Gov't Wash 6/9

[giddyup]

Was planning on taking out the float tube yesterday ,but decided not to when I saw the forecast for windy conditions. So I bought a bag of anchovies and planned to squeek ia couple of hours before it got warm. Started at 7 am. Fishing was slow. Caught 2 cats first hour then nothing until 10 am. Tried lures also with no luck. Caught another cat a 10 am then another 10 minutes later. I ot my first striper bite right after that. It was a good sized striper too ,but came off when I reeled him in to within 5 feet of shore. I baited my double rig with my last sardine and caught 2 more decent sized striper. I tried using lures after that ,but nothing and left at 11am. The last 2 cats I caught were males that showed signs they were spawning or getting ready o spawn. They had swollen black heads. One had some small white things on his mouth looked liked some kind of leach or parasite.

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[inline "jun 9 male cat.JPG"]

[inline "jun 9 striper.JPG"]


This last pic is from last Monday night at Gov't Wash. Cauht several stripers that night. This 21 incher was the biggest.

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[syncityangler]

[quote giddyup]
One had some small white things on his mouth looked liked some kind of leach or parasite
[/quote]

one of the cats we caught the other day had those too. i took one off so i could see how it moved and it moved like a leech i'm assuming thats what it was...wifey said she is never going in lake mead lol i didn't think lake mead had leechs. hmm good to know though. maybe i'll try a leech patterned fly or gulp alive leech's next time.
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[iamthesmf]

...wifey said she is never going in lake mead


On Mead & Mohave there is an Amoeba that lives in the mud. When the bottom is disturbed it swims around in the water. If you swallow the water you get to be the host for you new little friend. 5 or 6 people die every year from this thing. [url "http://www.lvrj.com/news/10126446.html"][/url]

http://www.lvrj.com/news/10126446.html[/url]
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[Erawk]

I believe those are round worms. Supposedly the fish are still safe to eat when prepared properly. I'd just as soon not eat it though.

http://www.fao.org/wairdocs/tan/x5951e/x5951e01.htm

"There have been cases of human illness caused by the ingestion of live Phocanema or Anisakis larvae in countries where raw or lightly cured fish is commonly eaten. By 1980, there had been only one reported case of illness in the United Kingdom caused by larval round worms from fish; this is because in the UK fish products are normally cooked before consumption. Phocanema and Anisakis larvae are killed in 1 minute at a temperature of 60°C or over. In practice this means that cooking a fillet 3 cm thick for 10 minutes at 60°C will kill any worms present. The temperature of a cold smoking process, for example kippering, is not high enough to kill parasites, but in a commercial hot smoking process a high enough temperature is usually maintained for long enough to kill them. Freezing of fish at - 20°C for 60 hours kills all worms.
Anisakis larvae are resistant to salting; immersion in 80° brine, 21 per cent salt, for 10 days will kill all larvae, but in brine of lower strength they can survive for much longer. Anisakis is also resistant to marinating. When there is any doubt about whether Anisakis will survive a process it is safest to use frozen fish. The ability of Phocanema to withstand salting or marinating is not known, but it is probably similar to that of Anisakis."
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[TheWhizzle]

I have seen literally hundreds of catfish at Mead that have the small leech-like worms on them. I remember as a kid, we would fillet stripers that had small spiraled worms in the body cavity, and sometimes in the meat itself. Always threw those to the coyotes.
COOK THE HELL OUT OF THOSE FISH! [shocked]
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[syncityangler]

thats pretty nasty makes me not want to eat lake mead fish.....those redworms used to be found in the skin and flesh of many flounders and sole in washington's puget sound we wouldn't even take em home if we could see the parasites through the skin... its cause we love fish frys and now i'm grossed out. :-(
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[Sil240sxrwd]

ewww. +1 to being grossed out. That ruined eating fish from Mead for me for a while...
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[Erawk]

I haven't eaten fish from Lake Mead in years, for many different reasons. Though, I have eaten quite a bit of fish from Mead in my lifetime and to my knowledge have not gotten sick from it.


I'm more interested in the sport of angling than the dining benefits anyway([]well except for Carp, you remember the recipe, right )

My Dad and brother would always bring kipperred snacks,canned sardines and/or anchovies on camping/fishing trips. I thought they were nasty because well, they are, and I associated them with fish bait. They'd always pester me to eat them because they knew it grossed me out. I caved in a couple times. Yuck, but ya have to try new things. Right. Good times

We ate catfish and striper from Mead many different ways including smoked striper and even striper jerky.
A lot of fish in many waterways (not just Mead) have different worms and parasites that you cannot see with the human eye. The ones you can see are especially unappetizing, but safe preparation methods are always a must whether you see them or not.
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[Erawk]

Most states post warnings about portions of fish that are safe to consume because of high mercury levels. It accumulates at the top of the food chain (older larger predators) and that is why trophy size fish aren't usually prized as table fare. This is one reason people often recommend keeping and eating the smaller fish, while releasing the larger ones. It's considered to be in the best interest of one's health and the fishery. There are no mercury warnings for Lake Mead, but it is present.

[url "http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12202927"]http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12202927[/url] (1998)

[url "http://www.ndow.org/fish/health/index.shtm"]http://www.ndow.org/fish/health/index.shtm[/url]

When I was younger, my family would always shy away from swimming and fishing the Las Vegas Wash because of the runoff from the city.
My Uncle had a old fashioned, saloon-style mirrored sign on his fridge that read "We drink recycled toilet water" right next to the water dispenser Gross, but it's true. (and most bottled water comes from municipal sources)

In 2000, they began adding flouride to the Las Vegas water supply, supplementing what was already in Lake Mead (preexisting contamination). Water flouridization is highly debated, I am not a proponent.

[url "http://www2.fluoridealert.org/Alert/United-States/Nevada/Fluoride-enters-Las-Vegas-water-supply"]http://www2.fluoridealert.org/...s-Vegas-water-supply[/url]

In 2003, it was discovered that Perchlorate (rocket fuel) from a closed NV factory was contaminating the Colorado River System including Mead.

[font "Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"][size 3] "EPA officials speculate it could take decades to fully wash out, even after the stream polluting it is cleaned up."[/size][/font]
[url "http://www.ourstolenfuture.org/Commentary/News/2003/2003-0202-LAT-perchlorate.htm"]http://www.ourstolenfuture.org/...-LAT-perchlorate.htm[/url]

Pollution is a serious problem in the world today. I'm sure we're all aware of the problem in the gulf ( let's not talk about that, no politics). BUT HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT THE OCEAN of PLASTIC?
[url "http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/04/15/tech/main6398470.shtml"]http://www.cbsnews.com/...ch/main6398470.shtml[/url]
This is why we pack out all of our trash. The Colorado river system ends in the Pacific Ocean and so does the trash!


I didn't notice any worms on the 1 catfish we've taken this year. However, in the previous few years almost all of the catfish I caught had strange lesions/sores on their bodies. That was enough for me not to want to eat them.


I don't mean to scare anyone or discourage anyone from fishing and eating their catch. I'm just sharing some things I've come across. Awareness is the best bet. I plan to eat a few of the 1000's of fish [] I will catch this summer although I am almost strictly C&R.

Well that was a long long post. Just be aware of potential danger, take proper precautions and minimize the risks.

[quote TheWhizzle]
COOK THE HELL OUT OF THOSE FISH! [/quote]
and fish on [fishin]
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[Erawk]

I've been thinking about the pollution in Lake Mead and I'm wondering if the fish you buy at the store is any better. Probably not, since I assume farms most likely get their water from municipal supplies. Tilapia are often fed off the excrement of other farm raised fish.

Google: Dirty Jobs Striper Farm.

Times are tough these days, and with all the money I spend on fishing, perhaps I should start eating my catches.
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