Bass VS Duck

[keithdog]

Today I turned 50, and my wife, being the good woman she is, suggested I take the day off from work and go fishing. So I did. I was on the water by 4:15AM enjoying the peaceful quiet surroundings of Flint Lake. At 5:30, all hell broke loose a short distance from me. I was fishing about 35 yards off shore when a HUGE bass decided a duck would make a good meal. It looked to me to be a duck about the size of a small mallard, a little bigger than a wood duck. There were three ducks sitting in shallow water near a small dock with lilly pads when the bass tried to engulf one of the ducks. However, the bass had "bit off more than he could chew." I motored over there quickly to watch the struggle which lasted about 3 minutes. I was in disbelief at what I was seeing. I've often read of baby ducks becomming a meal for a hungry bass, but never an adult duck of this size. From what I could see the bass must have sucked in the legs of the duck, and the ducks legs then became stuck in the basses mouth. I'm guessing maybe as the duck tried to escape, perhaps one or both legs got tangled with the fishes gills. All I know was this ducks wings were flapping wildly and the duck was quacking up a storm. The bass was flipping back and forth and trying to either pull the bass closer or dislodge it from it's mouth. I couldn't tell which. All I know is that this was taking place in about 18 inches of water and the bass and the duck were causing quite a stir. Water was flying, wings were flapping and this bass was throwing his head back and forth, flopping his body side to side in a wild struggle. Finally, the duck came loose and swam away like Jesus walking on water and the bass was gone. I of course was now casting my Jitterbug all over that area trying to get the bass to take my bait now, lol. I knew it wouldn't work but I had to try. I ended up catching 12 bass today which made for a pleasant birthday, but that memory of the bass/duck encounter is what I'm going to always remember.