It's kind of sad, but I think bass revert into being scavengers when their primary food source is depleted.

I used to fish at East Lake Village in YL all the time. During the summer nights we would set up mackerel, chicken liver, and even hot dog rods out for the monster cats (caught some up to 25lbs. there).One year, we caught bass on every cat bait we threw. We had seen the bass fishery decrease over the last couple of years, but I knew they were still in there. When I couldn't get touched on plastics, jigs, or reaction, here were these 5-8lb. bass eating chicken liver. I couldn't understand it.

This lake is shallow and extremely sensitive to any change in it's ecosystem. The managers decided to recycle the lakes' existing water from an underground well, rather than replenish the lake with fresh oxygenated water, or set up aerators in the lake. That reclaimed water system, along with the fact that every home had a lawn drain into the lake created a death camp starting with the smallest organism. Summer heat, a lack of oxygen, fertilizer fosfates, and moronic management lead to an inevitible halt to a blooming bass population. When phytoplankton can't exist, bait can't exist, sunfish can't exist, bass can't exist. The only thing left is the carp that run rampant all over the place. To this day, the bass fishery there is a mere shadow of what it could have been with a healthy food chain.

Bass who eat dead bait may not all be starving, they are always opportunistic and take what they can. But I've never seen a healthy bass pay one bit of attention to a rotting piece of carrion, when there is something out there to chase. If large bass are making a habit of eating your dead bait, make a note. Find out the condition of their natural prey items, and whether those bass are eating dead bait occassionally, or if they have no other choice.