Sylvan Whitefish Autoposy - Very Interesting!

[Zip-in-Z]

Further to my post in the Sylvan Lake Report thread, here's my updated post-mortem findings on a second White that I caught today in deep water that was actually eating the same cased caddis larvae, that looks a bit like Asparagus Tips.

Member mikebossy was kind enough to point this out to me & if you look closely you would see those are actually tubes of tiny pieces of weeds etc that a caddis larvae has glued together to make a tube like house for itself.

In today's stomach contents, I seen the head and legs poke out of one so I extracted a few of them and this is what they look like. One fat little bugger was crawling around & it was difficult to get it to sit still for a pic. It's in my bait bucket for tomorrow.

Bet this got you thinking about a wire worm or fly imitations ... good fishin.

Zip ...


http://i1281.photobucket.com/albums/a515/ZIP-IN-Z/P1010625_zps90896b54.jpg

http://i1281.photobucket.com/albums/a515/ZIP-IN-Z/P1010628_zps18c7548d.jpg

http://i1281.photobucket.com/albums/a515/ZIP-IN-Z/P1010779_zps5d1cb6cd.jpg

http://i1281.photobucket.com/albums/a515/ZIP-IN-Z/P1010787_zps0d64ccbb.jpg

http://i1281.photobucket.com/albums/a515/ZIP-IN-Z/P1010794_zps5c5cc848.jpg

[WayneChristie]

saw a guy open one up that was full of snails too.

[mikebossy]

i'd stick with imitations that look like the cased ones versus the naked ones as that's what they are accustomed to seeing in the 'wild',

[BPman]

I have some 1/32 oz and 1/64 oz jigs tied to imitate those guys but haven't gotten around to trying them yet. Will wet them this weekend and report results. At what depth of water did you find fish eating caddis? I ask because I've been fishing 12' or shallower and not seen any caddis in my fish. Good luck with your flies.

[BeeGuy]

saw a guy open one up that was full of snails too.

x2

I see snails in trout and rockies pretty often.

Biggest Rainbow I ever caught was full of snails and nothing else.

[Zip-in-Z]

I have some 1/32 oz and 1/64 oz jigs tied to imitate those guys but haven't gotten around to trying them yet. Will wet them this weekend and report results. At what depth of water did you find fish eating caddis? I ask because I've been fishing 12' or shallower and not seen any caddis in my fish. Good luck with your flies.

BPman ... I was approx. 21 fow, over sand/silt and I believe some gravel but no weeds, however, there's a weed bed perhaps 100yds or further from where I was fishin. These Whites appear to travel out to deeper water cruising to different areas or just searching for something to eat. I find they're normally a bit larger than the one's near the shorelines.

Trust his helps ....

Zip.

[ArtVandelay]

Very cool. Thanks for sharing.

[Brandonkop]

Thats funny when I saw the first picture I thought it was regarding the cystic structure that was cross sectioned in your first picture of the fish right under the dorsal fin. Could be something on the carcass but sure looks like a cyst in the picture.

Cool findings, I love searching stomach contents.

Brandon

[Speckle55]

Meal Worm look very close we got some caddis ice fishing hooks tied this year but i have some that look close

David:)

66328

[pikergolf]

Very cool, thanks for sharing.

[Alberta Bigbore]

Cool findings, I love searching stomach contents.

Brandon

:sHa_sarcasticlol:but arent you a Doctor?;)

[Zip-in-Z]

Thats funny when I saw the first picture I thought it was regarding the cystic structure that was cross sectioned in your first picture of the fish right under the dorsal fin. Could be something on the carcass but sure looks like a cyst in the picture.

Cool findings, I love searching stomach contents.

Brandon


Hey Brandon ... here's another pic that may help .... these tube like casings where right in/from the fish's gut, as you can see, I left one hanging out! I was just as surprised, never seen these back home in Mb or Ont.

Zip ...

http://i1281.photobucket.com/albums/a515/ZIP-IN-Z/P1010629_zps841740f6.jpg

[uicehole]

Thats funny when I saw the first picture I thought it was regarding the cystic structure that was cross sectioned in your first picture of the fish right under the dorsal fin. Could be something on the carcass but sure looks like a cyst in the picture.

Cool findings, I love searching stomach contents.

Brandon

Doc, don't go searching thru patient's stomachs. You're apt to get sued down there.

[bammer1]

Nice... Didnt know they ate caddis

[Brandonkop]

Hey Brandon ... here's another pic that may help .... these tube like casings where right in/from the fish's gut, as you can see, I left one hanging out! I was just as surprised, never seen these back home in Mb or Ont.



Oh I know, I saw the caddis larva pictures.

I was talking about this, see picture.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/Brandonkop3/P1010625_zps5d381781.jpg

For the other guys I like exploring fish stomach contents. But the GI specialists do explore stomachs every day, called upper endoscopy.

Brandon

[Zip-in-Z]

Oh I know, I saw the caddis larva pictures.

I was talking about this, see picture.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/Brandonkop3/P1010625_zps5d381781.jpg

For the other guys I like exploring fish stomach contents. But the GI specialists do explore stomachs every day, called upper endoscopy.

Brandon


Brandon, I tried to enlarge the original ... not sure what it is/was, looks a bit like fish blood & body fluid to me.

Zip.

http://i1281.photobucket.com/albums/a515/ZIP-IN-Z/Closeup_zps016e8ae1.jpg

[pelada trochu]

I filleted a whitefish out of Sylvan Lake this summer and the belly internals were completely full of parasite worms about 1 to 1.5" long, semi translucent, between human hair and spaggetti size and wiggiling all over.

My friend is a biologist and he said there are parasite worms that go through the entire food chain, ie. small bait fish - whites - pike - humans


I immediately lost my appetite for Sylvan Lake whitefish. Apparently its common in Sylvan Lake to have wormy fish.

I have also seen long worm like strands swimming in the Sylvan Lake water they are black and about human hair size. Usually about a foot long! dont drink the water!!!


http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showthread.php?t=143887&highlight=pelada+worms

[ogre]

Excellent post! I found the information to be very helpful. Thank you to the OP and contributing members.

[Icefisher2885]

Cased caddis patterns work awesome for all sorts of fish. The tough part in tying them can be trying to match the type of case to the lake you are fishing - I find cases like the ones you found much more difficult than the sand/rock style cases.

[Zip-in-Z]

This is an interesting read ... Caddisfly cases are open at both ends, the larva drawing oxygenated water through the posterior end, over their gills, and out of the wider anterior end. The anterior end is usually wider and it is to this end that they add material as they grow. Their abdomens are soft, but their tougher front ends project from their larval tubes, allowing them to walk while dragging their cases along with them ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caddisfly

These guys are truly underwater architects, the Sylvan sample looks very similar to their pic.

Zip ...


http://i1281.photobucket.com/albums/a515/ZIP-IN-Z/Caddisfly_Larva_zps8c886e88.jpg

[Kokanee9]

Excellent post! I found the information to be very helpful. Thank you to the OP and contributing members.


Well said!