Northwest Fishing Reports

Ok first off this lake is just plain nasty. But I mean come on, the three trout I pulled out today all had some kinda white fungus on them. The dept of fish and wildlife or whoever is in charge of the lake needs to take control of this. This lake is not even five minutes from my house and it's nice to be able to go so close but I won't be fishing it any longer if they can't pull it together and get the lake cleaned up and some healthy fish in there. As it is right now I have to travel to Burlington area for trout.


Rant over and tight lines

Did you send the same rant to WDFW or your region's marine biologist?

I didn't send them anything yet. I don't even know where to send them a rant. Its BS that the county and the dept of fish and wildlife don't do anything about it.

I assume you mean the Silver Lake near Mill Creek/Everett? Contact the Snohomish County Parks Department - hopefully the end result isn't going to be a total kill off. On the other hand... Lake Ballinger has a nasty issue with the fish come summer when the water warm up (for what I understand).

many lakes have had this issue when they start to warm up it seems. McMurray for one also. later in the year i'd catch many fish with parasites on them. pretty nasty looking, but from the info i got the fish were still ok to eat if you scraped them off. myself i stopped eating them fried or grilled and would only smoke them. it would be good to find out what the deal is exactly before going on a rant about it. you can always catch and release. it's a blessing to be able to fish and use a lake so close to your home. try to enjoy it...

Fact of the matter is they need to do something about it. Not just leave it the way it is.

I have never seen fish with that white growth on them this early in the year.
I wonder if they came from the hatchery like that.
I know at Lake McMurray in the begining of June the trout have about 3-5 growth
per fish, and at the end of June its 10+ growths per fish. I only fish there in May.
If you fish there in July the fish are so disgusting looking, I get sick looking at them.
If you seen the movie Hellraiser, the person called pinhead, thats what the fish look
like, in stead of pins sticking out, its white growths.

How about Global warming

I wonder if this topic string can be copied to Stacie's Forum topic? I know Silver Lake in Snohomish County is not her jurisdiction but I am sure she would know who to talk to.

Danny - let me know if you still need help and I will hook you up with the right person.

stace

Still no luck, Ive sent emails off and have heard nothing back.

Danny - give me a couple of days to work on this and I will get back to you with information.

stace

Ok sounds good Stace. Thank you

So I talked with our hatchery guy and he indicated that the white fungus looking stuff can occur if the the fish had any kind of abrasion on it when it was stocked. This can happen in hatchery raceway or could occur when the fish got stocked or even in the lake itself (predators). The fungus gets inside of the cut.

Have you fished there again? Are you continuing to see a problem? If so, let me know and I'll find out who oversees that lake and see if there is a way to get some information. (Which could entail, keeping one or two of the fish fresh - not frozen- to give to the pathologist).

We have lakes that when the water warms up there is a parasitic sort of outbreak in the trout. It can be common although, yeah, a little gross to see.

Let me know what you are still finding and I'll do my best to get you answers!

Best Wishes!

stace

talk about parasites, the Riffe lake silvers are stuffed with them. Fortunately only in the gut cavity, the meat is fine. But having worms coming out of the fish's anus is pretty gross.

Oh man, it was pretty disconcerting. I'll take trout ich or fungus over 10 inch worms any day.

I bet the trout ich is a lot like the fungus you see on chum from where they bite each other. When there is no slime coating on a wound, it opens the fish up to fungal infections, probably like what they're talking about with the trout transportation. Although this phenomenon seems to be attributed consistently to the same bodies of water each season, which makes me think that it's something other than trout bumping in transport. Does the fungus look like this?



If so then it could be ulcerative dermal necrosis. Although that mostly affect river fish. If it looks like this,

than it is Columnaris, a bacterial infection that causes infected spots which become infected with ich-like fungi.


Another candidate is Saprolegnia. This one looks pretty gross.
I think the most likely candidate would be a parasite infection like Epistylis or a fungus like Columnaris. Next time you catch one, take a picture and then we'll be able to identify it.

This can happen in hatchery raceway or could occur when the fish got stocked or even in the lake itself (predators). The fungus gets inside of the cut.

When there is no slime coating on a wound, it opens the fish up to fungal infections

These are good things to keep in mind while handling & releasing fish. A dry or gloved hand or any abrasion that removes the slime coat can cause similar results. They may look fine as they swim away only to suffer & die later.


"Ich", or Ichthyophthirius multifiliis is a protozoan parasite, Columnaris is a bacterial infection, saprolegnia is indeed a fungus. They can resemble each other but are very different in effect & treatment.

Mike Carey wrote:talk about parasites, the Riffe lake silvers are stuffed with them. Fortunately only in the gut cavity, the meat is fine. But having worms coming out of the fish's anus is pretty gross.

Agreed!!! I'd like to know more about these worms. I know it's not harmful to people to eat the fish, but i'd like to know what they are

Stace I havent even gone back to the lake since the last time I went there, thats how dissapointed I am with the lake and Dept of Fish and Wildlife.

Well I went to Silver Lake again today and I was pleasently surprised! Within an hour I had 3 NICE trips on the srtinger! Looks like the lake plant did some good. No white fungi on them (Hatchery Fish). So looks like they may of cleaned up the lake a little. But good news for anyone who lives close to there.




Went to Lake Stickny before Silver Lake and the bank was just blown out with people. But good day on the water none the less!