Yesterday evening I caught a couple 6" bluegills that had a partial red ring around the eyes. The red did not go completely around the eyes. Unfortunately I didn't have a camera available. Is this a parasite or something else? Thanks!
Ewest, the red goes around the eye between the eye socket and the eye itself. The red was about 1/4 around the top and 1/4 around the bottom of each eye. 1 bluegill had both eyes affected.
Could be parasitic , bacterial, or viral although the latter is least likely unless you recently brought in fish from another location. If it's just a few fish out of the entire amount of fish you caught I would not worry about it. Most likely you can't do anything about it anyway.
Any reason why your fish would be stressed at this time? Rapid temp changes, excessive handling, too many fish etc.?
Last edited by Cecil Baird1; 11/27/1212:18 PM.
If pigs could fly bacon would be harder to come by and there would be a lot of damaged trees.
Cecil, can't think of reason that the fish would be stressed. No additions since Spring. As you said, probably nothing that can be done, always curious about the health of fish. These were 2 out of 20 fish that were caught. Other that this, the fish appeared to be healthy. Thanks!
Just curious though... How big is the pond and is there any possibility you are feeding too many fish? Any sudden change in weather as in cold temps and high winds that would drop your water temp rapidly?
Last edited by Cecil Baird1; 11/27/1212:21 PM.
If pigs could fly bacon would be harder to come by and there would be a lot of damaged trees.
Cecil, When full our pond is 2 acres. Right now we are about an acre. Pond almost dried up in 2011. Restocked with 1" to 2" bluegills, redears and a few tilepia this past spring. We did have a few bass and bluegill that survived the drought of 2011. Our pond is in Henderson County Tx. Weather for the past couple of weeks has been just a bit warmer than normal. During November we had Zero rain. We had more water in September than we do now. Thanks!
O.K. just curious. Although I do know you're in Texas and it's milder down there then up here, I've experienced some wild temp flucuations when I was in basic in San Antonia during the winter.
If pigs could fly bacon would be harder to come by and there would be a lot of damaged trees.
i caught bluegills the exact same way in my lake a year ago and still catch some today. i havnt thought about it that much and always thought it was a random eye pigment. my pond or the BG have not been affected at all by those few that have the red line partially around thier eye. trust me you have nothing to worry about
Next time you catch one, hold the fish above the pond's surface and see if it has a reflection........provided it doesn't burst into flames when you remove it from the water of course.......Have a wooden hook de-lodger handy, just in case...
Sorry...couldn't help myself.
"Forget pounds and ounces, I'm figuring displacement!"
If we accept that: MBG(+)FGSF(=)HBG(F1) And we surmise that: BG(>)HBG(F1) while GSF(<)HBG(F1) Would it hold true that: HBG(F1)(+)AM500(x)q.d.(=)1.5lbGRWT? PB answer: It depends.
BW, We had a pretty big cool off this past week at our place and the water dropped over 10 degrees in that time, have you had about the same temperature shift?
Cecil, is ten degrees in five days to a week any cause for concern? I only mention this because I saw one fish with a sore on one of its fins come from our big pond during that time.
Thanks.
Brian
The one thing is the one thing A dry fly catches no fish Try not to be THAT 10%
Unfortunately I don't live where the pond is, so I don't monitor temps on a regular basis. Since we are more or less in the same area it would seem likely that we had the same temp swings.
Based on the pics I don't think that is a problem but rather the eye coloration. I have seen that a number of times. Are you seeing something of concern that I am missing from the pics. ?
Ewest, The fish appear to be in good health. I just haven't seen this before. Right now I'm not concerned. If we don't get some rain in the next few months its not going matter anyway.
Yesterday evening I caught a couple 6" bluegills that had a partial red ring around the eyes. The red did not go completely around the eyes. Unfortunately I didn't have a camera available. Is this a parasite or something else? Thanks!
Gosh, I wish I had seen this thread earlier, could have saved you all a lot of cogitating on this.
That is exactly what a bluegill looks like when he's been poked in the eye by a red eared sunfish.
No fear, Bushwacker. I'm confident that I can tell the difference.
The dastardly green sunfish lacks the courage to mount the frontal assault necessary for an ocular injury, even on a lowly bluegill. When especially provoked, they will occasionally blindside the unsuspecting, defenseless victim with a quick kick to the urogenital aperture. This can hardly be considered sporting behavior, but what else would you expect from green sunfish?
"Forget pounds and ounces, I'm figuring displacement!"
If we accept that: MBG(+)FGSF(=)HBG(F1) And we surmise that: BG(>)HBG(F1) while GSF(<)HBG(F1) Would it hold true that: HBG(F1)(+)AM500(x)q.d.(=)1.5lbGRWT? PB answer: It depends.
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