the tail section, and often leave the front halves of really huge fish floating.

I've seen them feed on swordfish that were as big as they are this way. I also cleaned one that had huge chunks of meat in it's gut that didn't look like swordfish, but did look like Black Seabass. I'd say a 400lb or 500lb Mako could of easily killed that fish and they get bigger up to a thousand pounds local.

Since they can't eat all of such a big prey, they go for the meat areas first then leave the rest for other scavengers.

Speaking of scavengers.... that hole in the gut where and it's placed on the topside of the floating carcass suggest it was probably made by a birds that pecked a hole big enough to get their heads in to feed on the guts.

Birds always go for the guts first since they don't have the teeth necessary to easily chew through the skin and strip meat off the bones. By making a hole they can get a lot of food quickly before other scavengers like Blue sharks arrive and finish the job.

When you fish offshore, especially around Catalina and Santa Barbara Island you see these carcass fairly often. Swords, Black Seabass, Seals, all with their back ends ripped away, usually floating with holes in their guts where the birds got to them.

Here's a good video of a Mako and a sealion where the Mako has ripped off the back end of the seal so it can't get away. Though the seal is still alive, the mako is circling him, taking bites off his back end while the seal bleeds out.



Let's face it nature is cruel at times. That's probably what happened to your Black Seabass.

I'd say that the vast majority of Anglers at La Jolla know better then to mess with Blacks, and just from the pic shown I'd say injuries on this fish don't really suggest it was killed by a fisherman, but instead by a mako.

Jim