fish that have grubs

[bobber-in-water]

i caught some slabs finnaly thanks to all your help.by locating some feeding bass first then the crappie started hiting pretty good. filet all of them .noticed in some of the bass had a few small worm looking grub type in the meat.called conservation right away.i told him just what these very small grub type thing look like.he said not to be worryed it would not hurt the fish population or quality of fish and was perfectly ok to eat the fish if properly prepared.it just looks un plesant when cleaning.i think i will remove them from my filet till i can get it under control.i dont do the fear factor thing.but he said no worrys the fish get it from mussels in the water or snails .he said to get this under control.if it bothers me to stock red eard perch because they will consume the mussels an snails from the water with out efect mutch on the red ears.

my qwestion is have any of you seen these things before thay are a white or cream in color orblack he said but i have the cream color'd.and by stocing the red ear hurt my crappie pop or sould i stock more crappie at the same time.the bass an channel i think is ok in population p.s none of my crappie had any???????

[rockjawjohnny]

We get them here in OK alot. Mostly in bass and catfish. Your friend is right, they are fine to eat, since they are usually around the tail area it is easy to cut off the meat that has them in it and not waste the whole fish. Try looking on www.wildlifedepartment.com . I think there is an article by a biologist that goes into more detail.

[izzysfishin]

Normally i only see them in the middle and late summer here in Mo. They say it's ok to eat them and i have. But like you said bobber i try to get as many out as i can. Have caught catfish that were absolutly loaded with them, those went to the trash...izzy

[ceb]

I've noticed them before, too. I have really only seen them in bass, bluegill, redear, and catfish. I have once or twice seen one in a big crappie, but never in anything smaller than 13".

I've thought about it before, and for all the people that eat fish whole....well, they would never know it was in there......and they ain't dead yet. So, as long as you cook your fish properly, there should be nothing to worry about.

[Crappie Reaper]

They are a parasite and tend to grow more in warmer waters. Especially stagnated waters. Just pick em out with your knife while cleaning and everything will be just fine. There have been times that I have cleaned a fish that is just covered with them through the meat. I toss those fish to the cat.

[bobber-in-water]

still wondering if i stock red ear will this efect my crappie population.and do i need to stock more crappie to off set.crappie popalation is good right now but when those red start feeding will this damage anything as far as population and qwality?????????????

[CrappiePappy]

still wondering if i stock red ear will this efect my crappie population.and do i need to stock more crappie to off set.crappie popalation is good right now but when those red start feeding will this damage anything as far as population and qwality?????????????

If the Conservation Officer said to stock "shellcracker" (Redear Sunfish) to control the snails ... then that's all I'd do. They will eat the mollusks ... but, they'll also eat any other foodsource available. Adding Crappie on top of all this, could only serve to overpopulate the biomass. This may cause a stunting of all species present. The Crappie population are doing well, I assume, so I see no reason to supplement their numbers. Their numbers & size will fluctuate, in accordance with the available biomass of foodsource, spawning opportunities, and controlled predation.
I'll assume that this is a large pond or small lake ..... and I hope that Bass & Crappie are not the only two species in these waters. Bass & Crappie do not make a good combination for small bodies of water, by themselves or just the two of them. I'd talk more with the Conservation Dept. to develop a plan to adjust the balance of species involved. You got information on how to help decrease the infestation level of the "grubs" ... but, you don't want to "rob Peter, to save Paul", by overpopulating the waters with more species than it can adequately contain/support .... Just MHO ..............luck2ya ...cp

[NIMROD]

I see them in bass and green sunfish out of small rivers every summer. They have a life cycle which fish are a part of. The fish get them from crayfish or mussels they consume. This is the reason that the ones that prey on crayfish have the most. My cousions have even found them in breasts of ducks. Not shure if those are the same grubs or not. I was told if properly cooked they were fine. Man , I ain't eat'n a fish if they are in there. Too many others and this ain't fear factor !!!!

[Tommy]

Hi Bobber. Thats a classic where I used to bass fish. Matter of fact when I did bass fish there, I would always hold the fillet up to a light or the sun just to makes sure I got all of them out. They won't hurt you at all. Then again, maybe that why I so crazy!!!!