YUK!!!! - Wormy Steelhead

I finished about 3/4 of my steelhead dinner tonight. Decided that I was done after finding a worm in the meat. The fish was caught in the Tucannon River Monday.

I have found worms in my steelhead before, but only in fish from the Tucannon. I've probably kept around 75 steelhead from other rivers abd have never noticed a worm in any of those. I'd just like to know if wormy steelhead are a Tucannon River thing, or if others have caught wormy steelhead on other rivers.

My guess is that the worms get into the fish in the ocean. I have found the worms in both the meat and the body cavity. The worms aren't very big, but they sure gross me out!

I have noticed in the fall that some of the coastal silvers that i catch have some kind of parasite that enters their skin on the outside. It appears that they have "bumps" on their skin. I have kept these fish and even eaten them.....with none of these parasites entering farther than the skin layer of the fish. I just skin the fish after i fillet it and it is fine for the table. Its hard to get a chrome bright hen ...take the eggs and waste the fish. So I tried it and have never been sick or seen any in the meat....this goes for any fish that I have eaten. Never in the meat...I WOULD THINK THAT WOULD GROSS ME OUT TOO!!

Parasites are pretty common in fish....of all species. some get infested more than others but for the most part the parasites go unnoticed. Hey it's just protein as long as the fish is cooked properly no problem! I bet some people could tell stories about what comes out of their fish when the are brining and smoking.

I have found inch-long round worms in the flesh of Lake Washington sockeyes, and Cedar and Green River steelhead. First noticed them on fillets after refrigerating them overnight. Also, have found them in cooked/smoked fish when flaking it apart. They may migrate into the flesh from the intestine when the fish stops feeding. First time I found these worms, I almost stopped feeding! Now, I just cook the fish thoroughly, don't look too closely at it, and drink lots of wine with the meal

The little roundworms, a.k.a. "codworms," don't bother me any. I've found them in all types of salmon and steelhead that I've eaten. Also, I've found the skin rash prevalent on silvers is merely cosmetic and does not affect the eating, that is of course assuming that the fish has been skinned prior to consumption. What grosses me out is the white globule-like organism that infests kings and silvers, sometimes so badly it relegates the entire fish into crabbait.

The last fish worm infestation I encountered where those little worms that are rolled up in the flesh and when picked out they uncoil and are about an inch long. The were in a dog salmon I was brining for smoking. What the heck, there's gross stuff in almost all of our food. Some things you see and others you don't. Have you ever seen those things that look like tumors in beef? Even becoming a vegetarian won't get you away from it. One time while visiting my mom for dinner I thought her home grown broccoli tasted funny. After eating about half of a big serving I noticed a generous portion of little green grubs mixed in. I don't think any of these things will hurt you if its cooked, they just don't look good.

OK everyone, time for fish parasites 101!

Most salmonids carry worms. If one knows where to look....they may be found fairly consistently. I offer the following not to gross you out but to merely inform.

Let's take a salmon or steelhead fillet. Just under the skin you have a thin, grayish-tan layer of meat that is known biologically as "red meat". Then, you have the actual red flesh we all love which is actually known as "white meat". If one takes their fork and flakes apart a cooked fillet you will notice long, white, stringy worms between the 2 meat layers. It's common, most of us don't know it when we eat it and....as stated earlier, it's just protein. Good eating!

I was filleting a big Columbia River King salmon this fall and noticed some round white globules in the meat. They were about the size of a marble,maybe a bit bigger. I cut out the first couple, but as I searched found that the entire fish was laced with these semi-solid sacks. First time I'd seen such a parasite.YUUUUUUK!!!! Tilled that entire fish into the side acre. Any biologist types know what that one might be ?

We C&R'd some chums this weekend that had 1 1/2" long black worms just covering the gills. Were they leeches or somthing else?

If you don't like eating worms don't look at your fish'n chips.

The little worms under the blisters are what we layfishers refer to as sea lice. You would not believe the number of worms you can encounter on an Alaskan pink salmon. Its common for the pinks to have so many sea lice that the skin is gone in 15 to 20% of there body area and the sea lice are klinging to just about everything but the fins.
Flat worms are another parasite that is fairly common but usually in the gut and I don"t actually remember seeing any in the flesh.
Those little round worms that are in a spiral really gross me the worst, the most that I've ever seen were in Pacific true cod which when you get right down to it is a pretty gross animal in its own right!
I don't care to eat fish that is overcooked but I make dam sure if its raw its had the lime or lemon treatment like the Mexicans do. Don't really no if it kills all the parasites but I don't do raw all yhay often but re. parasites I'm pretty sure once is all you need to really screw up.

Gee, I was thinking about sushi for lunch but now...

When I was in college I spent several summers on a swordfish harpoon boat fishing Georges Bank off teh east coast. Many swordfish were totally infested with worms; large (8"+) purple ones attached to the outside and often a dense population of long, white stringy ones in the meat. Even after the fish had been on ice in the hold for a week, the surface of the meat of some fish would literally crawl with severed worms when cut into steaks. I think these worms help give the swordfish the high fat content and unique texture!

UG UG UG!!!!

Chip, you really ate from a fish that squirmed a week after being killed because of all the worms it was hosting?

Hey Chip did you get to throw the harpoons from the pulpit or did you just do cleaning and icing? Catching fish is always fun but I gotta think harpooning a big sword would be awsome.

Ok,
Not to gross anyone out but I've got to share this story. Last year I caught a King off of Vashon Island. When I was cleaning it, my roomate noticed what looked like little tape worms in the intestines of the fish, but it was not in the meat. We didn't think it was a big deal...and maybe this is just total coincidence, but a month later I wake up to hear my roomate freaking out downstairs. He woke up to use the bathroom, and pulled 7 feet of tape worm out his ass-I'm not joking. The rest broke off and went back inside. He went to the doctor and got some medecine to kill the rest of it. No one else I know who ate the fish had any adverse effects, but from now on, if I see any tape worms, I'm not eating it!!

come on chrome, you a funny guy, most everybody knows worms can't live in your stomach the acids kill them even if they were still alive after cooking, the only worm that i've heard of that you have to worry about is warm water worms that come from verry warm waters down south , at least thats what the artical i read said, it said salt water worms cannot survive in your stomach

Heya The Chrome,
Be sure to take you buddy trout fishing. He'll bring the worms.

when i was working in alaska a sockeye we had opened up had this big ole round tumor lookin thing it was about the size of a racket ball..freaky to me..anyone ever see these before and what are they? **schitzo**

Schitzo, They are tumors and they are not uncommon. I have fond more in chinook and chums which I think addresses there longivity more than any thing. My theory the older the fish the more its chances to win the tumor lottery.
Not really sure how much of a hand polloution plays in the growth and development but I have seen studies that indicate a higher number in populations that are resident and adjacent to large pollouting industrial sites. Could be coincedental but then so could the rate of cancer victims down wind of Chernobyl.
Just an after thought the two canidates running for President one wants to gut the clean water and air act do you Vote there is still time to register and vote .

This testimony further demonstrates the benefits of catch and release practices.

Native Son- a large percentage of salmon with tumors would be a BIG concern to me. They are realtively short-lived (3-5 yrs) when compared to other fish species. Age is certainly related to tumor incidence as is exposure to some classes of pollutants. To see a significant number of tumors (benign or malignant) would to me indicate that somewhere in early development these fish were possibly exposed to some real nasties...a lower frequency of tumor formation could certainly be genetic pre-disposition or "normal" for that race of fish.

Two of my favorite subjects, fishing and parasitology! Here's the scientifical version:

Fish tapeworm infestations are pretty much found wherever raw, pickled or undercooked freshwater fish is eaten by folks who caught the fish in lakes/streams where other infected folks/animals took a crap or there is some other source of raw sewage release.
It's found everywhere in N. America from Alaska to Florida, and includes the anadromous family of fish we all love so much, salmon and steelhead.

Released worm ova hatch into free-swimming larvae when they reach freshwater and continue to develop if consumed by small freshwater crustaceans within a couple days.
Then along comes a fish who dines on the larva-carrying crustacean, and the tapeworm larva then penetrates the musculature of the fish, forming elongated and INFECTIOUS larva.
It's when people eat mishandled, infected fish meat that they risk getting tapeworm (Diphyllobothrium latum). To protect yourself, you really need to thoroughly cook all salmon and freshwater fish; even when it is appropriately cooked, you can get tapeworms if you sample infected fish flesh during the preparation process. And for the sushi/sashimi lovers, better to freeze the fish at -10 degrees Celsius for at least 48 hours before chowing down.

Most infected people are asymptomatic, except for occasional stomach pain and cramping, puking, fatigue and weight loss--geez, who doesn't feel like that on occasion?!

I'm surprised at the roommate with the 7ft long butt noodle, usually it's only the eggs that come out in stool. Maybe he consumed something the worm did not like!