fish stories and parasites

[troutrob]

I also posted this on njtrout, but any help is huge
Ok, good news! and bad news??
After a long day at school and work I went to fish a private pond with wild/holdover trout, some fresh stockies, and nj pond stuff- sunnys and a monster bass i have done battle with over the last 5 years. So with in a few casts i hooked a monster rainbow and immeadiately knew it was not a stockie, it jumped like a rocket and put up a ridiculous fight. I brought it to hand and it was definitely a holover from last year or a monster wild fish from the stream above; however below its gill there was a strange looking red/brown spot, the only imperfection on a seemingly perfect fish. nevertheless i was so excited i didn't think of it too long and admired the colors of the bow (the real deep pink/red).
---Not more then a few cast later different spot on the dock, something takes my fly deep (same zonker) and then breaks water a the surface its my bass bigger then ever, it is a monster of a fight on my tiny 3 weight i finnaly got the thing in and lipped him. i could have fit my fist in his mouth. he had a huge gut obviously filling up on the new stockies, i was admiring he size and uglyness (i love when a bass gets so big its ugly) when i looked at his other side and he had 3 of these oval red/beige spots. i scratched at one to see if it would move. i pulled it off and put it on the dock to release the fish. --I have the parasite thing in a bag, it is oval in shape with a leech mouth at one end a tail with one at the other. it is not a fibroma or calcium build up, it is very alive. I have been searching allover the internet trying to figure out what it is. i think it is some type of anchor worm but dont know? I am going to look at it under a microscope at school tommrow, and will try to get a picture.If anyone knows anything about these or knows any one who does, any help identifying it would be huge. i hope it isn't anything destructive cause this place is starting to fish real well and more and more trout are making it through the year. any help is much apprechiated, please post here or email- troutrob@yahoo.com

 

[troutrob]

hey mark,

No info yet on the parasites, a few more fish had them. I am in the process of emailing a whole group of people from allover. -- I am trying to get a group together for the gathering the dates of the 31st 1st and 2nd, once i get the group together i will definitely give you the info immeadiately; we have an extremely low budget are there any campgrounds we should hit up, or is you driveway still open!? best,
rob

 

[cingras53]

Is this parasite retaining the same shape or has it changed in any way?

 

[cingras53]

Also see if the body is segmented. A leech has 34 segments. If it has a mouth at each end it sounds like a leech but since you're looking at it and don't think it's a leech, who knows. I'm sure someone at NJ Fisheries is fully familiar with this alien.

 

[willowhead]

camping

Hi Rob, there are several campgrounds up here that are all good. Some are better than others simply because of the water they are located on. You've got Russel Brook Camp Ground, Roscoe Camp Grounds, Twin Islands Camp Grounds (great dry fly water), Butternut Grove Camp Ground, the DEC State Camp Grounds (cheap), and a whole slew more over on the East Branch, where you would need to leave at about 6:15 a.m. to meet us at the Roscoe Dinner at 7:00 a.m. each morning for breakfast, and daily plans. Looks like i'm gonna have some people parking their trucks in my driveway as it is, so no more room is left, sorry. I'm sure you'll be able to find room in one of the campgrounds, but start calling them NOW, and make a reservation NOW! It can always be cancelled. Better safe than sorry. The have laws around here about sleeping in your truck and parking over night in some places. Right down along my road for instance. It's only a seasonal thing, but they do post it. Sure hope you make it up for the fun though. mark.......

 

[troutrob]

It does change shape and appears to be able to swim quite well. From different websites I think its an anchor worm(most probably) a type of leetch. I finish up my school work tommorow so I am planning on getting a number of emails out, I will definately be emailing nj fish and wildlife. Thanks for the info on the segments i will count them and get back to you. I have drawn a sketch of the creature and am looking to photgraph it over the weekend if i can get my hand on the right scope otherwise ill borrow a friends digi camera. I hope to find out soon and will post what it is.

Mark,
Just getting the group together, I and one other are defnitately coming, however we could have 2 to4 more. Ill call some campgrounds- ive done the DEC before- should be an awesome time, i'll give our final group, camp, etc when i figure it out best,
rob