Heron Scar?

[Ebrant10]

I caught this brown today in the Barree Gorge section of the little J, it had that nasty looking hole behind of its head which I figured was from a heron. This is the first trout ive caught with anything like this and was just wondering what others thought it was?

Evan

 

[geebee]

i think thats a lamprey bite.

heron scars tend to be across the back in my experience and tend to be a 'slash' like a knife cut.

 

[Fishidiot]

It could certainly be a heron scar but I don't think so. Heron scars are usually jagged edged puncture wounds on the upper part of a fish's back, usually near the dorsal. This wound looks more like some sort of a bacterial or parasitic lesion to me.
Hhmmm....

 

[geebee]

that is a lamprey bite above.

 

[Ebrant10]

Thanks guys, like i said, ive never caught anything that had marks like that and it looks similar to geebees photo of a lamprey scar. Question is, are they in the little J?

 

[geebee]

i believe lampreys are indigenous - the problem has been with the invasive sea lampreys which are much bigger and have exploded in the great lakes.

in lake champlain in VT they have decimated the lake trout population and have spread to MA rivers - i saw one on the Squannacook and it was huge and black and i nearly soiled myself before i realized what it was (i thought it was a snake..) LOL

 

[LetortAngler]

Well if there in the J than I'm stearing clear. I doubt they are though. Those lampreys are nasty creatures, ever see that episode of river monsters and he stuck it on his neck? Gasp

 

[evw659]

Im not sure what caused that. i have seen that before, but in each case i noticed a thorn looking thing sticking out of the middle of the scar. i could never figure out what caused it. it appears your fish may have something similar, but its hard to tell. this is a shot in the dark, but could it be a broken talon from a heron that remains stuck after the heron grabs the fish and ends up getting infected?

btw, how did the j fish? im sure it was good, my brother and i fished a small limestone in the vicinity of that area thats normally pretty tough and had one of our best days of fishing since june. water level and visibility were prime.

 

[BrookieChaser]

I've heard Mike talk of lampreys in the Susquehanna.

I would assume they're in the Juniata.

I agree with those that say lamprey bite. Herons, and other birds of prey, usually attack near the dorsel fin from my observations.

 

[Ebrant10]

If it was parasitic could that be the reason it looks malnourished? It was about 16" and skinny. Typically the trout i catch in the j are fairly fat, and healthy looking. There wasnt anything in the hole as i could see.

Evw659, it was pretty dirty this morning yet, running well but dirty, by tomorrow it should be fairly clear and fish well. I was throwing big steamers, i wasnt about to try and nymph it at that point.

Evan

 

[BrookieChaser]

I would say that's an accurate assumption on the malnourishment.

 

[geebee]

Yeah sea lampreys are blood suckers. The clamp on with rows of tiny teeth and then suck the fishes blood out through a bone tube.

That would be horrible for the fish. I'm not sure that most survive, I'd guess your fish was on the way out sadly...much larger fish can survive but not always.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IgrOK_831DY&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DIgrOK_831DY

Nature can be a bitch sometimes huh.

 

[rrt]

I do not believe there are lampreys in the LJR. I have caught a number of trout over the years with similar wounds, and they have all been from streams where herons are found. I am one who does believe these wounds are due to herons.

 

[JackM]

Paintball fishing is the culprit.

 

[FiveWeight]

Ebrant10 wrote:
I caught this brown today in the Barree Gorge section of the little J, it had that nasty looking hole behind of its head which I figured was from a heron. This is the first trout ive caught with anything like this and was just wondering what others thought it was?

Evan

I would bet a 20 that I've caught that fish before. Were you just above the first train trestle? I thought it looked like a leach mark.

 

[Fishidiot]

Yeah, I'm not sure about any lamprey species in the LJR. There are sea lampreys in the Erie watershed (of course) and the Delaware.

It might be a Least Brook Lamprey which, according to the PFBC website, occurs in PA in the lower Susquehanna watershed. For such a species to get to the LJR it would have to traverse many dams. I have never personally seen or heard anyone referring to lampreys in that area. Would be interested to hear Mike's views on lamprey distribution across PA.

Least Brook Lamprey

 

[Ebrant10]

Money says you did fiveweight, it was about 20 yards on the barree side of the first bridge along the rock wall. Took my slumpbuster hard and made a couple good jumps. Seemed like he had a lot of fight in him.

 

[wgmiller]

Chewing tobacco, no doubt. I always knew that stuff would rot a hole in a lip/cheek!

In all seriousness, it sounds like it could be a number of different things. Could even be an infection from a foul hooking/bad hookset.

 

[FiveWeight]

Ebrant10 wrote:
Money says you did fiveweight, it was about 20 yards on the barree side of the first bridge along the rock wall. Took my slumpbuster hard and made a couple good jumps. Seemed like he had a lot of fight in him.

And that boys n girls is what's cool about C & R. Awesome. I caught him just up stream of the bridge along the wall. What a flip! Hang of a fight for me also. OI thought it was a much larger fish. He hit a brown bugger for me.

 

[Ebrant10]

That is pretty awesome fiveweight, how long ago did you catch it?