The parasite that is growing on many of the trout in Twin Lakes is a copopod called salmoncula. They are naturally occurring in many of our lakes and most fish that are native to the lake or spend most of their life cycle in the lake co-adapt with the parasite. In Twin Lakes it is almost primarily the newly released hatchery fish that have the parasites. The wild brook trout and hold-over rainbows usually are parasite free. The newly released hatchery fish have a harder time fighting the parasite off because they are new to the lake. Over-time they will adapt to the parasite as well. The parasites also become more prolific when the surface temperatures increase during July and August. With higher temperatures the trout become stressed and are less able to fight off the parasite unless they have been in the lake for extended periods of time. The parasite usually does not alter the quality of the meat.

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