Sick fish?

[dbacigalupi]

Hi guys, today i was out fishin a small creek and caught a ton of smallies but about half of them had small black dots on their underside. What could this be? Also i caught a nice striper, well around 20" but considering the largest smallie ive caught out of there is only 16" it was pretty sweet but soon afteri hooked iti knew something was wrong, he didnt fight he more or less just wiggled and flapped around. Once i had landed him i noticed he had sores all across him on both sides so badly u couldnt see his stripes, he was mostly dull white with big patchs of pink, any ideas what could be causing these sick fish?? Parasites, virus, water quality? Its quite sad seeing fish so sick like that (btw caught him on topwater reelin in a yellow tube :D)

[Turkey sandwich]

Black dots (though I'd have to see a picture) are usually pretty normal, however, sores are not. Sores can be from an infection, but things like farm runoff of fertilizers and pesticides wreak havoc on ecosystems and can cause issues with reproductive and immune systems in a wide variety of fish.  Sorry to hear you're finding those.  Do you mind if I ask where? (I'm also local) Also, it would be a good idea to contact the fish commission.

2 hours ago, dbacigalupi said:

Hi guys, today i was out fishin a small creek and caught a ton of smallies but about half of them had small black dots on their underside. What could this be? Also i caught a nice striper, well around 20" but considering the largest smallie ive caught out of there is only 16" it was pretty sweet but soon afteri hooked iti knew something was wrong, he didnt fight he more or less just wiggled and flapped around. Once i had landed him i noticed he had sores all across him on both sides so badly u couldnt see his stripes, he was mostly dull white with big patchs of pink, any ideas what could be causing these sick fish?? Parasites, virus, water quality? Its quite sad seeing fish so sick like that (btw caught him on topwater reelin in a yellow tube :D)

 

[Bluebasser86]

Hot water during the summer time really ramps up infections in fish. Some fish survive those infections, some won't. Not likely something to be concerned about though. 

The black spots are normal if they're what I'm picturing in my head. 

[dbacigalupi]

I was fishin a part of white clay creek in delaware im guessin the striper was so sick because he was jist old but another thing ive noticed since i started observing is some fish have circular sores that are pink and elevated abov the normal skin, next time im out fishin i will try and get a picture

[CybrSlydr]

Might they be from parasites like leeches or something?  Raised, circular sores sounds like a parasitic sucker.

[hawgenvy]

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/VM/VM05900.pdf

 

[Turkey sandwich]

Also, pictures make identification like 10 million times easier 

[jr231]

If it looks like this. It's probably a lamprey 

[Gundog]

Here in PA we got bass with cancer.

 

[jr231]

2 minutes ago, Gundog said:

Here in PA we got bass with cancer.

 

Did you release it ?

[CybrSlydr]

4 hours ago, Gundog said:

Here in PA we got bass with cancer.

 

You'd think that after they made it illegal for tobacco companies to advertise that the bass would learn not to use smokeless tobacco.

[Gundog]

6 hours ago, Yeajray231 said:

Did you release it ?

Didn't catch it. It was in all the papers and on the PA fish & boat commish website.

[jr231]

@Gundog  that's jusy ugly. How sad man seriously. Apparently it was still hunting . And obviously of reproducing size . But imagine if you were bringing out a first timer. Hook em up with a fish Like that. Probably a turn off. Pretty gruesome. Is it genetic or what ? Hope not hereditary.

[Gundog]

1 hour ago, Yeajray231 said:

@Gundog  that's jusy ugly. How sad man seriously. Apparently it was still hunting . And obviously of reproducing size . But imagine if you were bringing out a first timer. Hook em up with a fish Like that. Probably a turn off. Pretty gruesome. Is it genetic or what ? Hope not hereditary.

Supposedly it was from pollution in the river. But nobody is 100% sure if this was the cause. Either way its become the poster fish for a very polluted river and a ineffective DEP.

[Turkey sandwich]

It's a really frustrating topic with the Susquehanna.  Depending where you are, the river can be anything from clean, to blooming (despite current) thanks to agricultural runoff.  Between the runoff/nutrients, pesticides (hormones and insect growth inhibiting chemicals) and Excelon owning the rights to one of the nation's dirtiest and most outdated dams, th River has some real problems.  The DEP here is horrendous.  And while scarring isn't abnormal in stressed summer time fish, the problems causing it range from from natural to inept DEP. The only way to make it better is to make a scene, tragically. 

[Spankey]

The black spots can be common in areas I fish. More like a birth mark. Smooth and not infectious looking. I've never caught a juvenile, dink, runt with those black spots. Seem to me they were more on respectable size fish. Largemouth also. Would like to see a pic of your fish. Anything I've caught with a sore was not that bad and had plenty of life, I fish areas not too far from you. 

[PwHawk]

Hi, I'm new to the forum. This post caught my attention. I've only caught one with an issue similar to what's being discussed, and have never been able to get an answer to what it might be, so .......... here's a pic. Thanks!

[UPSmallie]

4 hours ago, PwHawk said:

Hi, I'm new to the forum. This post caught my attention. I've only caught one with an issue similar to what's being discussed, and have never been able to get an answer to what it might be, so .......... here's a pic. Thanks!

Could be wrong, but that looks like a lamprey mark.  Never seen one on a bass before so I'm purely guessing.

[TheRodFather]

On 8/21/2016 at 2:32 PM, Gundog said:

Here in PA we got bass with cancer.

 

That fish was caught on my friends boat that runs a guide service on the Susquehanna.  A guy from fish and game happened to be on the boat when it was caught.  It caused a pretty big uproar at the time and since then, along with many other people raising concerns over the years about the river, parts of the Susqy have been classified "recreationaly impaired".

The buddy now loath's the day that fish was caught because in all his years on the river, and all the other guides agree, the Susquehanna river fishing is on a huge positive rebound the last few years.

That's the only fish that has been documented like that and he thinks it just put unnecessary fear in people.