Grubs in Perch

[windbeam]

It took all season to have a day like yesterday only to find each filet to be full of grubs!  I've never seen anything like it.  Each perch filet looked like swiss cheese. Is this typical for late season perch? What kind of parasite is this and is it harmful to the fish or me if I eat them???

[esox slayer]

It took all season to have a day like yesterday only to find each filet to be full of grubs!  I've never seen anything like it.  Each perch filet looked like swiss cheese. Is this typical for late season perch? What kind of parasite is this and is it harmful to the fish or me if I eat them???

where did you catch them??  I know a lot of the inland smaller lakes have perch full of grubs no matter what time of year they're caught....you may get one from time to time in Chaumont Bay but very seldom.....Esox

[windbeam]

On a lake here in the Adirondacks.

[esox slayer]

On a lake here in the Adirondacks.

I took what I thought was a nice mess of perch out of Black Lake one year in the middle of January or February..plenty of good ice...filleted (?) the first one on the ice..grubs,,the 2nd...grubs..and on and on...finally just gave up after checking the first half dozen...what a shame....

[windbeam]

What kind of parasite is it? anyone know? Also, I'm wondering if we did the population a favor by culling them out?

[perchwisher]

I was told by the dec that they will not harm you just make sure there throughly cooked.I caught a bunch in chautauqua that were full of grubs.I can remember what he called the grubs.MY self, its hard eating something like this after youve seen  this while filleting them.I got rid of mine.

[esox slayer]

What kind of parasite is it? anyone know? Also, I'm wondering if we did the population a favor by culling them out?

Here's a link from a google search....

http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Fishing/fisheries_management/grubby_fish.htm

try that.....Esox

[ChenBassHead]

Since starting school up here in the 'dacks (Paul Smith's College) I've found that just about every lake is loaded with grub-ridden perch...  I've gotten a lot of really nice perch out here on Lower Saint Regis, only to find that each and every keeper is loaded with grubs.  It's gotten to the point where it's pointless to keep them.      Same goes for Lower Saranac, although not as much as Lower Saint Regis... I never have this problem at home either, on lakes like Canadarago, the Madison County Chain, or the Chenango County small waters...just seems to be an Adirondack thing... 

-Zach

[dwayne]

It extends beyond the Dacs...pretty much all bodies of water north of the thruway have them to some degree, some worse than others.   

[kirkwooders]

I've found very few in the perch here in south western NY, but the gill's seam to be full of them.

[fisheadtoby13]

Ive heard that the grubs are carried from one place to another by wading birds that pick them up in the mud. I can tell if a bullhead is loaded w/ grubs by looking at the base of their tale and fins.

[fishit]

The information I got first hand from the DEC fisheries Biol. is that they aren't harmful to you or the fish and what he said as we sat down for dinner was "we all could use a little more protein in our diet" and "with enough alcohol in your system nothing can live".
He did assure me that I had no worries health wise about eating the fillets but the alcohol was another thing.

eat, Drink and fish happy,

fish.it

[Wellsy]

Caught a bunch of grubby Perch myself this winter  all in the adk's!
And just confirming what everybody else is saying, you can eat them, just cook them good.
I personally look for the signs on all the perch I catch in the north country now.
Safe or not if I wanted to eat grubs I would start frying up some of my bait. 

[ChenBassHead]

Yeah, you can looks for signs of grubs, such as the base of the tail or in/under the gills...but let me tell you right now that just because there aren't any there doesn't mean ANYTHING!  I was fishing out here on Lower Saint Regis, and caught a nice, fat, "grub-free" 12 inch perch that I decided would be worthy of the frying pan.  The dinks were ripping my maggots off the jig, so I decided to use a perch eye.  I pulled the eye out, and continued fishing.  When that eye was used, I pulled the other out, caught a bunch more perch, and left around dark.  When I got back into the dorm, I took my fish to the kitchen and rinsed it off in the sink.  I looked in the eye socket, and was disgusted to find that the entire inside of both sockets was LOADED with grubs...they were packed so tightly that it looked like perch roe.      I filleted one side, and confirmed what I had already suspected: it was absolutely LOADED with grubs.  Needless to say, I threw it out.  You guys can eat all the grubs you want, but personally, after seeing that, I'm not keeping anymore perch out of this lake... 

-Zach

[Brooks]

   I believe the  grubs are part of the life cycle of the snail.Do the lakes that you are finding them have large areas of shallow water? Snails are a French delicacy.I know let the French eat them.

[fishyfinger]

Perch fillets with a side order of grubs doen't sound appetizing at all Kinda like the worms pulled from the meat of a dump bear :Pmmmmmmm

[Brooks]

  You probably eat eggs for breakfast , the early stages of a chicken embryo ,comes from a chickens a$$ .Cook the fish ,Eat the fish,end of cycle.or throw it back and make more snails.

[esox slayer]

  You probably eat eggs for breakfast , the early stages of a chicken embryo ,comes from a chickens a$$ .Cook the fish ,Eat the fish,end of cycle.or throw it back and make more snails.

YOU eat 'em...I'll either have clean, grubless perch or I'll go without...there's always enough fish without grubs to make me a meal....

More snails??  Yeah...call it my part to help make the PETA freaks happy....

[wnybassman]

A few have been found here in WNY waters, specifically Silver Lake.  Usually not enough that I can't pick them out when filleting, but I am sure I have missed a few over the years and ate them.  I'm still kickin'!!  LOL!!

[seaweed01]

Esox,

I have to agree with you!!

[fishingking]

GRUBS DO NOT TURN INTO SNAILS

Its a complicated but simple cycle
Fish eating bird eats infected fish
the grub tansforms then
Bird then Poops in the water or w/e
then a small organism find a snail
hangs in the snail for a period of time (transforms)
Leaves the snail and finds a fish
burrows under the skin and forms the yellow/white grubs you are seeing



its simple  bird,snail, fish

Look it up on the internet they will show/give a better explanation (this is just off the top of my head from school  a few yrs ago)

[ol crawdad]

here is a link: http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Fishing/fisheries_management/grubby_fish.htm

here is some text from the linked page:

It is not uncommon to catch a freshwater fish that appears "grubby" -- infested with pinhead size lumps that are white to yellow or black in color. Many people wonder, is this some new disease? Is the fish safe to eat? This is not a new disease and "grubby" fish may be safely consumed by humans providing they are completely cooked, thereby killing the grubs.

Some fish have only their skin and fins affected. Others are targeted in their musculature and a few may have one or more of their internal organs involved. All of these "grubs" are dormant encysted larval flatworm parasites.

Cysts, which appear black, are a result of melanin pigment produced by the fish host and deposited around the cysts. Only certain flatworm species stimulate pigment production; otherwise their cysts appear off-white to yellow.

Flatworms are scientifically referred to as digenetic trematodes. This animal group includes numerous species of which most are parasitic - that is, they live with a host organism at the expense of the host.

Most parasitic trematodes utilize two or three hosts during their life cycle. Those which cause grubby fish usually take advantage of snails, fish and fish eating birds and mammals. The yellow grub of perch is typical. It infests the great blue heron as an adult worm and is depicted here as an example:




The life cycle begins as fertile eggs (2) produced by adult flukes (1) which live in the mouth of the heron (7).
The eggs are shed to open water as the heron feeds. The first stage larvae, called miracidia (3), emerge from the eggs and penetrate a suitable snail host (4). Within the snail, miracidia undergo numerous cycles of asexual reproduction in various developmental phases after which second stage larvae, called cercariae (5), emerge from the snail and swim about in search of a suitable fish host, such as the yellow perch (6). Cercariae penetrate the fish and encyst to assume the third larval stage -- metacercariae (6), also known as grubs. When the infested fish is consumed by the heron, the metacercariae excyst (come out of the cyst) and become adult flukes (1) in the mouth of the heron, thus completing the cycle.



Unless the parasite incidence is extreme within a given host, fish grub fluke adults and larvae usually do not appear to harm the host. The snail probably suffers the most due to the intensive reproduction of larval forms within. Occasionally, fish hosts can be harmed when vital organs are involved.

In some areas of the world, adult flukes arising from fish grubs can infect humans. The majority, however, are specific for hosts other than humans. Regardless, grubby fish may be safely consumed by humans providing they are completely cooked, thereby killing the grubs.

[ANGLER]

 I clean so many perch every winter from lake ontario and the bays. If it doesn't look like new money it goes back  I'm very selective when i harvest my perch. If it's a big 15" perch and egg laiden, it goes back after a fast blinding from the camera.  I've only seen a few dozen perch out of 1000 with grubs. I'm also very selective about what i keep.  Of the few dozen they weren't infested as much as the Adirondack Perch.  Very, very rare to catch a clean fish in the Adirondack Park without a grub and almost as rare to catch one with grubs in Lake ontario. I don't know the reasoning or why there is such a huge differance in the Perch (grubs) within what? 30 miles of the shoreline from Ontario eastward to Champlain.

  I read the post on the New York general forum about grubs and all i will say is, EWWWWWWWWW i wouldn't fry up a perch loaded with grubs and certainly wouldn't after reading that link to the article. Made my skin crawl. Hmmmm? wonder if i'm half perch and infested myself?!?! wonder when 1 of us will be a host 

[fishingking]

They dont taste too bad just a little crunchy

[ANGLER]

  Gives it that extra SNAP! LoL 

 I've come to terms..... Being so common (grubby perch) I've probably eaten 1 here and there not noticing but i couldn't eat one loaded up with grubs. Speckled yellowish orange perch fillets might be a new bait idea!! $$

[pikekiller]

I find grubs everywhere from small ponds to big lakes in CNY and up to the St. Lawrence.  The little black specks don't bother me, unless its really peppered with them.  The ones I hate, which I find a lot up north, are the big light orange ones.  they're about 1/4" long, and if you pop 'em out onto the board, they'll squirm a little.  I think they are nematode larvae.  if there's 1 or 2 in a big fillet, I'll cut them out and save the rest.  sometimes I toss it if they're loaded.

[fishit]

The brite yellow squirmin ones are just Protein. I don't like to think how many I've ingested in an alcohol induced eating binge but Gotta die of something.

Fish.it

[bwalleye]

Naturally stuffed fish.  Protein added.....Batter em up and enjoy.

[Brooks]

kind of like finding a worm in your ear of sweet corn, you can get all bent out of shape over it or be glad it hasn't been sprayed with pesticides. Your grubby perch may be coming from the cleanest water.

[crappieslayer22]

i hate finding gubs in fish