at least 10% of the bass and gills I’ve been boating have a slight wound on the side about the size of you little fingernail, roughly oval or roundish. I have also been having better luck using black leach immitation patterns it this lake. I got to go out for a couple of hours late Sun evening and little was happening if it wasn’t a black / elongated pattern. I think that they are off the beds for the most part in this lake.
All of you old hands at this: what does a leach wound on a fish look like?
I’ll try to get a pic of one next Wed.
Having no idea where you are fishing, I do have one possible answer for you. If the Fish and Game boys have visited this waterbody recently, the “wounds” you see may be where they have taken scale samples for age and growth studies. If that is not the case, there are a number of possible causative agents, including bacterial or fungal diseases as well as parasitic leech or lamprey attacks. Diseases are especially prevalent in many waterbodies in the spring, as the water starts warming up.
I know this water is not surveyed by the state. These wounds must come from some predator, disease, or fish activity.
I got a photo although most of the wounds are about 1/2 tis size:
Hi zzdruid,
I am not any kind of an expert but the lesions on that blugill resemble the lesions that are being found on the smallmouth bass in the Md, Va. WVa and Pa rivers. If you have not notified the DNR to check, it might be a wise step to take. I just think it is better to err on the side of caution rather than wait for a massive fish kill to happen.
I truly hope it turns out to be nothing.
You see that small worm-like fish in the top right corner? That came off of this carp and it is a sea lamprey. It is anadromous adn spawns down rivers in good numbers. It attaches to fish and live off of their blood. It constantly injects an anti-coagulant to keep the wound open. They can stay on for months.
I’m very curious to find out what caused the wounds. I have caught 3 or 4 sunfish with these same bumpy/oozy marks. Some came from creeks, but at least one came from a hole in the ground (pond) no bigger than two hot tubs. The lamprey theory, while possibly true for the pictured fish, doesn’t hold for my catch.
By the way, the pictures are nice for showing the details. Good job to both of you.
ZZDruid, that wound looks different from what I had mentally imaged. I have seen bluegill with plugs bitten out of them, presumably by turtles. I have also seen wounds caused by water snakes that lost a meal. Do you think that it might be caused by a parasitic worm of some sort? Was there a cyst in the flesh of the fish (if you kept it)? You might want to e-mail the picture to your local game and fish folks to see what they have to say about it. BTW, moving your legs thru the water will find out of there are leaches, as they tend to key on movement. Just be sure to check your legs often and keep them from locking onto you. They won’t usually spend too much time on clothing and dark colored leeches show up well against khakis. (I often wade in old khakis and seldom wade bare-legged.)
[This message has been edited by EdD (edited 04 May 2006).]
Since the DFG boys have not been there (scale samples are taken from the affected area shown in your photo), the only way to definitively determine what the problem is would be to have samples taken and shipped to a diagnostic fish lab. Looking at the time of year and in my best professional judgement (I’m a fisheries biologist) in viewing the picture, my money is on an Aeromonas or similar bacterial infection. These types of infections are not uncommon in the spring as fish have just gone through the rigors of winter, are starting the rigors of spawning, and bacterial colonies are increasing with increased water temperatures. Take a look at this link: [url=http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/VM059:92947]http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/VM059[/url:92947]
There ar enumerous other websites that give information about bacterial diseases of fish; nearly all indicate the need for diagnostic work to be done to determine the actual causative agent to determine what, if any, treatment is recommended.
As noted in the picture of the carp, sea lamprey leave a circular or “disk-shaped” wound on the side of it’s host fish. The wound pictured on the bluegill looks more like two small puncture wounds surrouded by discolouration, possibly caused by the sucker of a parasite or maybe trauma from the wounds themselves(that last one is a shot in the dark, though)
in my best professional judgement (I’m a fisheries biologist)
the wide range of skills and experience levels on this board is one of the main reasons that I am here. The referenced site was vary informative. Since I have seen this on so many of the fish and the lesions are somewhate variable in size and shape this opinion seems on target.
There are Kingfishers , great Herrons and lesser Herrons in this lake ( piedmont NC )
another fish but worse pic:
Thank you for sharing your expertise with all of us.
BTW: all of my latest were taken on a 1/80 micro jig soft hackle dressing.
[This message has been edited by zzdruid (edited 05 May 2006).]
[This message has been edited by zzdruid (edited 05 May 2006).]
[This message has been edited by zzdruid (edited 05 May 2006).]
It’s nice to get some expert guidance
in these threads. So often, we lack the
expertise to really diagnose a problem or
perceived problem. Your comments are
appreciated.G I do not want to hijack
this thread but wonder if you might take the
time to address a question on atomic dog’s
“The bass are out but I’m not seeing any’
panfish yet” in this same forum. I’ll go
compose my questions now.G Warm regards,
Jim
