Say it isn't so: Whirling Disease Found In North Carolina Trout

Photo: Wikipeida

Break out the Formula 409 boys and girls, the Citizen-Times reports that the first case of Whirling Disease has been found in our editorial home waters of the Watauga River between Linville and Boone, NC.

"We were alerted by anglers who were fishing on the Watauga Riveer who noticed fish that had obvious deformities," Besler said. Crew members were sent out, fish captured, and some of the fish were sent to a disease lab at Auburn University in Alabama. Two of the fish came back testing positive for whirling disease. The Watauga River where the infected fish were discovered is mostly on private land in the shadow of Grandfather Mountain, but it is a popular fishing area, he said.

 If my memory serves me correctly, the area in question was once classified as delayed harvest water but later was closed to public access.