Eels in the Susquehanna and its tribs

[jgish92]

My dad was an avid night fisher of the Susky with my older brothers. One time he brought an eel home and filled up the kitchen sink with water and put an eel in it. It was dead, and thankfully my Mom wasn’t when she saw it.

Does anybody remember that smoked eel for sale sign on the East Branch just outside of Hancock?

Supposed to be a delicacy.

Delaware Delicacies Smokehouse

At this small shop off a dirt road in the forest, the specialty is eel the owner caught and smoked himself.

www.atlasobscura.com

 

[caddisflyer]

Delaware Delicacies Smokehouse

At this small shop off a dirt road in the forest, the specialty is eel the owner caught and smoked himself.

www.atlasobscura.com

Ate his smoked eels and other items many times. I once took the smoked eel to a party and it was a huge hit. I loved his cold smoked salmon as well.

 

[BradFromPotter]

Talked to a guy back in the 90's & told me they would sink a 55 gal drum as an eel trap baited with a deer carcass & sell the eels to someone in Williamsport. They would put the trap at the bridge in Rexford on Pine Creek.

 

[krayfish2]

Ate his smoked eels and other items many times. I once took the smoked eel to a party and it was a huge hit. I loved his cold smoked salmon as well.

After fishing, somebody busted out one of the smoke deals and was offering it to everyone. Overwhelming response that it was awful for a very acquired taste to say the least. The stench made me say no thank you

 

[6xAdams(Jones)]

If you are very adventurous, I invite you to try jellied eels from the UK.

Those Johnny Bulls will eat anything. I know my dad and his parents would. At least there weren't enough Scots in the lineage that we had to eat haggis.

 

[JimKennedy]

There’s plenty of them below conowingo dam, and the are delicious. Make sure to skin them, though.

 

[caddisflyer]

After fishing, somebody busted out one of the smoke deals and was offering it to everyone. Overwhelming response that it was awful for a very acquired taste to say the least. The stench made me say no thank you

Yours must have been spoiled. I took a large smoked eel from there to a party and even the young people were devouring it. In fact Ray, the eel guy told me it was his largest eel of his whole season. Lot's of compliments from the party people. His cold smoked salmon is the best I ever had. I went back there to river once with him to check his eel weir box and there were a couple of trout in there which he let go.

 

[bringthepain]

Is Ray still in business or did he retire?

 

[Mike]

Yours must have been spoiled. I took a large smoked eel from there to a party and even the young people were devouring it. In fact Ray, the eel guy told me it was his largest eel of his whole season. Lot's of compliments from the party people. His cold smoked salmon is the best I ever had. I went back there to river once with him to check his eel weir box and there were a couple of trout in there which he let go.

Given the number of smoked eels displayed in open air markets in Holland and Denmark and my general observation that most towns or villages of decent size seem to have such markets and given the number of fyke or hoop net sets seen frequently along Denmark’s surrounding waters I can only assume that smoked eels are pretty good.

Factoid for advanced students: American eels and European eels spawn in the same general location, the Sargasso Sea.

 

[salmo]

As a kid we used to catch eels in the Hudson River across from midtown Manhattan. The surface of the water was covered with Hudson River whitefish. The God that that river runs cleaner today.

 

[moodyblues]

The Manatawny is just down the road from me...

Maybe we should have a PAFF Eel Jam down at the Tiki Bar some summer night and see if they will cook us up some of the eels we catch... 😉

 

[moodyblues]

Go for it. Who's gonna skin 'em?

 

[moodyblues]

Given the number of smoked eels displayed in open air markets in Holland and Denmark and my general observation that most towns or villages of decent size seem to have such markets and given the number of fyke or hoop net sets seen frequently along Denmark’s surrounding waters I can only assume that smoked eels are pretty good.

Factoid for advanced students: American eels and European eels spawn in the same general location, the Sargasso Sea.

Mike, is there a difference between them other than where the migrate to?

 

[moodyblues]

All good stuff! Thanks for all the responses! Didn’t realize they so abundant in the recent past. Just kind of assumed they fade with industrialization. I know the swatara creek is supposedly translated to “where we eat eels”.

That thing must be expired. Why is it not wrapped around that persons arm and sliming the hell out of it?

 

[C_kreek17]

That thing must be expired. Why is it not wrapped around that persons arm and sliming the hell out of it?

Ohh it did slime me. We released it and watched it swim away. I’ll admit that handing was my pre-trout fishing/fish handling indoctrination.

I think I was trying to get the slime off me for 2 days after.

 

[moodyblues]

Ohh it did slime me. We released it and watched it swim away. I’ll admit that handing was my pre-trout fishing/fish handling indoctrination.

I think I was trying to get the slime off me for 2 days after.

Only 2 days? That's some of the most tenacious glue I've ever experienced.

 

[Bamboozle]

Go for it. Who's gonna skin 'em?

The Tiki Bar chef... 😉

 

[Bamboozle]

As a kid we used to catch eels in the Hudson River across from midtown Manhattan. The surface of the water was covered with Hudson River whitefish. The God that that river runs cleaner today.

I assume Hudson River Whitefish are the same species as Coney Island Whitefish which is what we called them back when I lived in the city... 😉

 

[springer1]

When I was a kid, I fished regularly at night at Springton (formally Geist) Reservoir in Delaware County, PA which is now closed to fishing. 😡 The reservoir is the impoundment of Crum Creek, a tributary to the Delaware River.

Back in the 1980s I caught an 12” eel in Springton Reservoir …… On a plastic worm ! Twisted all around, I cut about 2ft of slimy line off after I removed the hook and released it. BTW, in 1986 (I think it was) I caught a largemouth bass in Springton in all 12 months of that year, in some of those months on a crappie jig while panfishing.

 

[Mike]

Mike, is there a difference between them other than where the migrate to?

They are different species, but I don’t know much about European eels except for some common movement patterns.