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On my recent sturgeon trip to the Snake River in Idaho, I caught a 3-4 pound channel cat that had raised red bumps covering it's entire body. I have caught several cats out of those waters and nothing has had this on them. It makes the fish look like it has the measles.
Interestingly though , last spring I got what I thought was parasites on my forearms after handling sturgeons and cats in the same area. They showed up a few days after coming home as raised bumps with a black spot in the center. I removed the black spots with tweezers and the bumps soon healed.
I have seen what looks like mini-lampreys about 1/2 to 1" on several sturgeon. They could be swept away from the fish with just a wave of the hand moving water over them.
Has anyone else seen these bumps on fish?
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Good fishing to all. Hue
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[#0000FF]Almost looks like the anchor worms that afflict rainbows in Utah waters that get warm in the summer. Used to call them "pizza-side" trout. Not unlikely they could attach to a smooth skinned fish like catfish.
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[#0000FF]The things that look like mini lampreys might be nothing more than leeches. When cats belly up to the bottom there are often lots of creepy crawlies looking to hitch a ride and get a free meal. See pic of some chin leeches on a Utah Lake fish.[/#0000FF]
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Seen those on many a Cat in every state I've ever caught Cats. Never knew what they were, never thought much about them. Like the Anchor Worms on the Rainbows up at East Canyon, they don't seem to have any negative affect on the fish meat when its filleted and cooked. Never seen them on the inside of any filleted out fish.
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"OCD = Obsessive Catfish Disorder "
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Sure makes for one ugly looking catfish that I would never take home. I was glad that I had my gloves on.
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Good fishing to all. Hue
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You're not going to catch anything from handling these fish. If you had a rash before it wasn't related to what you saw on the fish. You may have had Swimmer's Itch (Cercarial dermatitis) from contact with the water. It is reported in the Snake River in Idaho. It's the birds and snails that are involved in that parasite's lifecycle. Human's get it as a dead end host- meaning they die under your skin and humans don't develop the adult parasite.
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Thanks for the information.
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Good fishing to all. Hue
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