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Last year I found parasites on the trout at Rockport.Is this an ongoing problem there? What other waters have this problem? I know that this isn't a health problem, but I will still release all fish with the parasites.I don't remember this condition affecting the perch.I also would like to know if there are any good spots to fish at Rockport this Saturday where the ice is safe on the highway side or is it better to go into the park?
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[cool][size 1]Hey, welcome to the BFT fambly, DKSR. So, ya caught some "pizza-side" troutskis. huh? Sure does ruin the esthetic appeal, even if it does not affect the flesh or the activity of the fish.[/size]
[size 1]I'm pretty sure that what you are seeing is "anchor worms" They live on the skin and will seldom be found in healthy fish from cold, clean waters. They occur most often in lakes that get warmer in the summer. The trout suffer from temperature stress and that seems to affect their protective slime layer to the extent that the freeswimming larvae of the anchor worms can fasten on to the skin and develop into the ugly adult worms.[/size]
[size 1]Like yourself, I would have to be pretty desperate to keep infected fish for the table. Sure, you could skin them, and you will never be able to tell the difference. But, if there are other options, turn the poor devils loose.[/size]
[size 1]My understanding is that the worms are pretty much shed during the winter months and are more evident in the late summer and fall. However, I have taken rainbows from beneath the ice at Pineview, in years past, that still had a healthy crop of the critters.[/size]
[size 1]I have also seen them on rainbows in the Sevier River, below Yuba dam. Only on trout though. I do not think they can get attached to fish with thicker scales...like sunfish, perch, walleyes, etc.[/size]
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Guest was me..Sorry
Chester
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Welcome to the site DKSRenegade. Nice to have you here. The anchor worms are present in Rockport, Echo, and especially East Canyon. East Canyon grows some really nice fish, but do to nitrate contamination the fish can't go very deep, and thus suffer severely from the anchor worms. If they get too bad, the worms will over stress the fish and the fish will die. I only saw one or two out of the trout I caught at Rockport yesterday.
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Hi Bigcat, To join go to the home page and click on the top left corner then fill out your info. FYI BFT is holding a fishing party on the 17th. of Jan. Check the Utah site for more info.
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Hey TubeDude, I've seen them on rainbows myself due to warm water temps but the browns are never affected.Do you know how much more tolerant to warm water the brown trout are?
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[cool][size 1]I don't know the specific degree ranges, but it is fairly well known that browns are slightly more hardy in water a few degrees warmer than wimpy rainbows can handle. There are also at least a couple of different strains of browns, with one probably more hardy than the other. Need a fisheries biologist to settle that one.[/size]
[size 1]I don't think I have ever seen browns with the anchor worms. And, I think it might be because the browns also have a tougher skin. However, they are susceptible to the white fungus growth in the fall when they get stressed during the spawn. The browns in the Provo, below Deer Creek Dam, have been getting the "white fuzzies" since I first started fishing them in the early sixties. It does seem to be worse in years when the water flow is lower and the temps warmer.[/size]
[size 1]After my original post, I remembered that I have seen anchor worms on trout in a couple of spots in California and also in Arizona. And, the pattern seems to hold up...that they develop them when the water warms and they are not in prime condition.[/size]
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