St Marks - Inshore August 11 & Trout Parasites

[Srbenda]

Hit the water around 10:00am and headed to the east flats, among light winds, and clear skies all around. Water temps were around 87 in deeper water, and 89 in the shallower water.

I noticed that sea gulls began following our wake, I'm not sure if that was because they expected scraps, or because we were churning up something they could eat.
We started in about 6' of water, using corks, some jerk baits, and drifting pinfish. The pinfish delivered quickly with a 16"+ trout, and then a shark took the next one we put out. We got some shorts on the corks, as well as ladyfish, but it was slow.

We headed into deeper water, and managed a black sea bass and a spanish, and finally one more trout on a Gulp bounced along the bottom.

...and another shark.



When we headed back to the dock, FWC was hanging out, doing safety checks, but I was spared the time with them.
( As always, the boat is completely legal )



I began fileting our fish, and saw that one of the trout was full of parasites. This was the 1st trout I'd ever seen like this, so it seems uncommon, but perhaps not. I would have expected it in a much bigger, older fish, but not a fairly young trout.



The weather was decent, but the fishing was slow, slow, slow. It seems offshore is the best place to be during these hot months.

[Hit-n-Miss]

Mmmmm extra protein In all seriousness they are common. Just pick out what you can the fry em up. Just don't tell the wife about them. Thanks for the report.

[Salty Gator]

Very common. Clean trout in the summer and you will see them. Intermediate shark tapeworm. They can’t use humans as a host

[Srbenda]

Very common. Clean trout in the summer and you will see them. Intermediate shark tapeworm. They can’t use humans as a host

Umm, no thanks.
I'll donate worm filets to anyone interested.

[Salty Gator]

Very common. Clean trout in the summer and you will see them. Intermediate shark tapeworm. They can’t use humans as a host

Umm, no thanks.
I'll donate worm filets to anyone interested.

I agree, they are just to nasty. Easy to pick out, but super gross. Just don’t harvest trout in the summer and you should be fine

[onefishtwofish]

Not a big trout fan anyways for eating, but just eat them in the spring and late fall and you will be golden. In the summer, i would say the number of trout with worms is nearly 100%.

Or eat em up and don't worry about it.

PS Unlike the "worm" found in duck breasts (especially Shovelers), these are actually worms.

[John21:6]

Seeing worms in trout makes me want to trade-in my bay boat for an offshore boat.

[rockyg]

Per the nice folks at LSU........

SPAGHETTI WORMS IN FISH

Spaghetti worms are common parasites of saltwater fish in the drum family, which include speckled and white trout, black drum, redfish, and croakers. While they look alike to most fishermen, several different worms use these fish as hosts. Most common in sea trout is Poecilancistrium caryophyllum. Worms found in black drum are most often Pseudogrillotia pIeistacantha. For ease of discussion, we will dispose of these tongue-twisting Latin names and refer to them all as spaghetti worms.

Fishermen frequently find these white, one to three inch long worms when filleting their catch. In trout they are usually found in the middle of the fillet in the area just below the dorsal fin. Research has shown that approximately 40% of Louisiana and Mississippi speckled trout are host to spaghetti worms, with an average of between one and two worms occurring per fish. It may appear that many more worms exist, but often one worm is cut into several pieces during filleting. Spaghetti worms in black drum are more common near the tail of the fish with a typical fish hosting 5 to 15 specimens.

The spaghetti worms we see in these fish are really parasitic tapeworms of sharks, who are just using the trout or drum as an intermediate host. The cycle begins with eggs produced by an eight-inch long adult worm which lives in a shark's intestine. After being passed into seawater, the egg hatches into a tiny swimming larva called a coracidium. If this larva is eaten within two days by a small marine crustacean like a copepod, it develops into another stage called a procercoid.

At this stage some uncertainty exists as to what happens. The copepod may be eaten by a trout, passing the larval worm on the trout. However, since small animals like copepods are seldom eaten by larger trout and since very few trout under ten inches long have spaghetti worms, another host is suspected. More than likely, a small bait fish like an anchovy eats the copepod and it in turn is eaten by the larger trout. In any case, once the larval worm is in the trout's digestive tract, it tunnels its way into the trout's flesh where it may live for several years. The life cycle is completed when a shark eats the trout and serves as host for the adult worm.

The fact that a spaghetti worm may live several years (up to 6 or 7) may surprise many fishermen, since they often claim that more fish are infected in one season than another. This may possibly be due to different populations of trout with different infection rates, moving up and down in a marsh system seasonally.

The number of trout carrying worms seems to be directly related to the characteristics and quality of the water in which the trout live. In general, the saltier the water and the less polluted it is, the higher the levels of infection are. This may be due to either one of the intermediate host's or the larval worm's needs for saline, unpolluted waters.

Another interesting fact is that once a trout becomes host to one or several spaghetti worms, it seems to develop an immunity to further infections. If this were not the case, large, old fish would have many more worms than a 12- or 14-inch fish, but they don't.

Finally, while the spaghetti worm may be somewhat unappealing to the eye, it certainly doesn't prevent good eating. Since, they are large enough to easily see, they are simple to remove during the filleting process. Simply grab the worm between the knife blade and thumb and gently pull it out. With a little practice, it becomes easy.

Many people don't even bother to remove them before cooking. After cooking, they are unnoticeable and cannot be tasted. In a survey conducted at Mississippi fishing rodeos a few years ago, less than 25% of the trout fishermen avoided eating fish with worms.

While cooking does, of course, kill the worm, even without cooking they are not a human health problem. No human infections have been recorded and researchers have been unable to infect warm-blooded animals with the parasite.

So good fishing and "bon appetit.”

[Srbenda]

Per the nice folks at LSU........

Many people don't even bother to remove them before cooking. After cooking, they are unnoticeable and cannot be tasted. In a survey conducted at Mississippi fishing rodeos a few years ago, less than 25% of the trout fishermen avoided eating fish with worms.

While cooking does, of course, kill the worm, even without cooking they are not a human health problem. No human infections have been recorded and researchers have been unable to infect warm-blooded animals with the parasite.

So good fishing and "bon appetit.”

Also of note: Very rarely does anyone look to Mississippi as a guide for education, business, or cuisine. I believe this still stands true.

[geofish]

I'm feeling good about Mississippi this month, since they reopened red snapper season for August and I missed the Florida season.
Those Mississippi snapper tasted good!

[Salty Gator]

Per the nice folks at LSU........

Many people don't even bother to remove them before cooking. After cooking, they are unnoticeable and cannot be tasted. In a survey conducted at Mississippi fishing rodeos a few years ago, less than 25% of the trout fishermen avoided eating fish with worms.

While cooking does, of course, kill the worm, even without cooking they are not a human health problem. No human infections have been recorded and researchers have been unable to infect warm-blooded animals with the parasite.

So good fishing and "bon appetit.”

Also of note: Very rarely does anyone look to Mississippi as a guide for education, business, or cuisine. I believe this still stands true.

A fisherman from Mississippi knows about the worms in sea trout