HELP--Worms in Panfish Fillets??????????

[ice fishin' nut]

A buddy of mine and I went to a little pond tucked way back in some woods northwest of 35 mile and Van Dyke.

The fishing was fantastic!!!! Almost every cast brought us a beauty 8 or 9 inch fish! Needless to say we limited out very fast.....

Unfortunatly things were too good to be true!!!!

I brought them home and starting filleting them. The flesh of the fish has some weird looking, small (about 1/4 inch)yellow looking worms in them. Plus some of them have little black spots in the meat. It almost looks as though the fillets have been sprinkled with pepper........

Has anyone ever seen this before???? Does anyone know what they are??????

I dont imagine that the fish are any good to eat, and I'll probably use them for fertilizer in the garden...............

Any help will be appreciated.

[FREEPOP]

Seen it before about 20 some years ago. They are parsites in the body of water. I was told they will do us no harm and have been eating them ever since.

(now you know what's wrong with me;) )

[Mike]

Here ya' go.

http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-10364_10950---,00.html

Mike

[Gone Fishing]

Mike, they're just a little extra potein. I've seen them before from a lake in the U.P. We caught a bunch of them and being a college student I wasn't going to throw them away if I could eat them. I called the DNR and he said they were not harmful to humans but just make sure to cook them good. We did and never had a problem. What times dinner?

[jpollman]

Mike,
Here's a link to a thread from the icefishing forum.

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3697&highlight=black+spots+in+fish

I knew I'd seen this discussed before. Check it out.

[SKUNK]

I cut out the yellow ones and have eaten alot of the black ones

[ice fishin' nut]

Thanks for the info guys. After I posted this I called the DNR and you guys are right.
They are parasites, but I could'nt bring myself to eat them so they went into the garden.......

If anybody is interested in going out and catching them, I'd be more than happy to go as the fishing was excellent, and I'd even be willing to donate my share of the catch!!!!!

Pm me if ya wanna go!!!

[jpollman]

I'm with you Mike !

I wouldn't eat those things on a bet.
There are plenty of more appealing things to eat in my cupboard.
:)

[sfw1960]

I thought we had a bunch of HE-MEN on this site..
Wuts Up Wit Dat?
I've eaten them pleny of times & I don't have "That Much" brain damage!!!
Tastes like chicken!!!!!!
:D :D :D :D

[The Whale]

Pluck out the yellow grubs, the small "pepper flakes", eat 'em up. No problem. Been eating those things for years on/off when I come across them and my IQ is still above 47 !!! :D


Whale :) :cool:

[MSUICEMAN]

I have seen a lot of those black dots in the flesh of Lk. St. CLair perch. I have never seen a worm though..... that may be because I only really fish for perch through the ice and maybe the worms can't survive that cold of water or go dormant, I don't know. I ate quite a few, though to be honest i did take out the majority of them as their weren't that many in each fish. Never had a problem though.... just psychological with the rest of my problems.

Steve