# How big was the pike/musky that tried to eat my bass ?



## bassoreno (Jul 26, 2017)

I caught a 16" bass that had 3" wide bite marks on both sides of it's aft section. We have northern pike in my small lake and maybe muskies. There must be some way to estimate the size of the biter but I can't find anything online about it. Any experts on bite marks here ? :shock:


----------



## onthewater102 (Jul 26, 2017)

LOL - love a great super sleuth task but this one is probably not possible. 

The jaw lines are not parallel, and as you do not know how far back in the fish's mouth the bass would have been at the point the bite occurred you won't be able to tell much about the pike. If it nipped it just behind the front teeth there would be considerable jawline extending aftward behind the cut in the case of a very large fish, whereas a smaller fish that bit it with the very back of the teeth would leave the same width wound but would have been inflicted by a smaller fish. 

Big enough to think it could eat a 16" bass isn't much either - they're more aggressive than they are smart, so they'll often bite & kill fish that ultimately they can't swallow.

All I can say is if it was approximately 3" wide then it was probably about a 2' +/- long fish or bigger, but you knew that as soon as you saw the bite wounds knowing it had to be either a musky or a pike.


----------

