hartwell11 Loc: Cobbs Creek, virginia

Recently I was given 30 or so spots that were just caught(?) along the coast of the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia. I filleted them as I always do, but as I was washing the fillets white specks would float to the surface. I repeated the washing and got the same results. The specks resembled white powder being spread over the bowl of clean clear water. I finally gave up and discarded the fillets and buried them. I have cleaned many fish, but I haven't experienced anything like that. Didn't look like worms, didn't move like worms, but the only thing I could come up with was worms. Has anyone ever experienced anything like that. My only other thought was that perhaps the fish were caught some time ago and with the high temperatures, left in a cooler without ice, flies could have dropped eggs. Even though the fillets looked OK, I couldn't eat them.

flyguy Loc: Lake Onalaska, Sunfish Capitol of the World!

Well, Hartwell11, Welcome to the Forum. When you say "spots" I assume you are referring to spotted sea trout or could it be red fish? Whatever the case you did the right thing. You could not possible eat those things, knowing what you know. "Was the guy who gave them to you a "buddy"?

Gordon Loc: Charleston South Carolina

I can't help you, but am looking forward to hearing the answer.

hartwell11 Loc: Cobbs Creek, virginia

I'm sorry, I sent the full description which explains better than I could. It was one of my favorite fish to eat, now I'm (?)


The Spot (Leiostomus xanthurus) or Norfolk spot[1] is a small short-lived saltwater fish in the family Sciaenidae. The species inhabits estuary and coastal waters from Massachusetts to Texas, and derives its name from the prominent dark spot behind each gill. It is the only species in the genus Leiostomus. Spot are frequently caught by recreational anglers and are good to eat.[citation needed]

Their diet consists largely of organic detritus, small crustaceans, and worms. Bloodworms are the ideal bait when fishing for spot.[citation needed]

Spot are the natural prey of the following fish: striped bass, flounder, sandbar shark, dogfish shark, weakfish, puppy drum, red drum, black drum, spotted seatrout, Atlantic mackerel, king mackerel, spanish mackerel, barracuda, cobia, black sea bass, tarpon, dolphin. The list can go on for some time however these are some of the most known predators of the spot fish.[citation needed]

Fishermen also use juvenile spot as whole live bait to catch summer flounder, spotted seatrout, and red drum as well as several other species.[citation needed]

The North Carolina Spot Festival is held at Hampstead, North Carolina, on the last weekend of September.[2]

hartwell11 Loc: Cobbs Creek, virginia

The guy who gave me the spots is a neighbor who was a waterman from Long Island, NY He uses the spots for bait only. I don't plan on telling him what happened.

flyguy Loc: Lake Onalaska, Sunfish Capitol of the World!

Perhaps, a wise choice!

Hunterbill Loc: Toomsboro, ga

Do bears 🐻 poop 💩 in the woods?

seborf

If you don't want them, next time tell him you didn't like the taste.

Judge32 Loc: Vidalia, Ga. 30474

How large were the white specks? What shape were they? Are you talking about spots that are also known as Red bass?

DonaldRotter80 Loc: St, Cloud, Minnesota

I am not familiar with "spots" as you call them. I AM VERY FAMILIAR with "spots" in the fish we catch in Minnesota!! They are only in perch, sunfish, bass, rock bass and northern pike, NEVER crappies, or walleyes. The black spots are parasites that have a life cycle that depends on the Kingfisher bird. The bird lives near water, sits in trees near the water, eats fish and defecates in the water. The parasites swim through the water and enter a host snail for development. They then swim again and bore into the fish. The DNR said the ONLY way to interrupt this chain is to eliminate (kill) all the Kingfishers. When we clean sunfish from certain lakes the fillets can have so many black spots it looks like large pepper spots. These parasites are killed by proper cooking and do not harm the eater but are certainly NOT appetizing! Also we have tiny white worms in the flesh which look like little round balls which open up when removed. The flesh of the fish is opaque and I hold all the fillets against the light and remove the few white worms with the point of my knife. Some fish have none, many have only one or two. I will remove the worms but if the fillets are thoroughly peppered with the black parasites I will discard the fish. Some have so many black spots visible from the outside that I just release them. EVEN WORSE is when I am volunteering at the local annual fish fries for our school fundraising events. The ocean fish, usually cod or pollock are purchased by the church as boxes of frozen fillets. We thaw them in the sinks and then pass them to the volunteers in the prep line for the breading and frying process. I KID YOU NOT!!! I was aghast at the number and size of the large white worms in the sink from the fish fillets. We are talking about worms the size of elbow macaroni! I know that the worms are killed in the cooking process and I will eat some even knowing some of the worms are still in the fillets. I worked in a bakery and was told to throw the white powder from the donuts back into the machine after it had fallen onto the dirty hardwood floor! I was reprimanded for throwing the first batch in the trash and was ordered to throw it back into the machine! I ran the machine that coated the glazed donuts and was appalled at the number of flies stuck on the glazed donuts that I removed from the conveyor and placed on trays. I loved glazed donuts and we were allowed to eat all we wanted so I would shoo the flies away from the hot glaze as is covered the donuts and then set that aside for me to eat. I never saw any fly controls being used and could not chase the flies away and remove them from the conveyor and place them on trays at the same time. The LAST STRAW was when I was dipping a tray of donuts upside down in the chocolate frosting along side a co-worker dipping his trays in the strawberry frosting. Suddenly I observed him leaning over the vat of frosting while suffering from a nosebleed! When I scolded him he just said, "nobody will ever know!" I could not eat baked goods for 6 months after leaving there! We have NO IDEA what we are eating when we visit the restaurants and my neighbor who runs an appliance repair business informed me of all the local restaurants we should not eat at because he serviced the fryers for them and saw how dirty the kitchens and appliances were. I don't eat out much anymore!

nhuanvu

I fish and eat for Spot all my life in Norfork , Va and Solomon Island , Md . They are small but for me it is the best tasting fish with its buttery , sweet flavor . You can catch them with Shrimp but the best bait for them is Blood worm , which is very expensive $15 / Dozen of these short and skinny worm .lol

Hunterbill Loc: Toomsboro, ga

We ALL humans have ate some type of worms or worm 🐛! If you ate corn chips, you have ate them and more! If you ate at KFC you ate roaches and more!!! I have work both places!!! Worms and roaches have been around for 2,000 years or more!!!

hartwell11 Loc: Cobbs Creek, virginia

That was extremely interesting. What I observed while cleaning my spot fillets was new to me, I never experienced that before. I have two other stories regarding worms in fish. (1) While cleaning large mouth bass fillets I notice some dark spots in the fillets when held up to the light. Being curious, I cut into the dark spot and found a thread like worm curled up within in that cutout. It was a fairly large worm, in length. As I laid the worm out on a board I observed it uncurl and move around. I called the NJ fish and game and they said they knew about them as this was normal in some freshwater fish and were harmless if eaten. I might add that, that only occurred in fish taken from that particular lake. (2) Caught some butterfish, filleted, washed and placed them on a plate. I took notice that the fillets were moving. I looked closer and saw white worms throughout the body of the fillet. I was advised that this was normal in butterfish. Needless to say I haven't eaten any butterfish since. Perhaps this saying applies: "What you don't know won't hurt you".

flyguy Loc: Lake Onalaska, Sunfish Capitol of the World!

Well, you fellers can eat all of the worms that you want, I would rather not, but I'm sure that I have. I have also seen worms in crappies but not walleye or any cold water fish.

teabag09 Loc: Chesapeake, Virginia

I think he is talking about Norfolk Spots. I've lived on the southern Chesapeake Bay since 1958, caught and eaten tons of Spots. Fried, corned, baked and I've never noticed any worms but I'm like you, if I'm not sure I'm not eating it. Mike