Thread: Yellow fillet

I don't recall seeing any yellow colored meat. All the ones that I have cleaned have been nice and white. That looks almost like the yellow part of catfish meat that I cut out of the fillet. Where did those fillets come from?

It is probably something the Bass anglers have done to discourage us from being on the water so much... Just kidding, I haven't seen anything like that in crappie and quite frankly don't think I would eat it if I did. Please keep us infromed if you find out what it is.

I haven't see it either. I think someone posted something similar to this several months ago on the main board. Might look for that.

Originally Posted by Pomoxis buster

I am currently investigating a population of crappie that frequently have yellow colored muscle, and occasional yellow deposits in the musculature near the anal fin. Have any of you anglers seen this in Georgia reservoirs?

Pomoxis.......We're having the same problem here in one our best lakes. It clears up when the weather gets cooler, and then comes back early spring around spawning time. We couldn't get help from the LA Wildlife and Fisheries, so the samples were sent to TX A&M Pathlology to be analyzed, and haven't gotten the results yet. Check the LA boards once in a while, the guy (Tommy) that has ramrodded the whole thing is an x-guide at the lake (Caney) will post the results when he receives any info. Here is a photo of a crappie that was caught early in the season, and like the one you caught, it will eventually get worse. I would advise that you contact your version of Game and Fish in your state and see if they will look at your "yellow" fillet. A word of warning, if they want you to mail it to them, don't freeze the sample but pack it in a small styrofoam container with a frozen cold pack or two. If you email them, send your pic in the email along with a description of time and date and where specifically it was caught. Our Fishery people finally advised not to eat the contaminated fish until the problem was diagnosed and identified. If you want to read the history go to the LA board and do a search on "yellow fillets." Wish you the best......


Caught in early april, just getting started.


As you can see, it's spreading.

I did a search and read all of the posts on this and was shocked. Sure hope this turns out to be something that is not serious. I haven't seen anything like this before. I fish West Point lake most of the time and have never seen any yellow filets but I will be watching closely from now on. If you guys find out anything more on this please post on the main board because I don't want to miss it. Poxmosis Buster, when I see you at the fishfry I'll talk to you about this.

yep, that was the one, thanks Bill

I did the search entering "yellow fillets" and it didn't bring up all the correspondence that was posted. Go to to bottom of the LA forum and the main forum and click on "archives." You will find more posts on the subject.