Roosevelt Rainbows-parasite

[jigsup]

We have been fishing Lake Roosevelt this fall for rainbows with great success. We have targeted the Spokane Arm primarly.

I have noticed that the majority of the fish we catch have some kind of parasite on them them. The only thing I can think of is that they are some kind of freshwater lice. They are attached and can be easily seen. I even started to pick the things off of the fish we released. Many fish that don't have visible "lice" have scars where they have been.

I have been fishing trout in Roosevelt for many years and have never experienced this. I assume the fish we are catching are primarily triploids that have been released and wondered if the lice are related to that.

I wonder if our local biologist are aware of this or if it is even a concern. Would hate to have this become a problem, infecting other fish as well. Any one else experience this?

[spokey9]

try calling your regions wdfw biologist they're pretty helpful and if it is something that they dont know about then they can go about telling you how to submit them a sample.

i personally havent caught any trout with anything like that on this side of the mountains.

[Matt]

I believe what you are talking about are a form of copepod similar in appearance to the one pictured below. They only burrow into the dermal layers of the flesh and pose no health risk if consuming the fish. Cook thoroughly and eat. Although I have caught several fish in E WA lakes that were so covered in the buggers I wouldn't even consider removing them from the water becasue I didn't even want to touch them, YUCK! I believe they are more prevalent in areas with lower dissolved oxygen levels.

[hewesfisher]

i personally havent caught any trout with anything like that on this side of the mountains.

And we haven't caught any trout at Roosevelt like that either. Maybe it's isolated to the Spokane Arm? We usually fish the Seven Bays area, north to Split Rock and downstream from Lincoln to Keller Ferry. So far, all clean fish.

[lowvw]

Early this summer we had about a half dozen fish with them on it. Fishing from shore right near the dam. Inspected the meat after filleting and found nothing...just on the skin or slightly under scales. Ate them and im still ticking.

[G-Man]

It's most likely a gill louse, they really wreak havoc on the kokanee. We have a few lakes on the this side of the mountains like Washington and Sammamish where the kokes can be really loaded with them. The trout seem to have a thicker skin and don't get them as much on the body as the kokes do. Check the gills of the fish you catch, many times you will find them "loaded to the gills". The internals of the fish aren't effected so you don't need to worry too much about keeping them. Fact is, you'd be doing the rest of the fish a favor by culling the fish infected with them.