VHS on Owasco??

[browntrout]

I have now caught about 8 fish that appear to have VHS from Owasco Lake. All are lake trout and the sizes vary from 17-25in. The DEC picked one up from me in August but the test results are not back. On 9-26 I had a great morning boating over 40 fish.....unfortunately 5 had signs of the disease with one seemingly full blown with the virus. The DEC was too busy to get this fish to test, but from all the pictures I've seen....it's almost certain. I'm going to try to post the pics, so bear with me. Keep an eye out if you are fishing there for sores that almost look like lamprey marks. I really hope it isn't true but it dosen't look good. Since the lakers provide the only consistent coldwater action on Owasco, this could be devastating. If you catch any....contact the DEC....let them know.

[hermit]

I'll send a PM with my email address, I'd like to see those pics and can post them here. That's not very good news. My first thought was, maybe they're beating themselves up over the spawn? But you say you saw this in August, too... that would preclude that possibility. It's very possible it's VHS, in my opinion the laker stock in Owasco is under stress and a virus would show in a stressed population before elsewhere.

[jiggy]

I would also like to see what it looks like, I pulled a 3 lb Lm out of conesus that had what looked like open sores...

[hermit]

Here's the pics:

[jiggy]

Thats it but it was all over the bass's body.....Thanks hermit...hope its something that will disappear & not be catastrophic

[bulletbob]

Found a BIG Walleye in May at the south end of Cayuga fresh dead with the exact same marks.. kinda like lamprey, but not,,,, I reported it to the DEC along with the multiple hundreds of dead SMB, Rockies,Bluegills,Bullheads, Suckers,Pike and Crayfish I witnessed during April and May, but the DEC basically said, "" we are looking into it""... and that was the end of it...

If I report it on the forums, I am called an alarmist,troublemaker, crybaby. etc, etc, but its been like this the last 2 springs, and the adult SMB, Pike and Rockbass are pretty much gone from the south end of the lake, so something is up.. I hope the DEC lets us know whats up.... real soon.... bob

[chugbug]

Browntrout , I was wondering if you got the results back on the fish you sent in ?? Was it VHS???

[browntrout]

The laker came back negative for vhs.....thank god....but they called me for more samples for further testing .....unfortunately it was after I stopped fishing Owasco so we'll have to wait till next season. I ended up catching 25 fish with different degrees of these markings and alot with receeded gill plates. This is the first I've seen this type of sore on these lakers in all the years I've fished Owasco. Hopefully they can figure it out after further testing....thankfully it's not vhs.

[chugbug]

Hey thats good news , I only caught one or two lakers in Owasco with those sores this past fall , I thought they were lamprey marks at first but didn't think there were any eels in Owasco , hope its not vhs , Owasco is so much fun to fish in the fall I look forward to it when Cayuga slows down , keep us posted browntrout !