# eels in the river



## greghal (Aug 22, 2013)

I was out fishing the Ohio river last week one afternoon. I hooked up with 3 good fish, one was pulling out line like crazy, and was hard to turn. All three fish got off making me think they were big gar. Then the next hit was small, I started reeling it in and it came right to the surface. I'm looking at this thing thinking what the heck was it. When I got it in it was a snagged lamprey eel about 10''. I was out in the water in knee high boots, and my feet got stuck in the mud, and when trying to get on the bank I slipped and did the polar bear plunge, so that was time to go. I saw a lamprey in the LMR last year in a strong riffle. Has anyone else seen these eels around here?


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## strongto (Apr 1, 2013)

I have never seen any lamprey but then american brook lamprey is one of the most common non parasitic lampreys in Ohio. The odnr says they can be found in the mad river system as well as the Ohio river drainages so I assume that includes the lmr. I caught an american eel out of the Ohio river a couple years ago. It was definitely an eel and not a lamprey though.


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## firedog978 (Aug 2, 2010)

It's the real beauty of the Ohio river: You just never know what you may catch!


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## Dandrews (Oct 10, 2010)

I have seen lampreys in the Mad River; found a dead one, picked it up with a stick & took a picture. 










I caught an American Eel in a tributary of the GMR; it was probably the late 70s (before I could drive). My brother tried to grab it to unhook it but he couldnt hold on to itwould have made a great video. Somehow we unhooked it & released it.
I saw an old man catch an American Eel in the GMR the summer before that. He and his buddy freaked out & screamed like a couple little girls. My brother and I almost hyperventilated from laughing so hard.


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## BuzzBait Brad (Oct 17, 2014)

Dandrews said:


> I have seen lampreys in the Mad River; found a dead one, picked it up with a stick & took a picture.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Maybe that was that House or Trailbreaker guy since they are always here posting funny stories lol


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## SamiFish (Apr 24, 2013)

They're in there, they are grooossssss, I am glad I've never run into one, lol

You can actually see a full spectrum and distribution by species if you peek at this bad boy - I find it pretty handy when targeting species or deciding on bait patterns. It's dense but shoot to a-15 and glance over it anytime you're headed to a new area

http://www.epa.state.oh.us/portals/35/documents/LowerLittleMiamiRiverTSD2007_appendices.pdf


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## jake222 (Dec 26, 2014)

Sea snakes in the Ohio? Them things are creepy looking wonder what God was thinking when he made them!?


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## HOUSE (Apr 29, 2010)

montagc said:


> I found a mature lamprey and a ton of small young ones in the Red River in ky. There are a few types in that area. You run into all kinds of strange creatures out there!


Like the people that live down there


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## etheostoma (Dec 25, 2014)

A lampey and an eel are very different other than in body shape. American eel though not common can be found in nearly any larger body of water in the state. 

Lamprey are native all over the state, but nowadays are found mostly in the cleaner rivers and streams. We have native Ohio Lamprey, silver lamprey and maybe some chestnut lamprey. Those make up our native parasitic lamprey. Then as far as our non parasitic lamprey go, we have northern brook, American brook, and mountain brook lamprey. American brook lamprey are easy to view in small tributaries of the Mad river when they spawn in early spring.

If caught out of the Ohio, it was most likely an Ohio lamprey, and 10 -12 inches is as big as they get.


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## buckeyebowman (Feb 24, 2012)

Wow! Learn something new every day here. In the past I've read stories about giant eels in Lake Erie. Apparently, every so often a hapless fisherman would hook one and not be able to stop it or even turn it!


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## etheostoma (Dec 25, 2014)

buckeyebowman said:


> Wow! Learn something new every day here. In the past I've read stories about giant eels in Lake Erie. Apparently, every so often a hapless fisherman would hook one and not be able to stop it or even turn it!


American eels are topped out at 4-5 feet at least nowadays. They are threatened in Ohio. There used to be tons of them in the state before we built the dams. They spawn in the Sargasso sea. So they are catadromous. They spawn in saltwater and mature in freshwater, so the opposite of steelhead, salmon, shad, and many other anadromous fish. They live in freshwater for 10-25 years before traveling back to where they were born. I am not sure how far that is, but for eels coming from the southern US, it is probably near 2000 miles maybe more. Pretty neat fish.


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## nturner (Mar 11, 2012)

Ha this may sound nasty to some but the American eel is quite tasty. Unfortunately the population has fallen quite rapidly due to over fishing. If you ever go to a sushi restaurant and order unagi you are eating freshwater eel.


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## etheostoma (Dec 25, 2014)

They are good eating. Before we dammed everything up there was quite the eel fishery in Ohio. Barrels full of eels were not uncommon for non commercial fisherman.


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## greghal (Aug 22, 2013)

Man a lot of neat info, thanks. I work at the Beckjord power plant in new richmond. Several years ago while the plant was still running I found several american eels in our debris screens that filter our river cooling water. They definitely look different than a lamprey. I'm glad to hear that the ones around here are not parasitic. One last thing about 4 years ago we had a large sauger run up our cooing water pipes out of the river. We had baskets here from an EPA fish study, and we lowered them down in a water debris chute where all leaves and debris was blasted off the screens and sent back to the river. Well we were catching hundreds of fish mostly saugers, the ones that were still kicking we put on ice, and had some nice fish fries. That lasted for about a couple weeks, we never saw that again. It was in the winter and the river was high and muddy. Sorry for getting off the suject , but thought that was interesting


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## etheostoma (Dec 25, 2014)

Sorry I did not make that clear. The Ohio lamprey which is found in the Ohio river IS parasitic. It is just no big deal like the sea lamprey in the great lakes. It is small, does little damage to the fish, and targets large carp, buffalo, and suckers. But since it is native, it belongs in the ecosystem, and its population naturally stays in check. No reason to hate it.


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## jake222 (Dec 26, 2014)

greghal said:


> Man a lot of neat info, thanks. I work at the Beckjord power plant in new richmond. Several years ago while the plant was still running I found several american eels in our debris screens that filter our river cooling water. They definitely look different than a lamprey. I'm glad to hear that the ones around here are not parasitic. One last thing about 4 years ago we had a large sauger run up our cooing water pipes out of the river. We had baskets here from an EPA fish study, and we lowered them down in a water debris chute where all leaves and debris was blasted off the screens and sent back to the river. Well we were catching hundreds of fish mostly saugers, the ones that were still kicking we put on ice, and had some nice fish fries. That lasted for about a couple weeks, we never saw that again. It was in the winter and the river was high and muddy. Sorry for getting off the suject , but thought that was interesting



That's awesome sounds like a lot of fun


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## C J Hughes (Jan 24, 2006)

I have caught several freshwater eels in the river most are blue but some were green. They have a mouth that has 4 fangs in the front very strong hard to hold on to caught them on softcraws at night . You are right they do fight good . Kinda crazy looking when you first reel them into the light of the boat .We have always let them go EXCEPT the one my buddy grab around the head that squirmed out of his hand and reared back like a cobra and bit him, he cut its head off . We ate that one white meat not bad BUT we had been drinking so who really knows if it was any good .


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## oldstinkyguy (Mar 28, 2010)

I've never caught an eel. I'd love to, the idea that they have made that epic journey really interests me. I did once catch a big carp in the Ohio that had a lamprey attached. It let go and fell back into the river as we were lifting the carp into the boat.


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## etheostoma (Dec 25, 2014)

oldstinkyguy said:


> I've never caught an eel. I'd love to, the idea that they have made that epic journey really interests me. I did once catch a big carp in the Ohio that had a lamprey attached. It let go and fell back into the river as we were lifting the carp into the boat.


That is really cool. I have caught quite a few lamprey while seining, but have never seen one feeding on a fish. Read about the life cycle of the American Brook Lamprey. What a dull life up until it goes out with one big bang. Literally.


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