largemouth bass stuck on one another
Casey Reed

Watch: Were These Two Largemouth Bass Trying to Eat Each Other?

Largemouth bass can fit their mouths around most prey. Usually.

Casey Reed was kayak fishing when he saw a strange sight floating in the lake. He paddled over to get a closer look and saw two largemouth bass had gotten themselves stuck together. Or, rather, one had tried to eat the other, slightly smaller one. Or perhaps they were both trying to eat each other? Reed shared the video of the lip-locked pair on his Instagram page.

The two largemouth bass were floating belly-up on the surface, one lodged deeply inside the others' giant mouth. After pulling them from the water, Reed wiggled them apart, noting that the gill plates of one fish were deeply lodged in the mouth of the other. Interestingly, the larger fish had his mouth seemingly stuck open for duration of the video. In the comments, Reed said that after he tossed the fish back in the water they swam away.

Many commenters were surprised that the fish would go after another so close in size, and  some even thought it was fake, accusing Reed of staging the pair of fish in the awkward position. Others figured both fish went for bait or food at the same time ("it's not that uncommon to find if you are a baitfish boil fisherman").

As many bass anglers know (and U.S. Fish & Wildlife confirms), largemouths are a hungry, aggressive sort of fish. A bass will eat anything it can get its mouth around—and sometimes thing sit can't, really.

READ MORE: Angler Lands Ridiculously Fat Largemouth Bass Under a Dock