i knew it was likely going to happen at some point, because i have ran into this issue before...

went down, 10 minutes in, WHAP, stuck it, felt like a large trout at first, then it started pulling a little, get it in, beautiful Ho...



you can see there is little areas on the scales that are off color, at first sight, i though is that scale pocket/tapioca disease? then i figured nah it cant be, but then it started crossing my mind again, and then i just plain forgot about it...

till i filleted it....

Tapioca Disease for sure... too bad, but atleast its out of the water and cant spread the spores to new fish and invertabrates in the river...

That's a bummer. I have caught many beauties like that and had the same problem. Big let down. When there is not many, I have cut them out before to salvage the flesh. A bio once told me that the parasite won't hurt humans. But I can't imagine eating that. Other times I have caught them where there is darn near more of those things than meat.

the parasite is called Henneguya Salminicola, and it cannot survive in warm blooded animals, such as humans...

BUT..

i still aint eatin that crap... all my experiences have been with them in Coho, but it can and does infect all other species of Pacific Salmon as well... the longer a fish stays in freshwater, the more chance it can get infected, and Coho stay in the longest, so they are the highest infected generally...

i did read somewhere there is a fishery in BC that has a high infestation/infection rate in Sockeye... cant remember what river system it was on tho...

I have only seen what I suspect is the same thing one time before. A king out of the Naselle about 6 years ago. I had no idea what it could be and did not research it at all. I just gagged and chucked the fish. Are the white pods filled with a white fluid? if so I am sure it is the same thing. I had never seen or heard of it before or since. How common do you all find this to be? Is it a parasite they pick up in fresh water or do they carry it in the salt?

I catch a couple fish every year with the parasite. Poke em with a knife and they pop. Leaking out a clear/white ish fluid. They are fish zits.

its a 2 part host system... the fish comes back, spawns, and the spores (puss balls), rupture, releasing the spores that get consumed by invertabrates (initial host), which they then release, and it then infects juvenile salmon (smolt), which they then carry with them throughout their lives, bring back to the river, and the cycle continues...

this is my 4th Coho in the last 3 years that has been infected with it, i have seen others up north from friends and such that have been infected as well...

i had one last year, the puss balls were the size of marbles damn near... and yes, they are filled with pussy milky liquid, which is high concentrations of the parasite that are "housed" in the cysts...

im not sure if it infects hatchery fish tho, all fish i have seen it in, have been wild... i dont see why it couldnt tho, i have just never come across it... i have also released fish that were a dead given with the scale pocket markings on the outside that i knew had it in them...

im not the kind of guy that kills fish for eggs, and throws the boots away, or kill them for no reason, but in these instances, i think its better to get it out of the water... i dont know if that is good thinking or practice, as you are still taking from the system by killing it, but i would think that it would be better to help the young fish, than to even give them a chance to get infected... im not going to save the fish world by killing fish with this disease, but its just my theory on the subject...

I make sure to rupture the cysts which releases the fluid, makes a great brine... then either smoke or bbq. Deeeelish!

Actually have heard of and seen other catch fish with this malady, but have yet to catch one with it myself (knocking on wood). I'm very particular about food preparation and storage safety, so as much as I would hate wasting it - not sure I could just cut out the affected area...

dude i am beyond food prep storage and safety concerns... i check the fvckin dates on my beer, and wont drink it if its past a certian time frame...

same with food, i dont eat leftovers much, we usually never have them, but i dont eat it even if we do... if the expiration date is 2 weeks away, screw that too... cans, or even Top Ramen or Mac n CHeese, hell ive seen bugs in Mac n Cheese that were just bought from the store, pasta gets bugs alot, most people dont notice it....

i do...

and screw that fish, ill put it back into the earth, so im not technically wasting it.... but, im going to be paying more attention now for sure... i should have trusted my first instincts and just gave it to my buddy

Smoke it up.
Would make great Xmas gifts.

you could call it the "Cadbury Smoked Salmon"...

speaking of that, if i hear one more person catch a boot and say "itll smoke up great", im going to lose it....

im pretty sure smoked puss balls arent a delicasy, then again, you really never know now adays...

does suck.. caught a small king sat. that was chalked full of those things.. slabed out one side and they were all through the tail, then cut into the thickest part and it got worse..

you kinda have to cook real food to get leftovers...

I've got to think that the puss balls are probably more healthy for you than the top ramen, and mac and cheese...

on a side note, i've never caught an infected coho... knock on wood

Don't know what it is but the peninsula coho tend to get these way more than other fish. All but two of the 7 Sol Duc fish I took home a couple weeks ago were infested. One about twice as bad as the pic above. That said, I've never caught one with the stuff in the south sound (homewater). Weird.

Post of the day.

all fish i have come across have been taken from the Puyallup... and they are all heading up the Carbon, so thats 2 south sound rivers infected right there...

i have seen pictures from other people that have had them worse than in the pic from the Sky...

the thing about Tapioca is that it starts on the skin, and goes in deeper, so just because you cant see it on the top of the meat as pictured, doesnt mean it isnt infested a ways in, and just outside the skin...

theres some pretty gross pics from Alaska that show heavy infestations in other species, such as Pink and Chum...

either way, its gross, and im not eating it... ive got 5 more without any infection, i will eat those....

im not talking about "slightly darkish" fish stam, im talking about leaking eggs half dead boots...

and when they get that old, the spore cysts as in the pic, get bigger, and alot more gross looking....

by boots, i mean white meated flesh, that has zero nutritional value whatsoever... you would be better off eating corn husks

I try to never fish in a place where you hear other "anglers" say "it's right in the mouth!" or 'it'll smoke up fine!"

Fish on...

Todd

Looks like there's a lot of experience in them there words....

Henneguya spp.
This myxozoan parasite forms small white or yellow cysts about the size of a grain of rice in the flesh of marine fishes like salmon, rockfish, and flatfish. These usually do not affect the flavor, texture, or safety of the meat, but one species H. salmonicola may produce visible cysts filled with milky fluid in coho and sockeye salmon, reducing the attractiveness of the flesh.

Kudoa spp.
Myxozoan parasites of the genus Kudoa form white cysts in the muscle of salmon and many other local marine fishes. The frequency of this problem is very low in wild-caught salmon. The cysts may be large enough to form noticeable white patches or streaks in the meat. After the death of the fish, the parasites release an enzyme that breaks down muscle tissue and causes the flesh to become soft and less desirable as food. The enzyme is fairly heat-stable and may continue to breakdown tissue even if the meat is smoked

It's the second one you have to watch for. Looks almost identical to the first. You'll know because the meat immediately adjacent to the pustule will begin to soften into a pudding-like texture, esp if you puncture/rupture the cysts. The enzymatic digestion of the flesh continues even after cooking.

Some guy on this board 10 yrs or so ago posted a pic of salmon infected with Kudoa that he smoked up. When he tipped up his smoker rack, the enzymatic lysate ran off the fillets like tomato soup, leaving big craters in the meat. Wish I had saved that pic.

Bon appetit!

why?

you do realize that at one point the river everyone loves to diss, was the number 2 river in the state for winter Steelhead right? better than the COw, the Duc, the Bogey, the Hoh, and any other of any of the coastal rivers for that matter, all one has to do is research it and find it...

i dont generally fish next to a bunch of people unless im with people i dont want to drag into other spots that i know... and even then, im away from the group doing my thing...

when i get away, theres usually only 1 person next to me, and thats the person i brought with... maybe a straggler fisherman in a few stretches, but far from "combat" fishing...

now, if you are talking about the lower river along Levy/RR, yeah i dont fish down there....

none of that has anything to do with Henneguya infections tho, as you can see, it infects in other large systems, this is from the Snoho, and you know what comes in to form that river




im sure i could scrounge up pics from the Skeena, Fraizer, and other tribs way up and into Alaska as well...