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| Last year while fishing for walleye on lake in Canada (Dogtooth) I encountered a couple of northern pike w/ the fuzzies. One 40" fish that followed my lure-was almost completely covered with some type of fungal hair like growth. I pulled the lure away because I didn't want to get bit off. I also caught a ~36 " fish w/ some patches of this same fuzzy hair like stuff. My first guess was a fungal infection from having the slime removed by miss handling of the fish. Anyone ever see Muskies with this condition?
Al Warner
www.youdontknowhowtowatchtv.com |
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| Al: Sounds like you hit it on the head with fungus. We picked a musky out of the water still barely alive with similar fungus in its gills and eyes. It was the same sized fish that had been "brought to the dock" to show off before release a few days earlier.
Muskie regards,
Larry Ramsell
www.larryramsell.com |
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| Al:
You are right it is a fungus, here's some information from the web on fish infections.
Fungal Infections
Symptoms:
Fungal infections can be differentiated from other infestations because white, gray or brown cotton-like growths can be seen on the fish.
Cause:
Healthy fish are not affected by fungi, but succumb following an injury to the skin. Fungal infections are caused by various species of Fungi, such as Saprolegnia and Achlya.
It's also usually fatal. Makes you wonder a little about delayed mortality.
I have seen this on a number of fish. I once had a very large sturgeon swim by me in Whitefish Bay with It's entire head covered with white fuzz.
The fish was very weak, and on its last legs.
Doug Johnson |
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