White bumps on bass tail?!

[Pondboss16]

A few of the bass and mostly bluegill in my pond have these little white bumps in their tails. Are they parasites? I've also heard its from stress fanning their beds. Any one else see this before?

[SDoolittle]

They're parasites. I'm not sure exactly what they are, but if you cut one out, it's like a little worm. 

[the reel ess]

A parasite called fish grubs or yellow grubs. If you fillet the fish you'll find them throughout the flesh. The fish is host to one of the stages of the life cycle of this parasite. Snails are also host during another stage of the life cycle. If you can get rid of the grass, the snails will die out and the worms will disappear. If you introduce shellcrackers, they'll also kill the snails and solve the problem. Grass carp may help as well.

My friend's pond had these last summer, but I haven't seen any this year. They don't hurt the fish and if you cook them thoroughly, they won't hurt you. But once you know they're there, it's hard to forget. 

[Jig-Man]

Yes they are parasites.  This is very common for summer pond bass.  If you are eating the fish don't worry as they are 100% protein.

[Pondboss16]

On June 14, 2016 at 2:12 PM, Jig-Man said:

Yes they are parasites.  This is very common for summer pond bass.  If you are eating the fish don't worry as they are 100% protein.

Do they effect the fish though?

[Rpridgen]

 I caught a 22.5 in long bass and saw these things in the tail and fin. I was not sure if I could eat the fish. First, I took a picture of the fish to show how big the fish was and then I threw the fish into the trash can because I thought it was a disease and that I could not eat the fish.

[Bluebasser86]

1 hour ago, Rpridgen said:

 I caught a 22.5 in long bass and saw these things in the tail and fin. I was not sure if I could eat the fish. First, I took a picture of the fish to show how big the fish was and then I threw the fish into the trash can because I thought it was a disease and that I could not eat the fish.

Just FYI, this would be considered Wanton Waste and a ticketable offense in a lot of places. You maybe could have been alright with claiming attempting to protect the body of water from potential diseases, but by throwing it in the trash can and leaving it without notifying someone about a potential issue so they could at least examine the fish, that argument loses all it's merit.  

 

 

[purpurite]

And just inhumane if nothing else.

[Big Rick]

Nothing that about 7 minutes in 350 degree peanut oil won't solve. It also seem these parasites are temp sensitive. I don't see them in cooler times of the year. 

[Glenn]

Here's some great information on this topic:

 

https://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/fish_parasites.html

https://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/sick-diseased-fish.html