Black Spot Fish Disease - What You Need to Know 

Thank you for helping to spread actual helpful information. Especially about something a lot of anglers aren’t always informed about.

Excellent report. I’ve been trying to explain this to fisherman for years and you tied it all together in one 2-minute video great job!

I've definitely seen these on our local fish and wondered what the heck it was, but I realized if it was a big deal that we would already know about it. Good on you for doing your due diligence in teaching the fishing world about this interesting parasite. Good job!

Great video as always Nat. I worked a season with a state's fisheries division and these parasites are common enough that we don't even take note of them when doing surveys. The organism infecting these fish are very similar to the organisms that infect us to cause swimmer's itch. Pretty neat I think. Also I wanted to commend you for your emphasizing not to attempt to "treat" or euthanize a fish that's been infected. Due to the cultural stigma behind parasites many people fail to recognize how ubiquitous they are in the environment. Whether it be invertebrates, fish, mammals, etc., every animal (and plants, fungi, and even some microbes!) has evolved through constant exposure to parasitic organisms. Like anything else, these parasites evolve in a cost-benefit fashion and adaptations that would be a major detriment to the host organism would (usually) make the parasites less fit. I've heard a parasitologist say that any given mammal found in the wild is loaded with multiple parasitic taxa, but the overall detriment to their fitness and health is completely negligible. The ecology of parasites is fascinating!

I use to go fishing with my grandfather when I was a kid. He would get drunk until he couldn't walk and let me drive the boat. He was also known to eat minnows for good luck and he smoked marijuana

Excellent synopsis! I’ll be sharing with friends who ask cause about this your explanation is way clearer than mine! Thanks!

Excellent, to the point video. We see these a lot up here in Ontario, Canada 🍁 🇨🇦. As you said perch, pike , rock bass and other pan fish seem to be effected most.

IT'S TRUE!! IT'S TRUE!! You do learn something new every day. That was very interesting!

Good video! Straight to the point and nicely explained.

Very informative and nicely done. Thank you for your time and effort on this video. Have a good day.

Great info. And great shot of that spinner blade turning at the end

Very interesting and helpful information! Thanks!

Excellent video. I always wondered about those dots. Thanks

Nice video and very informative! Thanks for sharing this information. Good job!

I've caught fish like that and always wondered what was going on. Great video! 👍

Thank you for this quick & informational video. I’ve always wondered what was going on with those black spots on fish. Whenever I came across one, mainly on yellow perch.

Good stuff! I had always wondered about that. Thanks.

Thank you for spreading your knowledge about this black spot disease. Although I mainly do catch and release, I’ve wondered what these spots were caused by or if they were harmful to the fish or safe for consumption. Great video!

I genuinely didn't know it was safe to eat fish infected with black dots

Appreciate the info.

Great information!

That was awesome, I learned something new. Tnanks!

Merci beaucoup pour ces renseignements.

Thanks for the great video!!

wow ....thanks for info. I was catching yellow perch through the ice last year and saw this .... I was throwing the fish back for fear of eating them and getting sick...thumbs up from Lake George, NY !!

I just started fishing and I have been really enjoying your video. Very informative and so much data comparison. Really helpful. What do you do? If It's not too personal. :) thank you for your videos.

Great video.

Always wondered what those were.I remember back in the 70,s i caught a brook trout from swampy creek that was covered in those spots.I kept it but my dad said it might not be safe to eat.Learn something on yt today anyway.Thanks

Great video

Good to know, thanks.

Fifty years ago I fished local golf course ponds that were loaded with smallish bass and huge bluegill. I never kept any fish because they were loaded with those weird black spots. Thanks for answering an old question👍

thanks

Thanks I always wondered what this was. I’d commonly see it on really small pike so I’d just throw them back. Glad that was the right move

I filleted a mess of Bass that had this about 15 years ago. I cut the black dots out of the meat. There were not too many in the meat. The next morning I got in my truck to go to work and wrapped my hands around the steering wheel. I felt pain in one of the creases in my finger. I looked and there was a little blood there. I scraped the area with my fingernail and one of these little creatures was revealed. He was trying to burrow into me.

There were often tiny parasites in the meat of fish caught in upstate NY in lake Champlain. They seemed to be far more prevalent in the warmer months, and almost non existent in winter. There were ones like black dots in the meat, but I never noticed that in the skin. There were also tiny white things sometimes that actually moved a little. Like a little grub or something. Could these have been the same thing? And do you think eating any of them, if they were under cooked, could cause an infection in humans?

i'm 70 and have fished all my life, mostly in michigan and canada. from my experience perch seem to be affected the most. they also seem to have more grubs in them. i also have caught many pike with the spots. i have caught thousands of suckers and have never seen one with the spots.

Love you this finally know what this actually is lol way to many zombie peach caught I honestly feel so bad for some perch lol

If I find black spots on my chub I’m definitely worrying

The yellow perch seem to be heavily affected, more than any other species in a spillway I fish. But in the lake its not as bad.

If the bird is removed from the lifecycle, will it end the cycle altogether?, would they all die out, Starting an aquaponics system and collecting pond water to grow daphnia and other microbes.. which the flukes might get scooped up as well, but if they need the bird gut specially.. or any gut that they end up in?

I always wondered about those, first saw them in aquarium fish, the only time I saw them outdoors was on yellow perch (these were big perch) walleye, pike , smallies didn't have them. This was eagle lake Canada. We had an Indian guide and he said we couldn't eat them.

Sounds similar to the yellow grub I found one year. I also found out that the severity of the infestation can be cyclical.

Last year I ate a fish that had these black spots all over it, and now I have black spots all over me. What should I do?

Hence why it's good practice to freeze all wild caught meat for 24hrs at minimum, before consumption. Trychomonas in pork, is why we used to recommend 165f at minimum before consumption. Eating rare pork is delicious!!I I think until 2020 or so the old guidelines basically made an entirely realm of dishes off limits. Here in the USA, all pork sold commercially must be frozen. This kills the parasite, or cooking to 165f. You can't buy fresh, never frozen pork unless you specifically order it. Fresh fish from your market, may contain parasites. Do you really want to risk it ? Freeze your meat, be safe.

Dang alot of it in southwest michigan lakes

I just caught a pike yesterday with this all over him. I have mainly only seen it on pike in the river. We always called them water fleas lol. Guess we were wrong but.. Thanks!

I've found them on nearly everything except crappies.

I caught bluegills from a peat bog that were literally black from this type of parasite.

cool was curious aboat them black spots never did like em ate enough of em never got none on me now i know thanks ,still don't like them black spot though

Cool. Well, not cool, but Cool! 🔆

interesting i see thes eon fish and always thought they were worms but a guy up norht who lived there his whole life said they were like freckles or sunspots from living in shallow water teh sun gets them mroe and bassically said they were harmless nontheless ive never eaten one with those black dots.. i mean ive never seen them to the extent soem of these fish have but just a few maybe no more thna 5-10 on a fish

the lake at my cabin is really bad with this stuff 90 percent of fish i catch have it

We had this parasite, but now its gone

I have eaten many fish with this issue.

It’s life cycle is a lot like French heart worm

I poop them out too. lol. I clean and eat the fish. Just freeze and cook.

I still think I'll pass

There just pre peppered!

Been eating fish with these forever, the state says thier fine , my question is can they get in a human & yea I know cooking or freezing, yea yea i got it . But can they get into a human under your skin, & what does the Adult look like ? The only answer I've gotten for over 50 years is you'll be fine if you cook them ,what if i cut my hand while cleaning them or eat something after just rinsing my hands in the lake after cleaning them ?

kinda nasty still parasites are the worst

Hhhh

It's called mother nature and natural selection.its not news 😂

I actually love fried flukes.