Parasites/Diseases on Vaal yellowfish

[White Squall]

Three weeks ago I fished Yellowfish Paradise on the Vaal for the first time. I usually fish further downstream in the Parys and Dome area. Caught two really good Smallmouth's, one weighing in at 3,2 kg, my PB for a smallmouth on the Vaal river. Both fought a lot more sluggishly than I anticipated (taking into account the colder water at this stage of the season) and when netted, I noticed they had a number of pale white to pink patches on their scales. They spots did not appear to be cysts, rather the scales themselves seemed to be discoloured.

In my 5 years of fishing the Vaal, I have not previously seen anything like this on a smallmouth. I checked in Skelton's "Freshwater Fishes", but none of the descriptions given of common disease or parasites seem to match what I saw. Can anyone throw some light on the matter for me?

[Herman Jooste]

I noticed a similar thing on one SM at the same venue around 3 - 4 weeks ago and posted the pics, ( under the Vaal River Update thread I believe ).
I think the best bet is to take the pics as best as possible and send them on to your nearest contact at the Yellowfish Working Group.

By the way, welcome to the forums. We may even have bumped into each other without knowing before.

[FlyFanatic]

Ive also seen this a couple of times before on fish, have no idea what it is, probable cause, well thats not too difficult to guess..

on the fish being sluggish, my PB is a 4kg smallie, and it also didnt put up a heroic fight, caught a 2.5 kg fish that screwed me over totally before allowing me to net it, maybe the old chaps just are too lazy, or realize the sooner they are netted, the sooner they can go back minding their own business!!

[clarias]

White Squall, could you post some pics and I might be able to help out...

Herman, please could you repost those pics here, there are over 100 posts in the vaal river update, and I can't go searching through the whole of it. Thanks

Parasites are natural on fish, but may be more of a problem in crowded or polluted waters. Also if there's been a recent hectic drop in water temperature, it causes a dip in the fish's immune system. Much like humans often get a cold in autumn and spring when the weather changes.

Did they look like the sores on the scales of this large Vleikurper/Banded Tilapia (Tilapia sparmannii)?

[White Squall]

Thanks for the welcome Herman. I looked at the pics you posted, I am not sure its the same thing. The marks I saw were quite a bit smaller and each fish had 4 to 5 of them, although the colouration is similar. I'll take your suggestion to get a photo next time.

Clarias, Herman's post is #982 on pg 99 of the thread. What I saw looks exactly like the sores on the pic of the Vleikurper you posted.

FF you may be right about the big boys being more streetsmart. The sluggish fight and sores on the fish sort of spoilt the PB moment, particularly as I had caught a good fish at Sterkies two weeks previously that was in magnificent condition and put up a fight that left my wrist feeling like it needed physio. (Pic attached).

[1in10]

Good one. What fly did you catch it on?

[White Squall]

Purple Beetle tied by Dennis de Klerk, which he based on Dr Hans' beetle pattern. My "go to" fly when fishing dry at Sterkies up against cliffs or steep banks or when their is a strong breeze.

[clarias]

It's either a worm or a fluke if I remember correctly, and won't harm the fish under normal conditions.

Herman's fish simply looks like it has an infection where it lost a scale- perhaps from someone dropping it on a rock or something...

Cheers

[Herman Jooste]

It's either a worm or a fluke if I remember correctly, and won't harm the fish under normal conditions.

Herman's fish simply looks like it has an infection where it lost a scale- perhaps from someone dropping it on a rock or something...

Cheers

Clarias,
The sore was about40mm in dia.

If losing a scale can cause this, would the same thing be possible where a fish has been foul hooked and a scale or two is left on the hook, which means that there is a scale or 2 missing on the fish????

[clarias]

Well one can't say for sure what caused it. It depends on a lot of thing, as humans not every scratch we get gets infected either.

My koi have lost scales before without getting any infections. At other times one then suddenly gets a bacteria in the system that just starts eating massive holes into their flesh- when they died you could even see the muscle layers these things were eating through...

The scary thing is these flesh-eating bacteria are quite common in nutrient-enriched (i.e. polluted with sewage) waters Do you guys on the Vaal ever have problems with cuts getting infected hectically from wading?