I can see it now, the Oscar Meyer crew says that Farmer John franks only catch dinks. Wienerschnitzel kids meals now come with treble hooks and an IGFA information booklet. Berkley comes out with the new Power Dog bait complete with mustard flavored fish attractant.

Okay, on the more serious side, I used to fish a small lake where big bass were suddenly being caught on hot dogs, chicken liver and
mackeral.I even landed a 6+ one night while throwing liver for the cats. The only problem ended up being that these bigger bass were making a living as scavengers. I don't know what happened to the bass' natural forage base, but it obviously was not enough to feed the population of fish. Many inexperienced, and uneducated anglers were throat hooking these bass on junk baits and many were dying. I don't know if it was because of anglers or the lack of natural forage, but that lake does not produce many decent sized bass anymore. When you find that big bass are being caught on dead baits, there might be a serious problem with their ecosystem. Or perhaps these bass have outgrown their environment and are not able to be as competetive for natural prey, aside from a winter influx of trout.

There will always be the odd big bass catch on some sort of bogus bait, but when it happens more and more frequently, it might be the old canary in the mineshaft. Bass weren't designed to be scavengers, I doubt they would look to eat dead baits unless they have no choice.

P.S.- Fish Chris, were these big bass you are talking about caught mainly in the summertime, or is this a more recent trend?