I spent 4 days fishing trout at Twin Lakes in Ferry County and noticed all of the fish I caught had sea lice or some kind of little white parasites on them. We caught 30+ decent rainbow trout ranging from 10" to 16" and they all had it. We had a few for dinner and we didn't notice any taste or physical differences on the inside of the fish.

Does anyone know any more info on sea lice and if it is a possible health concern?

The sea lice that I have seen are black in color when caught in the salt. Since your fish were caught in a lake they may be some other form of parasite. If the meat of the fish didn't have any white lice/worm looking creatures on it it should be OK to eat.

Eviljam-
Fish get a variety of parasites (not unlike fleas, lice, etc on mammals). A common one seen on trout in freshwater is a parasitic copepod. This critter attaches itself to the outside of the fish (concentrations around the gills, mouth, base of fins, etc.). It is typically about the size of a grain of rice and is pale whitish/tanish in color. It is pretty common in many of our waters (lakes and streams).

I suspect that is what your fish had. They do not affect the quality of the meat and are usually easily removed in the cleaning process. The fish also seem to tolerate fairly high numbers of them - not uncommon to see dozens to even a hundred or more on an individual fish. Tend to see more during the summer/fall and they are worse some years than others.

Tight lines
Curt

Thanks for the info guys....Curt you're right on the money, they did look like rice.