wormy fish on the Crooked River

[Ryan Pultz]

I fished the Crooked River yesterday for about six hours did alright all things considerd but it seems every good size trout i caught had some kind of worm almost like a magot on there gils the fish were in good shape other then the parasite on the gills have any of you ran acros this on the crooked or any other rivers i was wondering if i should not even contact fish and game about it i caught seven trought and every one of them had this thing. I hope it is not the end of a good fishery.
:whazzup:

[Hoosier Daddy]

I used to see quite a few kokanee in Lake Billy Chinook that had the same thing. Seemed worst in the summers, usually not too bad in the fall and winter. I'm not sure what they are called, but they aren't dangerous (to us). Just some native parasite that fish pick up. Interesting that it's up in the Crooked too though. Must be that fine water quality.

Ya might be able to do a search for kokanee and/or trout gill parasites and find out what it is. At one point I think I knew, but I can't remember now.