I just got done cleaning some beautiful 9.5″-10″ gills and noticed some black spots in a few of the fillets. I don’t usually keep gills and I don’t think that I have come across this when cleaning crappies of eyes. Is this meat still safe to eat and what the heck is that? 
I would really hate to throw this meal away. Thanks.
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/fish_diseases/neascus.html
Safe to eat as long as you cook completely.
Not a problem, eat ’em. Those little black pepper looking spots are some kind of parasite that doesn’t hurt a thing when cooked.
As long as you don’t have white worms you are OK, I eat fish from many lakes in the area and they have the black specs, google them up, it is a harmless thing carried by birds. If you have the white worms you can pick them out with a fillet knife tip or soak them in warm water for a short period.
I have a brother that lives in Chippawa Falls 
. Let me know if you need a place to get rid of these 
.
Shawn
If they are the tiny little black spots, I believe they are fine. Chester Woods gills used to have that in their meat all the time. Everything I have heard says they are absolutely fine to eat. It’s supposably just a mild parasite of some sort harmless to humans. That is IF we are talking about the same type of black spots. Those are big gills, if you are catching them from a private non-spring or creek fed pit, I would be a lil more hesitant.
Its just a parasite, a little bug. Cook it and you are fine. If there are a ton I toss them. Hold the fillets up to a light and if you see yellow worms in there cut those out before cooking. They are safe to eat also, but I don’t like eating worms. If its warm out you can pop them out with a knife and watch them move.
Thanks fellas I will be feeding the family tomorrow with them. I looked them over again and no worms so I am good to go. 
Unless you’re raising a family of birds, you should be good to go. 
cook em good and eat white or black/// you just got a bonus catch with a little more protein..
good to wash them down with some good whiskey though!
i know guys that won’t touch them….but they have no problem pounding down ground up pig lips and buttholes every chance they get.
i have eaten sunfish with them in the meat most of my life. like all ese said nothing wrong with them.
Flavor crystals!
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Flavor crystals!
That one made me laugh! 
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Flavor crystals!
There’s a standing order at my house that I dont inform my wife of this condition when it occurs.
I dont care what anyone says, I wont eat them if I see those neascus black spots. On some fish the infection is so extreme just touching the fish give me the shivers. The only black spots i’ll be eating are the ones that I sprinkle onto the fish myself.
I find it that most fish that have these spots tend to hang out more in shallower water. Any sunfish, greens are the worse. Bass will get infected too from eating sunnies and hanging in the shallows. I’ve also seen some pike heavily infected too.
From waters where I see fish they are infected with neascus I notice that crappies and walleyes tend to have less traces of these parasites. I think it may be due to their nature of forage or that they dont spend roam or spend alot of time in very shallow waters.
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I dont care what anyone says, I wont eat them if I see those neascus black spots. On some fish the infection is so extreme just touching the fish give me the shivers. The only black spots i’ll be eating are the ones that I sprinkle onto the fish myself.
I find it that most fish that have these spots tend to hang out more in shallower water. Any sunfish, greens are the worse. Bass will get infected too from eating sunnies and hanging in the shallows. I’ve also seen some pike heavily infected too.
From waters where I see fish they are infected with neascus I notice that crappies and walleyes tend to have less traces of these parasites. I think it may be due to their nature of forage or that they dont spend roam or spend alot of time in very shallow waters.
This is pretty common and cannot always be seen from outside. What do you do when you start cleaning them and find out?
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This is pretty common and cannot always be seen from outside. What do you do when you start cleaning them and find out?
For sunnies its almost never that you cant visually notice them somehow. If you caught one with some black spots its likely that most of the panfish in the area are infected. Its not hard to tell, catching several fish and examining them will give you an better idea. Plus I rarely eat Gills, yes I think its they taste great but I just dont eat them often. In part if see any traces of neascus on sunnies I wont eat them.
You will find some fish are more heavily infected in others, especially the ones caught shallow. I dont eat bass. For crappies or walleyes that are usually infected with black spots the infection or traces are generally light where the meat and fins can be trimmed and salvaged to be eaten.
I dont keep fish often, and the fish I choose to keep im generally very selective of from certain bodies of water only.
Yea I know a lot about the spots. I was just hoping you werent tossing fish after keeping them and you obviously are not. Thanks.
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Yea I know a lot about the spots. I was just hoping you werent tossing fish after keeping them and you obviously are not. Thanks.
In 80% of the bodies of water I fish, Neascus is present. I generally fish smaller lakes and ponds where black spots are common on fish. I’ve have long been weary of the black spots (neascus) since fishing as a child in the late 80’s. Its because as a child I took up fishing as an interest early in my life thanks due to my parents, and im well into my early 30’s and still loving every fishing moment of it.
If I start cleaning and notice a bunch of the black spots – I toss ’em in the field for the eagles and crows. Same with the white grubs – birds gotta eat too, so they aren’t going to waste.
I can catch enough clean fish, I am not going to eat the infected ones.
T
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