Mille Lacs Smallie Sores

  • wormdunker
    Posts: 530
    July 30, 2012 at 6:44 pm #1321652

    I have fished Mille Lacs for smallies for years. This weekend I was somewhat shocked to see so many sores on the fish. I expect to see the normal wear and tear scars and sores from rooting in the rocks for Crayfish but the sores the fish have on them now are nasty. In general the sores are White, I am used to pink. The sores are raised from the surface of the skin and look really gross, cracks, blood, flaps of tissue. Some were about 3″ in diameter and raised nearly 1/2″.
    The sores really make the fish standout in the water. Are the sharp zebra muscles creating larger sores when bass are feeding in rocks? are the sores becoming infected?
    Good news is I am pretty certian NON ONE would want to keep these fish. just gross.

    jon_jordan
    St. Paul, Mn
    Posts: 10908
    July 30, 2012 at 6:49 pm #1088324

    My guess is Tribal Gillnets.

    -J.

    jeremy-liebig
    mpls
    Posts: 1455
    July 30, 2012 at 7:00 pm #1088332

    Weird. I was up there fishing smallies this weekend as well. Every fish we caught was super clean…no marks, sores, whatsoever. What part of the lake were you fishing?

    dank
    Minneapolis, MN
    Posts: 1123
    July 30, 2012 at 7:13 pm #1088342

    Do you have any pictures of these babies?

    I haven’t been up there in a bit and miss those toads.

    wormdunker
    Posts: 530
    July 30, 2012 at 7:55 pm #1088354

    We fished the entire West side. Found Fish with the sores in all bays and up by Myr Mar. Sorry no pictures. My phone is internet accessed, I did not want any viruses…..
    I think I only caught a few that did not have the sores. In fact I saw schools of bass and the only reason I saw them, based on existing light, was due to the sores. Like watching golf balls swim around.

    Jake_A
    Posts: 569
    July 30, 2012 at 8:01 pm #1088358

    I have seen fish with these things on them-easy to spot from a long distance…although I have only seen them on panfish. And the fish that have them NEVER bite….

    jeremy-liebig
    mpls
    Posts: 1455
    July 30, 2012 at 8:24 pm #1088373

    I pretty much stuck to the East side…Here’s one of the better ones that I got a photo of. Not crazy action for us, but some nice fish showed themselves. Smaller fish were on top of the rocks. Bigger ones were off the edge a bit.

    stuart
    Mn.
    Posts: 3682
    July 30, 2012 at 9:13 pm #1088388

    I was up last Wensday and got quiet a few that had pink sores on there backs.I figured it was from rooting around in the rocks as all were on there heads and backs.

    TJ
    Hammond, WI
    Posts: 263
    July 30, 2012 at 9:31 pm #1088392

    I know in WI there are a few lakes in Polk County that are showing sarcoma (specically Bone Lake). It affects mainly crappies and they have sores that are roughly the size of a half dollar and [censored], white,reddish, or pink. Raised up a bit as well. Not sure if it is the same or not? Sarcoma is a cancerous growth generally speaking so I wouldn’t eat them either! Ish. Page 5 of the following link has some info on it and a pic.
    Crappie Sarcoma

    kwp
    Eden Prairie
    Posts: 857
    July 31, 2012 at 12:28 am #1088432

    We fished the South end over the weekend and didn’t see the scars you saw along the West shore…I did see the typical red abrasions from rooting in the rocks looking for crayfish.

    Similar to what someone said also true for us…smaller fish on top of rocks and bigger fish a little deeper (6′ to 8′) for us. Our first trip in a while we didn’t get one at least 20″ (biggest 19 3/4″).

    frank_the_tank
    Red Wing, MN
    Posts: 48
    August 2, 2012 at 12:36 am #1089038

    Fished areas around Garrison last weekend on a launch and the guide said the sores were fish lice….

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