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An angler pulls a snake out of a bass’s mouth. via Instagram<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n If you were thinking the seven-inch Senko you\u2019ve been fishing is too big for the largemouth in your local lake, this footage might change your mind. Shared to Instagram by Panfish Nation, the video<\/a> shows an angler in Florida pulling a roughly 22-inch snake from the gullet of a 16-inch bass.<\/p>\n Unlike the snake it shows, the silent video is relatively short. The video begins with a close-up of a Florida largemouth being lipped by an unknown angler. With his right hand keeping a firm grip on the bass\u2019s jaw, the angler starts tugging at the fish\u2019s most recent meal.<\/p>\n Over the next 20 seconds, the angler slowly pulls on the stretchy snake. Much like the classic \u201cinfinite silk\u201d magic trick, the angler just keeps pulling and pulling. At one point, you can see the spinal cord of the partially digested snake, and toward the end of the video, you can see its flattened head as the angler successfully pulls the snake all the way out of the fish\u2019s mouth. Another angler then holds the chewed-up snake alongside the bass, showing that the serpent is at least half a foot longer than the fish that swallowed it.<\/p>\n Most of the social media reactions to the video take pity on the bass, which was \u201crobbed of his meal\u201d by the curious fisherman. Largemouth bass are a hearty species, though, and the fish almost certainly survived the ordeal.<\/p>\n Although it might seem strange to the non-angling public, checking the stomach contents of a live fish is a fairly regular (if controversial) practice. It\u2019s more common in the trout-fishing world, where the fish eat mostly small insects and are released more often than they\u2019re kept.<\/p>\n Read Next:<\/strong> Best Fall Bass Lures of 2022<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cUsing a stomach pump is a very controversial subject among fly fishermen\/women,\u201d according to Minturn Anglers<\/a>, a guide service in Colorado. \u201cWalking up to the register of a fly shop with a stomach pump in hand will likely land you more dirty looks than a whore in church\u2026 But the best guides I know all carry stomach pumps, and for good reason.\u201d<\/p>\n The Minturn Anglers\u2019 website goes on to explain the right way to pump a trout\u2019s stomach, adding that \u201cpumping causes far less harm to a trout than most other human interactions such as big barbed hooks, improper handling, or swallowed lines\/hooks.\u201d<\/p>\n Bass tend to have very different eating habits compared to trout, however, and largemouths have a reputation for eating extra-large meals on a regular basis. Whether it\u2019s a chunky bluegill, a duckling, or a two-foot snake, hungry bass won\u2019t hesitate to swallow prey that\u2019s as big or bigger than they are.<\/p>\n This also means that the small turkey baster pumps<\/a> sold at fly shops, Cabela\u2019s, and other retailers aren\u2019t as useful on bass and other warm-water species. According to fisheries professor Mark Cornwell, who wrote an article about stomach pumping for Bass Resource<\/a>, biologists typically \u201clavage\u201d bass, which is a medical term for flushing out the stomach with a liquid-filled syringe. Compared to yanking food out of a bass\u2019s gullet with your hand, this technique is far safer for both the angler and the fish. \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n