worms in fish

[crv423]

Russ and i have been discussing worms in fish, he asked what causes this? says he caught some in erie with worms, ive always thought it was a small lake problem, i found a pond a few years back that had monster gills, u couldnt catch one under 10'', i brought 8 home for a meal and when i stuck my filet knife in they were so infested worms were wiggling, does any one know what causes this?

[Icebug84]

I was always told that fish get worms or "grubs" from birds crapping in the water. The fish will either eat it or just suck it into there mouth to see what it is, next thing you know they have grubs. I could be wrong though. Thats just what I was told

[JustNutts]

Russ and i have been discussing worms in fish, he asked what causes this? says he caught some in erie with worms, ive always thought it was a small lake problem, i found a pond a few years back that had monster gills, u couldnt catch one under 10'', i brought 8 home for a meal and when i stuck my filet knife in they were so infested worms were wiggling, does any one know what causes this?

Specifically white bass in Erie...Not tons of fish but some...  Also caught many gills in 'ponds' that have had worms also.

[pig puncher]

some worms are caused by snails the fish eat. they are a parasite that spends part of their life cycle in fish. not harmful to fish, or humans. cooking kills them (so i'm told).

[wapak ice dawg]

 I belong to a club in wapak and we also had a real bad problem with worms in the fish, the odnr came in and told us ours came from a snail we have in our lakes.The small fish eat the snail which carries this worm and through the chain of being ate they pass it on from fish to fish. they told us the way to get rid of the snail was to stock red eared blue gill in the lakes and in years ahead they will eventually eat all the snails and stop the cycle. its been 5yrs now since we've stocked the red ears and it seems to have helped.They also told us the worm is not harmful to humans because it doesnt get into the meat, it just makes for a nasty looking fish.

[JustNutts]

thanks for the replys guys, seems like all in all they just make a nasty looking fish.. I duno if id have the stomach to cook em and still eat em though ha.

[overcheck]

after watching the TV show the monsters inside me on animal planet if i find anything that looks like a parasite worm i don't eat. I don't take someones word that its OK eat . commom sense tell you not eat meat that is host to a  parasitic worm.

[ratherbefishing]

My in-laws have a nice sized "pond" and their Gills and Bass have these little guys in them. Not all fish, but I'd say about half. In the fish that have them really bad you can actually see them in the tail and pectoral fins. They're pretty nasty looking little things, but I have also heard that they aren't harmful. I've cleaned fish that had a them, and it's just a judgement call... if it has a lot I pitch the fish (bury it), if it just has a few they are usually not deep in the meat and can be removed with the tip of the knife.

Bluegill and really all panfish for that matter have a higher chance of picking up these little critters because they feed so often.

Good Fishin'

RatherBe

[joshua]

  OK so the snails have the worms the fish eat the snails the fish get worms then the humans eat the fish and we don't get worms does that make sense to anyone else

[HardWater Junkie]

I don't understand how we wouldn't get the worms also. The only way I could see not getting them would be that we cook the fish. When we cook them the high heat probably kills the worms where when the fish eats the snail it is eating it raw. Safe or not I'm not eating any fish that has worms.

[joshua]

yeah im not going to eat any fish with worms just to be on the safe side

[joshua]

Black spots

Black spot disease is commonly observed in rock bass and other sunfish, bass, pike, perch, minnows, and other fish species. It can be identified by the presence of small black spots, usually about the size of a pin head, in the skin, the fins, the musculature, and the mouth of the fish. The black spots are caused by pigment that the fish deposits around the larval stage of a parasitic digenetic trematode, usually a Neascus spp.

The lifecycle of the "black spot" parasite is complex. The adult parasite is found in a fish eating bird, the kingfisher. The larval parasite is transferred from the infected fish to the bird during the feeding process. In the kingfisher, the larval stage develops into an adult parasite. The adult parasite in the intestine of the bird produces eggs that are eventually deposited in the water. There the eggs mature, hatch, and develop into the miracidium stage of the parasite. The miracidium infects a snail. In the snail, the miracidium develops into the cercaria life stage. The cercaria leaves the snail and actively penetrates a host fish. In the fish, the parasite becomes encysted. In about 22 days, black spots form around the cyst. This entire lifecycle takes at least 112 days to complete.

In general, the presence of the "black spot" parasite does not affect the growth or the longevity of the infected fish; however massive infections in young fish may cause fish mortality. The parasite is incapable of infecting humans and, as is the case with all fish parasites, it is destroyed by thorough cooking. When fish are heavily infected, some anglers prefer to remove the skin to improve the appearance of the cooked fish.

I'm still not eatting them!