El Dorado Crappie

[fishingtim]

Craig, my wife caught this crappie this last Monday night at El Dorado. Do you know what the growth is on the crappie's fin? Is it just an infection? Otherwise the fish appeared to look good and healthy, and didn't see anything wrong with the meat when I cleaned him.

Thanks,
Tim.

[Craig Johnson]

This looks like lymphocystis which is caused by a virus that usually shows up in fish that are stressed and will go away when the fish stress lessens. I’ve seen it on crappie and drum here at El Dorado and on crappie in NE Kansas when I was up there. You can Google it and get all kinds of info. Lymphocystis certainly gets a lot of attention from anglers as it can be some crazy looking stuff. I’ve always described it as ‘pinkish cauliflower’ growing out of the side of a fish.

Good pictures Tim!

[fishlessDan]

I caught lots of crappie at Clinton yesterday that had that stuff on them, tossed em all back in the lake!

[fishingtim]

Thanks for the info Craig.

btw... I relieved that fish of his stress...