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EELS WITH FUNNY MARKINGS IN THE RIVER


Guest GARYD

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Guest GARYD

Hi all,

I have never fished for eels before and the threads I have read on AN has made me investigate this and I'am really looking forward to fishing for them this summer.

I met this old timer at Docklow pools and he used to fish for eels when he was a youngster (he stopped just after waterloo).

I explained that I have a stretch of the wye and nobody fishes for course fish except me and my mate.

This should be virgin territory and we will plan the trip in july/aug.He said to look out for signs of eels and he told me what areas to look in.

We spend many evenings just looking at the river watching the fish and learning about the various holding areas and the general shape of the river bed.

The river is very low at the momment and is as clear as gin at present.We were lucky to spot at the end of a salmon pool three eels in about six inches of water in the fast area of the tail of the pool.

We got closer to them and we noticed that one of the eels was covered in what looked like WHITE SORES ALL OVER ITS BODY.My question is what was wrong with this eel and if I did not know better why were all three of them together looking like they were mating I thought eels were solitary creatures or do they hang around in groups.

Any ideas.

Kind Regards

GARY

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Guest Nutter

Hi Garyd,

The eels you saw could be lampreys as they do like to settle it shallows. I saw loads of them many years ago,in the Wye below Breinton Springs,and they just seem to be hanging in the current.

Bye for now, Nutter

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Guest tony jolley

Hi! Garyd,

i wonder if the white markings could have been displaced slime which could appear to be sores ,

or was you close enough to see them as sores?

 

 

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Tony B.T Jolley

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Guest Blanker

Certainly Sea Lamprey, they enter the Wye and several other rivers at this time of year to spawn, they then die. They look like eels but are up to three foot long and as thick as your wrist with blotches along their backs.

 

When spawning, they make a 'bed' to do the business in. This is an area of river bed about six feet in circumference in which they remove the stones to a depth of anything up to a foot deep. If the stones are too big for one fish to carry they will apparently join forces and two or three lamprey will move it together. Not bad for one of our most primative fish.

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Guest trickydavies

I've seen lampreys on the Towy in West Wales and also the Cothi. They apparently suck onto the side of salmon and drop off after their lift. Numbers will have gone down with the salmon if that is correct so their presence must be good a good indicator of salmon being present. Is the salmon link correct? Also, some old guy told me when we saw them that if you throw one out of the water (why you'd want to do that is beyond me) they scream like a hurt baby!! Argghhh! Horrid. I bet that's what they were as do the other answers. Not very attractive things up close.

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Guest kelvin wood

yep they was lampreys alrite!we get them on the wye with us too.Which part of the wye you fishing?i live more or less on its banks .Oh yeah theres some monstrous snakes in docklow as well.

 

cool.gif

 

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carper

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Guest Tim Kelly

If they were spawning, they weren't eels. Eels spawn in the Sargasso Sea. It sounds like the lamprey theory is right to me. Are they catchable on rod and line?

 

Good fishing

 

Tim

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Guest trickydavies

No they aren't catchable on rod and line and they scream like babies so don't try! It would ruin the peace and serenityt of the river bank! In honesty they have a horrible mouth that looks a bit like the pit in the desert on Star wars. Rings of teeth and suckers - they suck onto the sides of salmon some how how they find them I don't know. Anyway I've actually seen one stuck on a salmon and caught fish in Wales with the ring marks left behind by them.

 

They really are not nice which is probably why no-one kicks up a fuss when their numbers fall to seriously low levels as a result of low salmon numbers. If otters were as ugly there would be none left.

 

Funny old world isn't it.

 

Tricky

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Guest tony jolley

Sounds like you guys have hit the nail on the head,

I think that river lampery are now a protected species, is that correct?

 

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Tony B.T Jolley

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Guest GARYD

Cheers lads,

So we think they are lampreys this also answers a question that I raised last year when I was wading in the river I saw a eel that was huge it was very thick and almost brown very strange.

My salmon beat is between letton and winforton.I'am the only angler that fishes regularly for course fish.Tomorrow is D-Day for me I will be trying to catch some huge carp that I have spotted in the river the first carp I have ever seen on my beat they are at least 20lb I will post any catches of carp if I 'am lucky.

Thanks for all your replies.

GARY

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