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River Wye barbel Parasite plus River condition etc.,

D

Danny Collins

Senior Member
Fished Ross on Wye area yesterday party of 3 and managed 24 barbel to 6.13 despite the intermittent bad weather storms and gale force winds and River pushing through. we started with 2oz Drennan grip mesh feeders to hold bottom but as the pace of the water increased after the big storm, we changed over to 2oz block end feeders with a 1oz or 2oz lead placed inside the feeder and filled up with mini pellets.This seemed to do the trick and we could hold bottom ok.

Also I noticed on the vast majority of the fish there were some sort of parasite leachy things which was yellowey in colour and sort of see through body and like legs to grip on to the fish. We could not get them off by hand but removed them gently with foreceps. I just wondered what these nasty looking things were and was I right to remove them from the fish?????? I assure you that great care was taken in the removal operation.
 
They are lice Danny and due to the warmer, slower river currents.

I don't believe they cause any real nuisance to the fish.

Graham
 
Would that be Argulus sp. Graham? If so, I can't say I have ever heard of them being described as 'leech like' before?

Cheers, Dave.
 
It's just where the fish have been lying dormant in the low oxygenated water....it's more common in much colder conditions when the barbel rarely move. They are not harmful to the fish.
 
It does sound like Argylus to me and if it is they are damaging to fish. They feed by attaching themselves to the fish by their mouth parts and then inject an enzyme into the fish which breaks down the flesh allowing the parasite to digest it. This process obviously causes the fish some discomfort and will over a prolonged period weaken the fish.
They thrive in poor quality water and this years lack of rain and low river levels have been an ideal breeding ground for them.
I should also have mentioned they are free swimming and will attatch themselves to any fish.
You can pull them off and treat the wound with a drop of Klinik.
 
Adrian Williams said:
It does sound like Argylus to me and if it is they are damaging to fish. They feed by attaching themselves to the fish by their mouth parts and then inject an enzyme into the fish which breaks down the flesh allowing the parasite to digest it. This process obviously causes the fish some discomfort and will over a prolonged period weaken the fish.
They thrive in poor quality water and this years lack of rain and low river levels have been an ideal breeding ground for them.
I should also have mentioned they are free swimming and will attatch themselves to any fish.
You can pull them off and treat the wound with a drop of Klinik.
Click to expand...

Whatever they were they were removed by me. Some were tiny and there were some larger ones as well the size of wood lice. they are hard to get off by hand so i used foreceps and sort of squashed them off.
To describe them in grater detail my friend has told me that they were the shape of a Sting Ray with a tiny tail and 2 feet to hold on with. and when they were on the fish they sort of swam on the slime and moved about. I never noticed any wounds but as I wanted to return the fish quick I didnt really examine them too closely.
 
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My experience with Argulus is that they are fairly easily slid off with your fingers. I've seen some horrible infestations on tench by them which came away easily, however I doubt that it made much difference, as other lice would have probably reinfested them.

If it is argulus I think the chances are that the infestation will die off eventually as soon as the weather gets colder..
 
Danny look at the picture in the link I put down.

Nearly every barbel I have caught on the Wye over the past 2 months has had one or more of them.

Pike are often seen with them after lying dormant as Mark says, for periods.

Graham
 
I caught one fish on my Wye visit with these lice on, just brushed them off with my hand and couldn't see any visible marks on the barbel. I presumed they must have come off salmon but am probably wrong.
 
They haven't come off salmon, they get sea lice which are a different species.

The Agrylus is common on Wye fish. I haven't seen too many this year but in previous low water conditions I have seen fish with hundreds of the little so and so's on them. They come off quite easily and a drop of Klinik is always worth while.
 
My daughter in law who was with me on the trip has been researching and she thinks they were Argylus. The ones in Grahams link seemed different to the ones on the fish. Next time I am at the Wye I will have a good look at any fish with this bug on them. (assuming I catch)
 
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