are large mouth bass with small yellow worms safe to eat

are large mouth bass with small yellow worms safe to eat

These are parasites, tapeworms. As far as I know these parasites doesn't cause any problem to humans.
Just clean it properly.

Hi.
I have caught fish with worms just under the Skin,they were identified as Nemetodes,however I didn't & wouldn't eat fish with them & either would any friends.

I'm not sure I'll eat that either, It depends if I'm sure I cleaned it thoroughly. But the question is about wether it is safe.

I remember reading somewhere,where Nematodes can survive after being frozen,so by not eating them is the safest way to me of not catching a bug,as tapeworms,worms can make you very ill & are very hard to get rid of.

As far as I know, those worms are like 100% protein, True some can survive freezing but not Cooking. Im sure when I tried to cut them out, I may have missed a few. Other wise all I know for sure is I have eaten fish like that for nearly 50 years and still kicking.

I suppose it's like eating an apple with grubs,as the old saying goes what you don't see doesn't hurt you???
After all Rifleman as you say you may have eaten a few unbeknown,however they were at least cooked.

As long as it is properly cleaned and cooked throughly you should be ok.

Hi Guest !

Your description suggests you observed encysted metacercariae larval stage of the yellow grub (Clinostomum) parasite. The encysted, yellow to yellowish white worm can be up to 1/4 inch in length. It can be found in virtually all species of North American freshwater fish.

The yellow grub is a digenetic trematode. These types of parasites require several hosts to complete their life cycles. In the case of the yellow grub, the adult parasite is found in the throats of fish eating birds, such as herons. During the feeding process, eggs produced by the adults are washed out of the bird's mouth and into the water. There they hatch, yielding a free swimming larval stage (miracidia) that will die within several hours if it does not find and infect a snail of the genus Helisoma. After further development within the snail, a free swimming cercaria leaves the snail and seeks a fish host. The cercariae burrow through the skin of the fish and encyst, where they develop into the metacercariae. These yellow grubs may live several years in the fish. If the fish is eaten by the bird host the larval metacercariae will develop into adult parasites, completing the life cycle.

Infestations by a few individuals likely cause little harm to fish, however, under certain circumstances, heavy infestations can kill fish. Yellow grubs are described as unsightly by fishermen. A related species occurring in Asia has been found to infect the upper respiratory tract of humans. Thorough cooking kills the North American yellow grub and the parasite does not alter the flavor or the infected fish; however, fish with heavy infestations are typically not eaten by anglers.

Infestation is somewhat greater for fish caught in shallow water where snails and fish eating birds are most prevalent. Fish caught from deep water typically exhibit less infestation. Like many biological phenomenon, prevalence of the grub may be greater in some years and less in others for a variety of reasons including an abundance of intermediate host mollusks and birds.
I hope this will help.
GOOD LUCK and GOOD FISHN !
FLYGUY

yes these are parisites, but no they are not tapeworms. I try to dig them out only for peace of mind.

wow, I must be getting lucky as I have yet to find any worms or wierd stuff in the fish I catch. Unless they are microscopic.