I was out fishing today on the Blanco River and caught 2 grande bluegill, only problem was they looked diseased. Their scales had bumps all up and down each side that looked like boils and both had holes in them at some point, yuck! Needless to say, I didn't keep these ugly buggers but I didn't kill them either because I thought someone here might have an explanation about what might be affecting these fish. It's a shame to throw back bluegill bigger than two hands, but I'm not eating Frankenfish!

Wish you would have put them in a plastic bag and showed them to your local TP&W office or county ext. ofc. They might have the answer or known who to contact.

Hmmm seem to remember a thread not too long ago about this. seems a normal thing fish go thru in warm water. Whatever you get outa this, don't eat them

Yeah, I avoid eating anything I can't stomach looking at, and this was just bizarre. I've seen the occasional bump on a fish, but this was some sort of crazy pimple-looking stuff! Our local TP&W person is a rumor, I've never seen him around...although I'd like to have him put a stop to some of the foolish swimming in the floodwaters, dumping garbage under the bridge, and throw-netting the death out of this river. It really doesn't look good in spots (shopping carts, diapers, beer cans, you name it), it's a shame folks can't take care of their rivers.

Sorry to hear that, yea, don't eat anything that comes outa that body of water....I'm trying to remember who it was that was a biologist and posted about the bumps...might want to post this in the crappie section

Thanks TreeBass, I will repost this on the crappie section, and hopefully my river gets better soon.

I used to see fish I caught in East Texas that would got a growth on them. Looked like me when I get in the poison ivy. I was told it was a fungus of some kind.

The fungus is one thing, beige and foamy/bubbly looking. The bumps are like tumors, and if you cut em open they are like red coiled worm looking things inside em. The skin around them usually develops a hard texture to it, almost as if it's calcifying.

Nasty stuff. have seen a lot of crappie with that, rarely if ever on lmb's, have seen it with some regularity on rock bass, or warmouth, whichever one it is we got here in texas. And see it more often in HOT weather, surprised you found it in the Blanco, that used to be some seriously cool, clean, rushing water. They are fairly common in stock tanks that cattle rely heavily on for drinking water, usually in the bullheads that ALWAYS seem to be present in stock tanks!

Rudy

if you go to TPWD website you can email a biologist directly and they will answer in a day or so. They are very helpful folks.

Thanks for all the info folks! I will email a biologist later today, after I finish fishing that is! I am happy to report that further up the river, near the 35 bridge, the bluegill I caught two days ago looked much healthier-not a spot on them. I fished the Guad in New Braunfels and the fish seemed good-sized, hungry, and healthy. I even caught a pumpkin (that one was so pretty I had to let him go)! I'm going to try a local pond today and see how the action is, since 5-mile dam is never open anymore.

Fishstyx: You can search on here under the screen names for Lane. She and her husband are microbiologists and they can more than likely give you an educated explanation.

Thats them, I just could not remember their names....thanks
Linky

I've seen that a lot on Rio Grande Cichlids in the Blanco/San Marcos/Cypress Creek, but I've never seen it on bluegill. Are you sure they were bluegill and not redbreasts? I've never caught big bluegill out of the Blanco, but that doesn't mean that they're not there!

We have caught a lot of redbreasts and bluegills with worm/parisites in the fillets, though - usually in the heat of the summer.

Pankofisher,

Yeah, I'm sure they were bluegill, and big ones too! The one that was the most infected (if that is even the correct term) was so big he had a flatened forehead full of muscle. He was at least four times the size of the smallest fish I caught. I would guess he was about 8-9" long and strong. I'm not sure about the relation to the heat of summer, this has been like winter around here compared to the usual 100+ temps we get for days on end every year. Maybe the opposite is true, too cold? Who knows...