Northwest Fishing Reports

Hey all,

Ive been doing a lot of trolling in Whatcom County lakes since the opener and kept a few fish each day. I have been noticing tumorous "stuff" in the bloodline of a number of fish and was wondering what this was or if anyone has seen anything similar. In all my years of trout fishing I've never seen anything like this, and this season, there is usually always at least 1 fish on my stringer w/ this issue. The tumor appears as a white or offwite wormlike structure extenting throughout the bloodline of the fish. In one instance, the tumor was so well developed that the bloodline of the fish had to be cut out, and it came out as one solid piece......

Thoughts ?

Matt

My thought is that sounds scary. I think it is all the dang pollution of the world that is hurting the fish as well as everything else on our planet.

Hey Matt next time you get one like that take some pictures of it so we can see what it look like.

Honestly, I don't think it's pollution or trash, I think it's a problem coming from the hatcheries.... these fish are fresh to the lake, and these tumors appear to be well developed.

Edit: I will try to get pictures, shouldn't be a problem since this has been a regular occurance.

Matt

Matt -
What you descripted sounds like "nephrocalcinois" - calcium deposits in the fish's kidneys. That dark "bloodline" along the backbone of a trout is the fish's kidney. A likely cause of those deposits maybe related to a diet deficiency at the hatchery.

If I were you I would pass on your concerns/observations to the WDFW folks - either a call to one of their offices, show a fish to the local hatchery staff or send a email with picture to WDFW.

Tight lines
Curt

the majority of the fish stocked in whatcom county lakes appear to be from either the kendall or the lake whatcom hatcherys i would look at stocking reports and the lakes you and others have fished and see if you can pinpoint the problem that way it could be adressed at the hatchery or if it is more of a serious problem it can be taken care of at the source

Thanks for the input smalma, I will look at the stocking reports and contact our local hatchery, it does seem like it is a sereous issue. I would imagine these fish might have a greatly decreased overall life expectancy, then again, I am no fish doc.

Matt