Rice Lake Fishing Report 04-26-12
By Frank Zumpf
With the weather changing every other day it’s been cutting into my fishing time. It’s been a little cool, but the fish have still been biting. They have been moving in and out of the shallow bays, but you don’t have to go any deeper than 7 feet. The bay on Rice Lake by the hospital has given up some nice fish, as well as the bays off Orchard Beach.
It’s nice to get in there before the weed growth gets too thick. Just about any panfish bait will work—plastics on jigs, waxies or wet flies. You could even still use your ice jigs under a light balsa bobber.
I recently learned something I’ve been curious about. Have you ever wondered about the black specks sometimes found on the fish you catch? These are called a trematode worm. There are four stages in their life and three hosts. Let’s start with the fish that has the spots or cysts. The fish is eaten by a bird predator, such as an eagle, kingfisher or heron. The cysts mature in the bird’s digestive tract and lay eggs. The birds relieve themselves over the water, releasing the eggs.
The eggs hatch and locate a snail, which is host number three. The worms spend six weeks or so in the snail, then leave this host. The worms then find a fish for the next phase. The more current in the water, the harder it is for the worm to get to the fish. If you have a fish with a lot of spots, it is spending most of its time in the weeds where there isn’t much current. The worms are in a cyst form in the fish until it becomes a meal for a bird, starting the cycle all over again.
Although you can see the cysts in the fish, they are not harmful to humans. People have eaten these fish for years with no detrimental effects. My recommendation is to just enjoy your catch.
For information on Rice Lake area lodging, dining, entertainment and more outdoors, connect with Ricelaketourism.com or 715-234-8888 or nicky@ricelaketourism.com.