Bluegill at mantua

[kyLURE]

First trip on the ice today! We didn't have a ton of time but the 3 of us managed about 20 fish in a few hours. Just used the standard ice jig tipped with wax worms. 
I did find something new today that I've never seen. After I got finished filleting the fish, I was giving them a final rinse and noticed a small cream colored object in one of the fillets, it kinda looked like rice breast that ducks get. But with these, when I pulled them out they started to wiggle. After digging them out, they looked like tiny leaches.  Have any of you guys seen this before? 

[TubeDude]

First trip on the ice today! We didn't have a ton of time but the 3 of us managed about 20 fish in a few hours. Just used the standard ice jig tipped with wax worms. 
I did find something new today that I've never seen. After I got finished filleting the fish, I was giving them a final rinse and noticed a small cream colored object in one of the fillets, it kinda looked like rice breast that ducks get. But with these, when I pulled them out they started to wiggle. After digging them out, they looked like tiny leaches.  Have any of you guys seen this before? 

Those are appropriately just known as "white grubs".  They show up in bluegills...and bass...periodically.  They are not harmful to humans but they look nasty.  Pick them out with a knife blade or cook them well and enjoy some extra protein.  Here is a LINK TO ONLINE INFO

They aren't all that common in Mantua fish but Pelican Lake used to be notorius for them.  But they seemed to go in cycles...being more common some years than others.  I suspect it can be a water quality issue as well as changes in the abundance of the snail and bird host populations.

[Mr. J]

Yep, what Pat said. 

I could never taste the difference.

[Jig-fisher]

Nice ones! (The fish, not the parasites.)

[kyLURE]

Interesting! Thanks for the info. I guess we'll proceed as normal.

[RockyRaab2]

Hook, cook...don't look.

[dubob]

Hook, cook...don't look.

I like it!  

[Cowboypirate]

Hook, cook...don't look.

I like it!  

I wish I would have known about the hook - cook - don't look - philosophy years ago. I might like oysters if I had not "looked"

[TubeDude]

Hook, cook...don't look.

I like it!  

I wish I would have known about the hook - cook - don't look - philosophy years ago. I might like oysters if I had not "looked"

Yeah, there are a lot of foods that you sometimes gotta wonder...who was the first person to ever try that?  And why the heck did they go back for seconds?  And then why did other people have to do it also?  Amazing. 

Back in the days when I worked on fishing boats out of southern Cal we had a saying...about the queasy folks who got seasick.  We called it "Capistrano syndrome"...return of the swallows.  There are more than a few "acquired taste" edibles that often produce the "reversed peristalsis" reaction the first time someone is brave enough (or pressured enough) to try them. 

On the other hand, it is amazing the stuff folks will snarf down just to show off.  I have eaten just about every kind of food imaginable...animal, vegetable or unidentifiable.  And if I like it, I don't much care what it looks like.  But I don't go out of my way to gross other folks out by eating something just for the effect it has on others.

[smokepoles]

I have filleted 100s of bluegills from Mantua and never got one with 'white grubs'.  If I do, I'll just toss it and go with the odds.  Number of years ago I talked to wildlife resource guys who were electroshocking the spawning gills to stock into other places in the state.  They said Mantua had the healthiest gills in the state per what Pat said regarding Pelican.

[RockyRaab2]

My motto is "If it's slower than I am, it's lunch."

[dubob]

I draw the line at bugs - I will NOT eat any bugs regardless if dead and cooked or still alive and wiggling.

[SkunkedAgain]

Well you're pretty good at reinforcing my catch and release habit... Thanks J

[lovetofish]

I draw the line at bugs - I will NOT eat any bugs regardless if dead and cooked or still alive and wiggling.

I'm with you on this one. When I used to hunt ducks (at the Harrison) and I'd find Rice Breast on a duck I was cleaning there was no way I was going to eat it. I don't like wasting game or fish, but I draw the line when it comes to things like that.

[DanzTuna]

Can you imagine the first conversations among our ancestors regarding foods like eggs or milk..."You see that bird over there? The first white round thing that drops out of its butt, I'll eat it!" Or how about "You see that cluster of long tubes hanging under the belly of that four legged beast over there? You squeeze one of the tubes and I'll drink whatever comes out" ? Humankind has overcome a lot of food aversions over the years. I remember the first time I went cod fishing and saw all the cysts (worms) in the fillets. The skipper told me the commercial operators passed the fillets over a light source to locate the cysts, flick out the cysts with the knife tip and the fillets were good to go. I happened to mention this to my mother in law and that was the last time she would eat my cod. Too bad for her- they're one of my favorite fish to eat.

[N.E.T.O.]

We called those "anchor worms" in the bass and bluegills from Pelican Lake...and as mentioned above, nearly every fish in that lake had them. Not appetizing at all for me so we never kept fish to eat from that lake. We never knew what they really were called. Not sure if the current population of fish in that lake has them or not since it was treated a couple years ago.

Curiously, Mantua and Pelican have another thing in common...swimmers itch. Might be related?

[Therapist]

TD's response brings to mind a story my father told about one of his first jobs while attending Weber State back in the late 30's. He grew up in Willard and the family farm grew sugar beets and alfalfa. Willard bay was under construction. He got a job one summer at the LDS Cannery where his job was to count worm segments in the ketchup. Another was to count rat/mice poop in the flour, so we have all been eating "stuff" our whole lives w/o knowing it.

Happy Holidays to all of you !! Enjoy the time with your families !!!

[MrShane]

When you eat bird eggs you are just eating part of the females period process.
Enjoy your omelette!

[PACKFAN]

First trip on the ice today! We didn't have a ton of time but the 3 of us managed about 20 fish in a few hours. Just used the standard ice jig tipped with wax worms. 
I did find something new today that I've never seen. After I got finished filleting the fish, I was giving them a final rinse and noticed a small cream colored object in one of the fillets, it kinda looked like rice breast that ducks get. But with these, when I pulled them out they started to wiggle. After digging them out, they looked like tiny leaches.  Have any of you guys seen this before? 

Oh Oh I was sure hoping they wouldnt show up in the fish there. I started ice fishing Pelican lake way back in 1977 when I first got stationed here and we didnt see any fish with the grubs in them until the late 80s when a few started showing up and progressively got worse as time went on. They poisoned the lake off a few years back and we havent returned since then.

[kyLURE]

Well, just an update, they were delicious!! The fish, not the grubs. haha. I kinda like the "Hook, Cook, and dont look" Philosophy. Either way, they were really easy to see and remove so ill probably do it again. I recognize there could be smaller one I couldnt see, but o'well.