Black Spots on Bait Fish

As you all know ice fishing season is coming well at least I know it is. And what do people use for bait? Well... Bait fish of course! Be careful where you buy your baitfish though because some might be infected with Neascus or the black spot parasite. This parasite starts its life by infecting snails which are then eaten by small fish which are then eaten by birds and then the parasite gets discarded and it starts its life again. Most shallow water fish get infected like perch, sunfish, etc but it can also be found in bigger fish. If you’re ice fishing or just fishing at all and you catch a fish with Neascus you can still eat it but make sure it's well cooked or you will get very sick. Trust me. I've learned from personal experience you don't want to ruin a nice carpet with barf like I did. What do you do if you get minnows with Neascus? I suggest smash them with your boot becuase if you let them into the water they will infect other fish and ruin the pond. If you don't want to get the minnow stuck to your boot just let them freeze to death. Again if you catch a fish with Neascus do not through your unused cuts back into the lake doing that will infect other fish and you don't want that unless you like smashing poor little minnows under your boot. And to end this blog post here's a picture of the Neascus parasite. The  bottom fish is infected top fish is not infected by the Neascus parasite .  (by Lucian)