Parasitic worms on trout?

[trollin4trout]

Caught a few trout at Fall Creek Res. on Sat. (very few:()- they all had little worms burrowing into them- anybody know what causes these? :whazzup:

[Crashin' Bait]

What did the worms look like? Color? Any other protruding appendages? Where were they located on the fish?

[ 08-25-2003, 05:14 PM: Message edited by: Crashin' Bait ]

[TinyWonder]

When I was at Billy Chinook earlier this year they had signs posted regarding a parasite that lived by the fins on the trout. We caught a few fish with them attached. The signs said to scrape them off when cleaing and cooked they were just fine. None of us got sick or died yet, but this extra finger is starting to make it hard to type.

[Empire]

Those things are probably just copepods. They are just about everywhere and wont hurt you.

[Aufish101]

Lake Billy Chinook Kokanee generally have them, some years are worse than others, looks like what I call sea lice, they are Copepods, also saw them on some Kokanee from Odell. I just scrape them off.

Gary K.

PS I don't tell my wife about them, you how skittish they can get!

[salmonman]

check out this post for more info:

http://www.ifish.net/cgi-local/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=023920

-Salmonman

[Crashin' Bait]

If the worms that you saw had forked tails then most likely they were anchor worms, Lernea elegans. Most folks call 'em copepods. They won't hurt you. But, just to be on the safe side don't make sushi out of those trout. :grin:

[trollin4trout]

Thanks for all the info guys. The ones I saw were only about a 1/4" long(at least that was all that was on the outside!) and transparent. I don't keep many trout anyways, I was just wondering 'cause that's the first time I've ever seen them.
Salmonman- thanks for that thread- although I may now use the suggested method of cleaniong fish without glasses!