Strange Catch

[brewer88]

So we pulled this in around 10pm saturday night, completly unexpected and under the lights of the lock and fog made for an eerie experience in my opinion! It's kind of a bad picture, but its an eel. Are these rare? caught on shrimp below cheatham dam. (Didnt fuss with it much, snapped the quick pic and tossed it back)

[jad2t]

I know they exist but that's the first I've ever heard of someone catching one so yes I'd say that's pretty rare.

Makes for a good fishing story!

[TNBronzeback]

If its a Lamprey Eel that would be a strange catch. them things are F R E A K Y!!
If thats what it is, we used to catch fish with them attached, but never a solo catch like that. How did it fight?LOL
Pretty cool none the less

[Heiny57]

Used to catch them in the Illinois river years ago. Nassty

[brewer88]

If its a Lamprey Eel that would be a strange catch. them things are F R E A K Y!!
If thats what it is, we used to catch fish with them attached, but never a solo catch like that. How did it fight?LOL
Pretty cool none the less

Pretty sure it was just a freshwater american eel, didnt have the suction cup mouth of a lamprey. It fought pretty well actually, felt solid at first; maybe it was still ancorched in a rock? haha. when it got in the boat it was much more manuverable than a fish lol, hence I didnt pose with it, just scooped it up and threw it back in.

[Dakota]

Nasty didn't know those were in our waters.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jaycee]

It's a snake.

[Reel Tune]

Yep, Freshwater Eel.

American Eel 5 lbs. 12 oz. Old Hickory Reservoir Kelly Rollin, Jr. July 29, 2008



http://state.tn.us/twra/fish/FishRecTbl.html

[brewer88]

Yep, Freshwater Eel.

American Eel 5 lbs. 12 oz. Old Hickory Reservoir Kelly Rollin, Jr. July 29, 2008



http://state.tn.us/twra/fish/FishRecTbl.html

wow, didnt realize the record was only 5lbs! maybe I should have weighed it haha
I love fishing in TN though, always an adventure

[MickT]

Report it to TWRA. I caught one last summer on the Duck, and they were very interested, as it is a species that anglers are not catching as much (or not reporting as much) as they used to.

[Halli]

I grew up next to Old Hickory Bridge and would catch them (in the river) all the time them Big carp and mud dogs.
Mostly used corn or oat meal or liver.

[Slider]

I grew up next to Old Hickory Bridge and would catch them (in the river) all the time them Big carp and mud dogs.
Mostly used corn or oat meal or liver.

I grew up over there too. My grandfather had a farm next to Riverside Golf Course and we used to fish the Cumberland all the time.

[Slider]

I saw something similar to that on the Caney a few years back but it was a dirty white color.... Almost like an albino version

[tkwalker]

When I was a kid back in the 50's I lived on McKavack Pike (spelling?) four houses up from the river where the ferry the "Judge Hickman" Use to ferry you over to Donaldson .. (By the way it sets at Rome, TN at the present on the bank ) ... It was not uncommon for us river rats to catch eels ... Actually they were plentiful ... About this time the dams and locks where being built(Old Hickory Dam) which stopped the migration of the Sturgeon and I think the Eels as well ... ...

These are just plain river eels .. Lampreys they are not(http://www.critfc.org/salmon-culture/columbia-river-salmon/columbia-river-salmon-species/the-pacific-lamprey/differences-between-a-lamprey-and-an-eel/) and in fact I don't think they are in our River system ... Now in 1968 while on R&R in the Gulf of Thailand ( use to be Siam) I was snorkeling off of our excursion boat and looked down and saw these large Black Pipes in the sand ..and they started moving ... Yep Morey Eels (spelling?) Now these will light you up ... Needless to say this Tennessee Boy could have out swam Michael Phelps back to the boat ... <'TK><:)

[Reel Tune]

wow, didnt realize the record was only 5lbs! maybe I should have weighed it haha
I love fishing in TN though, always an adventure


From the picture, yours looks like a good one. I'm glad I've never caught anything like that.

[hogdawg]

Used to be one of the best dove fields around. I lived in Rayon City and the grandfather of my friend owned the farm next to the one by the golf course. Good times!:)

[Saltwaterwalt]

That's an American eel, the only ones we have in TN supposedly, and yes, mostly in the Cumberland River system.

Cool catch, I don't think that common to get on a rod & reel. I've heard you can skin them like a catfish and they're quite good fried. Never had one to try.

But I did pull this off a website, "Take note of the location (and take a picture if you can) and email Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency biologist Pandy English at Pandy.English@tn.gov."

Guess he's doing some study on them or something.

[crosshairy]

My dad caught an eel about that size on the Mississippi River about 5 years ago while bank fishing for catfish.

They are pretty well dispersed, but I'm not sure that the TWRA or anyone else has much population data for them.