# Self Sufficiency/Living off the Land or Off the Grid > Fishing >  fishing ponds & worms in the meat.

## Shaggy Mountain Man

Hi, Caught this in a small gravel pit 1/4 mile from the house today on a black n white Mepps 3 buck tail.  I knew there were bass, but had only fished for and released, the mostly small palm sized sunfish using cane poles with my 14yo son.  Kind of disappointed that there are some worms in the fish. Going to be fun getting the wife/kid to eat anything I catch from here if TSHTF...

So it had 5 rice sized light brown worms that I saw. I removed the three that were in the fillets. I have been told remove them(did that) and cook them up.  Can't recall ever dealing with worms in any the past fish I've kept.  So would you eat it?


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## crashdive123

After removing the parasites and thoroughly cooking it, I would eat it.

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## Justin Case

I would only eat it as a last resort,,,,,   I have never seen a fish w/ worms and I dont want to ,,

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## Rick

Virtually all fish populations have parasites whether you see them or not. Proper cooking methods generally kill them and render them harmless. Still like that sushi? 

http://warnell.forestry.uga.edu/serv...=52&docHistory[]=1

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## Sarge47

Probably not, I'm not a big fish eater.  I'm more of a "red-meat" kinda guy. Wouldn't the worms just add protein?  You gotta love the irony though; fish eats worms-Worms eat fish!     :Sneaky2:   :Cool2:

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## Rick

Since nematodes have varying life cycles depending on the particular type it's quite possible to become infected with them if you eat undercooked fish, sashimi for example. While they generally don't set up home in humans they can cause intestinal discomfort attempting to do. Under the right conditions, however, humans can become infected.

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## tipacanoe

Here in Maine, the two perch species, white and yellow both tend to have worms in the summer, but in the winter there isn't a problem.  I know lots of people eat the white perch in the winter and spring, don't here of too many eating them in the summer.  Very few eat yellow perch in Maine, but the one's that do, claim it is better than brook trout.  I release every fish I catch on barb less hooks, unless it swallows the fly and is bleeding, but that only happens about once every three or four years.

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## your_comforting_company

Yep. cooked up to kill the parasites and you've got some delicious supper. I'd eat it, no problem.

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## Sourdough

The worms are not in the meat while alive, but in the intestines. The migrate to the meat a few hours after the fish is dead. Clean the fish ASAP, or gut the fish ASAP and the worm problem is solved. And they will not hurt you if fish is properly cooked "OR" Flash frozen for long term.

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## TomChemEngineer

Yes, it has been said on here. Warm waters (like in the heat of summer) make some species wormy. I have only seen it in bass. I don't know if they live in the flesh or migrate there after death, so I'll yield to Sourdough's expertise there, but I have seen them in bass in WV ponds and shallow/warmer stream waters in August. Not particularly appetizing, but in a pinch situation, I would consider cooking them and go on with it. I prefer trout (that live in cold waters). I have never seen worms in cold-water fish like trout. I suspect salmon do not have the problem either due to the cold water habitat, but I have not fished salmon. Gotta put that on my Bucket List.

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## Rick

Sorry but that's not entirely true. It depends on the specie of worm. In the case of round worms, for example, they are normally found in crustaceans. Once a fish eats the crustacean then the larvae hatch in the fish's gut and bores through the stomach lining into the gut and flesh. 

In the case of the anchor worm, they attach from the outside directly into the flesh. 

In the case of nematodes, they can be found in the skin, muscle and internal organs while thorny headed worms are found only in the intestines.

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## Sourdough

Where it is encountered here is in Halibut, because they are so huge, and people want photos of themselves on the dock with the fish, people tend to wait all day before cleaning, and the worms come out of the guts and into the meat.

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## Rick

Probably true with halibut and their parasitic buddies. That's also true of the white fish, too, I believe (cod, haddock, sole, flounder, ?). They have something called seal worm and a couple of others. I read some time ago about a process called candling. The processors pass the filleted fish over a glass that has a strong light underneath it. The light shines through the fish fillet and the parasite can be seen and removed. So you don't have housewives hitting the floor all across America when they thaw out a package of fish and little worms start wiggling out. At least I presume that's why they do it. I've never been a fan of sashimi and read quite a bit about it some time ago. Convinced me raw fish is not something that should be eaten.

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## TomChemEngineer

OK, I stand corrected, and learned some stuff too. Note to self, look at my fish a little more closely!

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## wareagle69

being from the south i had never seen worms in fish, then last summer was fishing in the river and the wife caught 5 bass using berkley power bait, i used everything else in my box and caught a skunk, but anywho i get home and find lots of black specs in some and yellowish white worms in another, so i fed them to my bears.
now i talk to all the country boys at work and they says to eat those no problem, they all have been doing it for years and it is very common.

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## LowKey

I distinctly remember the marine biology class where we went deep sea fishing and caught  some Haddock. Naturally the first few were dissected and we couldn't believe the worms in the flesh. They looked like muscle fibers but squirmed about on extraction. The professor told us almost all fish had those, most die when the fish are iced in commercial fishing and you just never notice them. We later had a BBQ on the beach though some of the more squeamish wouldn't eat the fish. That was an excellent class. We cooked our "lab material" at the end of the class quite often. The prof always got fresh stuff down at the commercial docks. None of this formaldehyde stuff. She was worldly wise too. She was in her early 60s at the the time and had lived in all kinds of island places all over the world and had all kinds of stories about roughing it. I learned a lot from her.

I no longer look too closely at fish. Just cook it very well and eat it.

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## Shaggy Mountain Man

Caught and cleaned it so I was not going to waste it.  :Smile:   This is the first fish I have kept/cleaned and cooked up is 15 plus years.  First bass in 20 or so....   Was very good, even got the wife to eat some and the boy was looking for more.    

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## Rick

Nothing wrong with that. Personally, I like ocean fish better than fresh. The meat is firmer but bass, bluegill and cat are hard to beat. Deep fried with hush puppies, a slice of onion, some slaw....man, now I'm hungry.

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## Winter

> Where it is encountered here is in Halibut, because they are so huge, and people want photos of themselves on the dock with the fish, people tend to wait all day before cleaning, and the worms come out of the guts and into the meat.


I've encountered worms in halibut, terpin, rockfish, and ling cod.

What you say sounds unlikely, but, you are old and I'm willing to learn.  :Innocent: 

I will gut them as I catch them and see if it clears uup the mid summer worm issue.

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## Rick

> you are old and I'm willing to learn.


Okay, lesson 1. Wise, learned, experienced, skilled, seasoned, accomplished, qualified, skillful, tested, worldly, versed. All those adjectives that you COULD have chosen and you picked "old". (shaking head and walking away)

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## Winter

Too wordy.

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## Rick

(head slap!)

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## AirborneEagles

Yes I would. In Alaska in my youth I worked at a cannery and filleting salmon for Japan and US markets. Many salmon and Cod both had parasites in them at times and we just put the fillets over a lighted table and flicked the parasites out, then it went off to be frozen and shipped. 

I have found some parasites in other fish other people caught and cooked, not knowing they had parasites in them, but when I start eating and saw the brown mush from the left over cooked parasite I always mention to them they should look for parasites and its hard to do when you are cooking the entire fish without filleting it first. I always fillet mine anyway since I like to get the skin off since any fish oil makes the fish taste fishier unless I am on a survival stunt. 

Cooked parasites won't hurt you, but they are going to add some different taste when eating a good fish. (Unless you let is soak in some marinade for a while). However, if the fish is not fully cooked, it is more than likely you will end up with the parasite inside you growing and living off your body. So, when in question, always cook the fish till its is well done. Even a few minutes over without over cooking it and ruining it. The thicker the fish the more time needed to cook it fully...common sense stuff you know about, but for others just so they know too.

So if you catch anymore there, I would use a plastic tray with a light under it and try to get as many parasites out as possible. 

Would I eat that awesome fish? Heck yes! =)

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