Fishing Forum

I was reading a post on the DWR website and they said that the Blue Gills have parasites in their meat. I have never heard of this, so will someone let me know what they are talking about?
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[cool][size 1]Sadly, there are flesh worms in many of the bluegills taken from Pelican. They are about the size and color of maggots...which makes them very unappetizing. There are seldom more than a half dozen per fish, and not all fish have them.[/size]

[size 1]The good news is that these are not parasites that will infect humans, and they are killed by cooking. If you simply don't like the appearance, you can fillet your fish and easily see and remove them from the flesh with the point of a knife.[/size]

[size 1]I first started fishing Pelican in the late 70's and the worms were in some of the fish then. I understand that like most parasites, these things become more pronounced when the fish are stressed and weakened...like during years of low water or depleted oxygen levels. Healthy and active fish tend to have fewer of them.[/size]
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I have caught both gill's and bass with worms at Pelican. If you look at where the tail webbing meets the meaty part of the body you should be able to see them. I did see some this year but there were not as bad I as I thought they might be.

[]Tincanfsh
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Their not that bad. Just a little bit of protien!![] I think their in most of the blue gills in the state. I've had to cut them out of em from Pelican, Pine View, Blue Lakes, and one other little pond by the Weber river. Just remember, too, every piece of Halibut that you eat, unless you catch it AND its under 50 pounds, is chuck full of little worms like that, too.
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Does this help?

[crazy]Leaky [font "Comic Sans MS, Arial, Helvetica"]

[url "http://www.udwrfes.org/"][#0000ff]Home[/#0000ff][/url] [/font] [font "Comic Sans MS, Arial, Helvetica"][font "Arial"][size 5] [center]YELLOW GRUBS AT PELICAN LAKE[/center][/size][/font][font "Arial"][size 4]

Anglers sometimes call to inquire about the appearance of yellowish cysts they notice in the muscle of fish caught at Pelican Lake and a few other waters in Utah. These cysts are the intermediate stage of a trematode parasite called Clinostomum complanatum, more commonly known as “yellow grub”. Aquatic snails act as the first host of the parasite. Many species of fish or amphibians can serve as the secondary host. Bluegill and largemouth bass at Pelican Lake are the species commonly observed with the problem. Aquatic birds such as herons, bitterns and gulls act at the final host for the adult parasite.

The parasite can cause localized tissue damage to the muscle or internal organs of the fish, but are not life threatening if present in low to moderate numbers. The parasite is often noted more in the spring to early summer, after which their numbers decline. [left]Yellow grubs can be treated in hatchery fish, but fortunately, none of Utah’s State hatcheries have this parasite. There is no effective way to remove yellow grub from wild fish in a lake or stream.[/left]

Although infected fish may not appear appetizing, there is no reason not to keep an infected fish for human consumption. With careful trimming of affected areas and normal cooking procedures, the fish can provide a safe and delicious meal.[/size][/font] [/font]