Ugly Fish

[captmac]

Had a good day on the water till the wind blew us off the lake, caught several nice blacks,best five would have scaled around 17 lb . All caught on a wart in less than ten feet of water, Now the ugly, one of the blacks had a nasty looking fungus or something along both sides was not the sores of old or from being attacked looked like pockets of fat hanging Fought well and swam off like the rest.

[Danimal]

Probably been handled by a dry/dirty hand before. Dan-o

[Bill Babler]

Cmac, Don't know if you were fishing the James River or not, but I have caught two other fish very similar to your's, in the last week and a half. One was a very nice 3 pounder K out of a cedar tree, that was just eaten up with ugly scars trailing a brown gray mossy like substance, and another was a LM in the 4 pound range, that looked just like him..

Was very careful releasing the fish and used a sanitizer on my hands and the hard baits I caught them on. Don't know if this is anything we could be spreading around, or for that matter be worried about. I have seen this in the Fall, Winter and Early Spring fishing for tree fish. Usually just sores, not sores with the brown gelatin moss type goop that is on them now.

Even, in a derby, I would be very leary and to tell you the truth, would not put one in the livewell.

I'll try and do a little research this week and see what the College Grads that work for MDC think.

Bill

[Fat Boy]

I have seen this in late summer and fall when catching fish out of trees and brush piles. Was always told that it was from

being in thick of it all. I have weighed them in before and have not had a problem. But I have never seen it in the spring and with crap hanging out of them. I have seen alot of it in the mid to upper James but the worst I have seen it is at Truman

[Ealy]

I've been told that the females will rub against pole timber and cedar trees to loosen up their eggs before spawning. That might explain what you're seeing. A buddy of mine caught an 8.5 LM down there Friday that had a small stick stuck up in between her scales from rubbing a tree.

[captmac]

Thanks for the replys. Bill will watch for the college boys take on this

[Predator1]

Thanks for the replys. Bill will watch for the college boys take on this

Would this be due to the several millions of gallons of sewer being released into the james river every month by our city sewer stations.

[captmac]

If anything,maybe an old septic system,thought all the "point" releases had been addressed several years ago, and this fish was caught miles from the James. Hop Bills' interest gets the powers that be on alert.

[smallmouthjoe]

Would this be due to the several millions of gallons of sewer being released into the james river every month by our city sewer stations.

Usually the only problem there is with treated water is the amount of nutrients it puts into the water. This nutrient build up can cause fish kills if the nutrient content is too high, but it usually doesn't promote the growth of parasites. If someone had a picture of an affected fish I could take it to one of my Bio professors and see what they think.

[Guest]

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