Gross Worms on a Channel Cat

[TroutBumDave]

I imagine TD knows what these are, and why they were all over a channel cat I caught in the Jordan over by the prison.







I bet they are harmless, but that doesn't change the fact that they're freakin' nasty. Anyone know what those are?
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[RockyRaab]

Don't know the Linnaean, but the common name would be "bluegill bait."
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[remo_5_0]

Just backs up my opinion of "why does anyone fish in that sewer"? [pirate]
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[wagdog]

Those are leeches. I've found them on bigger channel cats on the fins and on bluegill in Utah Lake. I would imagine they live in the Jordan as well since they are in the lake.
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[flygoddess]

OH! I thought they were Herpes! LOL

I agree with Leeches. I find them on my waders at certain lakes. Good eats. (for the fish I mean)[]
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[TroutBumDave]

[quote remo_5_0]Just backs up my opinion of "why does anyone fish in that sewer"? [pirate][/quote]

I feel you, sir. I have lived right by it for years and never even bothered fishing there -- like you said, it's a disgusting sewer. However, now that I luckily discovered its hidden bounty, I hit it at least once a week. It is a major challenge to catch the species in there on a fly, while contending with murky crud water and less than savory conditions. I recommend that you at least give it a chance -- you never know.

You can thank me later.
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[cpierce]

Eewww cute little leeches!

Lots of them in many different waters. It isn't really a pollution thing. I imagine that catfish that are close to the bottom and weeds would be very prone to picking up hitchhikers.
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[Fin-S-Fish]

Catfish leeches have been on catfish in utah lake for as long as I've fished it......and I've fished it a long time. Mantua has a type of leech that will anchor onto bluegill and bass fins. Within the past 3 years mantua's type leeches have appeared on on white bass, blues, and crappies, and lmb at utah lake. These ones in the pic look like the generalist leeches from Mantua. The other leeches used to be catfish specific. They would only attach to catfish fins. Ignore them and continue with the filleting.
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[line_dangler]

[#000000][font "Times New Roman"][size 3]Actually guys the Jordan River is not as polluted as everyone generally believes it to be. If there are leeches in there that doesn't necessarily mean that the water is toxic or anything. Leeches just do well in low-oxygen leve waters and are not that sensitive if the water quality is not the best. But the fact that there are so many catfish, carp, bluegill/sunfish in there shows that it may not be the cleanest of waters but its not toxic. Just a thought. [fishin]
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[Marathonman]

My ex-wife is in the 2nd pic!
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[TroutBumDave]

[quote Marathonman]My ex-wife is in the 2nd pic![/quote]

Brilliant!
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]You've already got your answer. Little leeches that are harmless both to the fish and to humans. They attach to the vascular fins to suck nourishment when the fish are idle during colder months...but may be found on them at almost any time of year.

Also...not a sign of pollution. May be just the opposite. Many aquatic invertebrates cannot live in polluted bottom strata. A good example is the stone fly.
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[danielc]

Yes a sewer stay away everyone.[angelic]
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[gstott]

I've seen those same critters on bass in all the Idaho reservoirs I fish, not to mention on the trout in both The Logan and Blacksmith Fork rivers. I often see them in the mouth of the bass I catch.
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[FishingLunatic]

Hehe I know right where you were fishing then. Let me ask u this...is it that spot where the prisons water literally goes into the Jordan? Last week I got a couple cats with those same things but there wasn't nearly as many as on yours.
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[resistance16]

[quote flygoddess]OH! I thought they were Herpes! LOL
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They're not herpes?! But that's exactly what mine......wait, never mind. LOL
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[CoyoteSpinner]

[quote Marathonman]My ex-wife is in the 2nd pic![/quote]

+1, what did you say leeches, or rhymes with beaches - damned bit.....um, sorry, never mind - I shouldn'a said that.
"I'm talking about a dawg, Blaaaaaack Lassie. " (C&C)

But up North they grow bigger, cuz they got bigger cats to suck on dontchaknow! (snark!) Ever seen Banana Slugs? YO!


Got one coworker who's arachnophobic (Baaad), and another who's leech-aphobic. He water skis (wakeboards) and give the icky shimmy when describing finding finding leeches on his legs when standing in the Newton muck waiting to get his ride up.


[inline Slugs.jpg]

ice jig, tip 'em for gills, bet they be killer for crappie!