Worms in Perch on Couch?

When a member says he feels terrible and won't keep fish again without inspection -friendly education is all that's needed

Well said LBM!

Not sure if this has been answered before before but do pike get worm too?

Pike will on occasion get a long intestinal tape worm inside of them, pretty gross! They will also harbor the black spot parasite which is visible on the skin, sometimes penetrating into the meat. I rarely see the yellow grubs in pike.

Caught some perch out off pefferlaw late fall fishing. Out of 16 only one had worms. Maybe it migrated out of the river and into simcoe.

What about the Walleyes/Pickerals?

Hey guys, Thanks for all your replies.

To the people bashing me saying I wasted it. Clearly you didn't read my post. I said I felt terrible doing it, and I clearly stated there weren't just a few worms. There were literally more worms in the fish then there was flesh. Like 40-60+ worms depending on the size of the fish. It would have been easier to pick out the clean flesh then it would have been to pick out the worms. If anyone still thinks that I'm in the wrong, I will gladly cook you a fish like this and watch you eat it. Chances are you won't.

It was also my first time fishing that lake, I normally stick to Simcoe. I have since done a bunch of research and found out how these worms come to be in the water, and they actually come from birds that feed on fish believe it or not. So shallower waters where birds can dive in to feed on fish are where you will typically the area's where you will find these worms.

Thank you for that! That's all I was seeking, kind words and guidance from people who had experienced it before since I've never found a worm in the 5 years I've been fishing!

Cheers!

Also for anyone who is interested here is some info I found on the worms!



Your description suggests you observed encysted metacercariae larval stage of the yellow grub (Clinostomum) parasite. The encysted, yellow to yellowish white worm can be up to 1/4 inch in length. It can be found in virtually all species of North American freshwater fish.

The yellow grub is a digenetic trematode. These types of parasites require several hosts to complete their life cycles. In the case of the yellow grub, the adult parasite is found in the throats of fish eating birds, such as herons. During the feeding process, eggs produced by the adults are washed out of the bird's mouth and into the water. There they hatch, yielding a free swimming larval stage (miracidia) that will die within several hours if it does not find and infect a snail of the genus Helisoma. After further development within the snail, a free swimming cercaria leaves the snail and seeks a fish host. The cercariae burrow through the skin of the fish and encyst, where they develop into the metacercariae. These yellow grubs may live several years in the fish. If the fish is eaten by the bird host the larval metacercariae will develop into adult parasites, completing the life cycle.

Infestations by a few individuals likely cause little harm to fish, however, under certain circumstances, heavy infestations can kill fish. Yellow grubs are described as unsightly by fishermen. A related species occurring in Asia has been found to infect the upper respiratory tract of humans. Thorough cooking kills the North American yellow grub and the parasite does not alter the flavor or the infected fish; however, fish with heavy infestations are typically not eaten by anglers.

Infestation is somewhat greater for fish caught in shallow water where snails and fish eating birds are most prevalent. Fish caught from deep water typically exhibit less infestation. Like many biological phenomenon, prevalence of the grub may be greater in some years and less in others for a variety of reasons including an abundance of intermediate host mollusks and birds.

I guess you could try marinating fillets in tequila.

I have eaten fish that have worms in them. no ill effects and taste is fine. try it you may just like it

How many worms were in it though?

If there were a few it wouldn't both me, but in my situation there were almost more worms than there was fish to be eaten