Whirling disease in Oregon?

skein · 03-30-2003, 07:54 PM

First off, I don't know a thing about whirling disease except what I've read, so I hope this doesn't come across as alarmist.

I flyfished Ana River this weekend, and I watched a trout that I can only describe as whirling.

It caught my eye by its sides flashing against the bottom, and at first I thought maybe it had been hooked and released and was disoriented from that. That may in fact be the case, but at any rate it whirled in a tight little circle maybe six or seven times, then headed for the surface and was almost upside down by the time it got there. It then headed back down and I lost sight of it.

Had I never heard of whirling disease, I still would have described its actions as "whirling."

That's the only instance I saw, and as I said earlier, it may have been a fish that had been hooked and released upstream.

It made me really nervous though. Is WD here?

Skein

Grantspastor · 03-30-2003, 08:02 PM

Skein...I don't know much about it either, but I have heard about it here in Oregon. Don't like the sound of it, and certainly hope it not a budding problem

FallRiverGuy · 03-31-2003, 01:18 PM

I hope not. Seems such a small isolated stream that I don't think is stocked, but really don't know. Makes me think it would be hard for it to get infected. I have fished it twice this year and not noticed any fish acting whirlish. I sure hope it not the case, but if it is, I wonder if the warm water would cause it to spread quicker. Warrents keeping an eye out for other fish acting as such.

Just read that they do stock Ana reservoir so it is possible that it was introduced. :depressed:

[ 03-31-2003, 03:16 PM: Message edited by: FallRiverGuy ]

Net Boy · 03-31-2003, 02:19 PM

I heard something about this on the Mckenzie river by Eugene. I do not know the name of the hatchery there, but they had to destroy a huge number of their fish.

SSPey · 03-31-2003, 11:51 PM

whirling disease can be carried on boots, etc. You don't need to stock fish to spread it.

http://www.whirling-disease.org/prevention.pdf

ssteelheadsteve · 04-02-2003, 03:47 PM

The hatchery on the Ana River supplies several famous lakes ( private ) with Trout. The owners petitioned the legislature to require the state to use private hatcheries for some of the stocking of public waters. They were successful. If whirling disease is in the Ana you can expect an outbreak at all the waters where the above mentioned Trout are planted. Contact the Dist. Bio. if you are concerned. Whirling disease has been recorded in Oregon in the Willamette,Deschutes,and Grande Ronde rivers and tribs.

skein · 04-02-2003, 08:19 PM

Thanks, Steve, I planned on doing that but was waiting for a little feedback from Ifishers. I'll post what they tell me.

Skein

Crashin' Bait · 04-02-2003, 10:02 PM

Whirling can be caused by many things including mechanical head trauma and bacterial infections just to name a few.
When a specimen is suspect, other symptoms to look out for are a sunken look to the dorsal surface of the forehead, blackening of the tail area, and in acute infestations, gross abnormalities to the fish's skeleton. Diagnosis is done by examining cartilaginous tissue from the head of a suspected specimen for Myxosoma cerebralis cysts.
I would hope that any fish stock used in planting operations are certified disease free by a state fish pathologist.