Parasites in fish fillets

[ice-phanatic]

I just filleted a bass and some perch I caught, and found about a dozen pepper grain sized black parasites in the bass and a 1/4" worm in a perch. Just curious on if any of you seen this and what you do. I simply cut them out of the fillet. The research I did on the PA fish comm. website says they are common, and are harmless as long as the meat is cooked to the proper temperature. I would suspect even store bought fish have parasites, and thats just the way it is. I have encountered this in other fish from PA lakes and did the same thing, just trim away the parasites.

[Rebelss]

Yup.  Neascus. Very common here, too. Parasite dropped by fish eating birds; burrows into the fish flesh and hatches ,fish eaten by a bird, cycle starts all over. Call 'em panfish pepper here. Cook well and they're safe to eat. Extra protein.

[Rebelfisher]

I've been eattin them for years and I'm still normal..I think

[Gills-only]

Black ones fry'em up, yellow ones I dig'em out!!

[ice-phanatic]

I just ate my fish dinner I filleted earlier. It was excellent. I just cut off all the black specs I could see and that one worm. Thanks for the info rebelss, and haha rebelfisher. I did a little more research and it says the same you all have been saying; they pose no threat when cooked. I still would appreciate any other comments or any thoughts/experiences of seeing the neascus black spec or yellow grub in fish.

[shantysitter]

Was the worm orange- yellow?. Filleted up some the other day and it was the first time I ever saw  one.  Didn't take any chances so I gave them to my mother in law

[ice-phanatic]

It was yellow. I looked it up. It is called yellow grub. It said they are not harmful, and I just cut it out. At first I was kind of worried, but the research I did made me feel safe about eating it. I always make sure I cook all my food to temp.

[walleyeken]

i wonder if the little worms would make a good bait...

I was fishing Minisink earlier this year and some guys next to me said that they do not keep the bluegills out of there because of all of the black spots in them.  So many that you can see them on the fins.  I never noticed them on the fins before so i started looking at the ones that i had on the ice and sure enough - you could see some spots on the fins of some of them.  I too have been eating them for years but do prefer to dig out the worms.

[RAU]

Those black specs don't bother me in the least, those yellow worms on the other hand truly disgust me and I make every reasonable effort to not eat any. After I filet fish I rinse and hold every filet up to a light. Those yellow worms really stand out that way and it's a simple matter to insert tip of filet knife at the site and remove them

[WildOutdoorAddict]

They come pre-seasoned now, just peel and fry 

[chez]

DONT BE SCARED.they die when you cook em.if you still worry pour sme JIMBEAM on them during the cooking prosess.all joking aside they are ok. via the fish commision.

[JiggerMan]

I usually pick the yellow ones that i can see out and leave the black flecks. 

One year we got some bluegills and perch that actually had long ( inch or so) white worms that were comming from the cavity of the fish into the meat.  there were white sacs inside the fish and when you popped them they were full of the worms all balled up.  needless to say those were a little much for us to eat.

just an after note durring this modification of post.....  we did throw the fish out that had the big worms.

[chez]

i wouldent eat those pal.

[mikejd]

I cod fish salt water a lot and they are full of white worms. Sometimes dozens per filet. The first time you see it its a bit rough but once you get used to them its not so bad. I hold all my filets up to a light and pick them out with a tweezer. Just make sure thr family doesnt see you otherwise you end up eating fish alone.

[JiggerMan]

i wouldent eat those pal.

there chez....  I added to the bottom of my post.   those fish were not eaten by anything but the worms in the ground.   

[chez]

there chez....  I added to the bottom of my post.   those fish were not eaten by anything but the worms in the ground.   

i meant no offence. i didnt think you would of eaten them.lighten up a little.cheer up.go fishing you will feel better.let me buy you a beer.

[JiggerMan]

No offense taken there chez....  the bad thing about CP's is that you cant tell if someones is mad or sarcastic or embarassed that what they typed made it sound that they ate fish worms...   I changed it when i reread what i typed and to me it kind of sounded that there was a posabilty that we ate them.

I was laughing when I read what i wrote. 

I might take you up on a beer sometime though... 

[chez]

No offense taken there chez....  the bad thing about CP's is that you cant tell if someones is mad or sarcastic or embarassed that what they typed made it sound that they ate fish worms...   I changed it when i reread what i typed and to me it kind of sounded that there was a posabilty that we ate them.

I was laughing when I read what i wrote. 

I might take you up on a beer sometime though...

THAT WOULD BE NICE.IM AS HAPPY AS A GUY COULD BE .I GET ALONG WITH EVERYONE.BE SAFE.

[icebum]

I have been eating them parasites for a long time. Little black ones I leave. Little yellow ones I pick out. Large white ones with all the extras? Feed to the crows.