Yuck!

I have noticed some of the fish (lots) have white worms in the meat. Gills, crappie, and bass. I am told that they come from heron visiting the water. My buddy says heck, they are just worms. They'll cook up. Just can't bring myself to do it. Anybody know the real scoop?

Yeah, we've had this discussion before :biggrin

Here's the general scoop, straight from the mouth of the KDFWR :

PARASITES AND GRUBS IN FISH
Kentucky anglers will occasionally clean a fish and find a white or yellowish color worm in the fish’s flesh that is about the size of a grain of rice. Or, when stream fishing, an angler will encounter a smallmouth bass or sunfish with small black specks on its belly or across its body.
This is a parasitic fluke that requires different host animals to complete its life cycle: a fish eating bird, a snail and a fish. The grub matures and produces eggs inside a host fish-eating bird such as a Great Blue Heron. The eggs enter the water from the bird’s droppings or from its mouth. The eggs hatch and tiny larvae of the parasite burrow into a snail. After a time in the snail, the parasite changes form and swims to its next host, a fish. Inside the fish, the parasite changes to a grub form and waits for the fish to be eaten. Then, the cycle repeats.
The angler’s first instinct is to discard any fish with either the grubs in the flesh or black specks on the body. Grub-infested fish are safe to eat. Grubs do not infect people. Remove any grubs found and prepare the fish as you normally would.

If I find them in fillets I have cleaned for clients or my family, I just cut them out, don't make a big deal out of it, and go on like they weren't there. I do the same when a whitetail deer is brought into my shop that has Bot Fly larvae in the skin. Lots of folks will toss the fish or even an entire deer carcass over something that is absolutely no danger to us. I hate to see any meat wasted and figure I have eaten much worse over the years from home farm-raised pork, beef, chickens, etc.

NEVER eat ANY fish raw ! Lots of people don't fully understand raw fish and things like Sashimi . Fish often have different parasites in them and it's in fact possible to ingest a fluke from one and then in turn become part of the life cycle talked about earlier .
This also applies to crawfish and a few other types of shellfish and such .
Sashimi to be served legally in most of the U.S. Is required to be frozen at a certain temp. For a certain length of time to kill any parasites in the host fish . Buyer / consumer / beware ! Or at least aware .......:ThumbsUp

I will remove a single grub or worm from a fillet but if it has a lot, I trash it . I have a fishing buddy who does not care says the hot oil will take care of them . Besides they are feeding on fish so they are same stuff your eating . :puke

I have caught redeyes, smallmouth, spotted bass and such fish in the clinch river with worms in the meat. Lots of them. I couldn't eat them after cleaning them. If it were just one or two I would cut them out but lots of them,,, I'll pass!

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I agree with NIMROD, one or two may not be an issue, but if the meat is infested with them then trash it and find another lake to fish. I've personally never seen a worm in a fish fillet, I have a buddy who caught some in Memphis in a small private lake and he showed a video of the worms in his fillets. It was literally dozens, I've heard urban ponds and small lakes are more prone to the spread. Yes cooking them at 325 degrees will kill them, but who wants to take a chance with parasites? I've seen brain worms in white-tailed, but never in the meat. Wouldn't chance anything if I wasn't 100% sure, besides you probably ain't going to enjoy eating the meat or fillet knowing what you dug out... just my two cents anyways..

I fish mostly in the colder months and have never seen the worms in the fish taken from cold water. I think crappies taste better coming from the cold water.

Lots of gills and perch have them up here, especially I they lie in weds.
Pinch them between you're thumbnails while rinsing the fillets under the faucet, just like a zit , and they come right out.