Eels in the Susquehanna and its tribs

[TimMurphy]

Wading in a Delaware River riff a few years back, when I stepped on a lamprey. It whipped around and the nasty things teeth got caught on the neoprene gravel guard. Couldn't get it off for a minute. Since then, I've caught a few in my net. They are blind when doing their spawning run so you can walk right up on them. Creepy looking things. I've seen thousand or more over the years and every one is uglier than the previous one. With that said, don't think I've seen more than one or two American eels. They are a little more elusive.

Saw a dead eel or what looked like a dead eel in a shallow riff near Duncannon on the Susky. Unfortunately, didn't get close enough to clearly identify what I was looking at

Dear kray,

Nearly 25 years ago I waded into the West Branch at the old rickety Hale Eddy bridge. I crossed the river to the little island on the PA side and was surrounded by rising fish. I spent about 2 hours working all around the island until I got bored.

I went to move, and my one foot felt kind of heavy. Without knowing I waded into a pair of lampreys doing the dance of love. Studded size 13 Weinbrenner's dispatched them quickly. 😉

We used to catch American eels in Penns Creek 50 years ago while fishing for rock bass. We also used to catch them in Poquessing Creek while carp fishing 40 plus years ago. The miniature Mike Schimdt "eeling bat" the Phil's used to give away took care of them. We saved them to add to the chum for bluefish and sharking trips down da shore.

Regards,

Tim Murphy 🙂

 

[sandflyx]

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

thats the big problem the elvers cannot get over the dams to swim upriver. without eels in the susky the mussels will die. one reason the susky isnt clean. not enough mussels. they did a study up here at lab down the road from me.

 

[Troutmeister]

As a kid growing up in the 50s and 60s we used to catch eels in the upper Jordan. This was upstream of several dams. Most were small, less than 2', but one time we were trying for suckers with our bows on an upstream trib of the Jordan (Lyon Valley Creek). We were stomping on an undercut bank when a 3 footer swam out and I nailed him with a head shot. Probably the biggest eel I've ever gotten.

 

[caddisflyer]

I was fishing Octoraro creek one opening day of PA trout season using Velveeta cheese for bait. The water was very muddy that morning. I hooked what I thought was a very big trout. It was a good sized eel over two feet long. I kept it and skinned it and fried it in a pan. It was very tasty. I have often caught small eels in the river below Conowingo Dam on worms, mostly at night. I do remember once seeing a mink eating an eel above Middletown on the river. I have never caught any above Conowingo Dam and never heard of any caught in that section either.

 

[krayfish2]

Is Ray still in business or did he retire?

I believe he's retired. Didn't build the trap the last 2 years. I've offered to come up and toss the rock around for him and he said "no"

He's an interesting guy. Very smart and quite unique to say the least.

 

[phiendWMD]

thats the big problem the elvers cannot get over the dams to swim upriver. without eels in the susky the mussels will die. one reason the susky isnt clean. not enough mussels. they did a study up here at lab down the road from me.

Maybe 10 years ago I saw what I believe were eels climbing over a dam at Tyler SP. They were clear and about the size of a pencil. The edge of the dam was dry and plenty were making it over it. This dam is on the smaller side and it's also not very steep.

 

[Mike]

Maybe 10 years ago I saw what I believe were eels climbing over a dam at Tyler SP. They were clear and about the size of a pencil. The edge of the dam was dry and plenty were making it over it. This dam is on the smaller side and it's also not very steep.

That sounds almost exactly like that was what you witnessed. Being clear, however, doesn’t fit with their length. They usually are colored up by the time they hit Pa in late March and April at lengths of 2-3”. It sounds like you were seeing “pencil eels.” Those were probably 2 to maybe 3 yr olds. Do you know what month that was if not the exact date? The year isn’t that important in comparison to the month. And if you know the month, do you know whether it was early, mid, or late in the month? I’m trying to relate that timing to when we would see them at Fairmount Dam in Philly. When I had seen them attempting to ascend Fairmount and a trickle of water from a leaking water tank running down an embankment below Conowingo Dam was in very late April or May, but the exact date at Fairmount was lost along with a photo of the event..

 

[phiendWMD]

That sounds almost exactly like that was what you witnessed. Being clear, however, doesn’t fit with their length. They usually are colored up by the time they hit Pa in late March and April at lengths of 2-3”. It sounds like you were seeing “pencil eels.” Those were probably 2 to maybe 3 yr olds. Do you know what month that was if not the exact date? The year isn’t that important in comparison to the month. And if you know the month, do you know whether it was early, mid, or late in the month? I’m trying to relate that timing to when we would see them at Fairmount Dam in Philly. When I had seen them attempting to ascend Fairmount and a trickle of water from a leaking water tank running down an embankment below Conowingo Dam was in very late April or May, but the exact date at Fairmount was lost along with a photo of the event..

My best guess would be April or May. My memory is questionable at times, but I'd say there were a couple of dozen of them.

 

[Tucker733]

I’ve seen eels caught in the upper reaches of Will’s Creek in Somerset County. Always amazed me the journey from Atlantic to that point.

 

[BradFromPotter]

Don't know if anyone caught this article in "Angler's Journal"

https://www.anglersjournal.com/freshwater/end-of-an-era

 

[sandflyx]

Mmm, his eels are good

 

[beadhead2]

My oldest sister loved eels ,so my grandfather used to sell worms so I would go with him at night at the local golf course and pick up worms ,then he would go back to his van where he always carried a fishing rod ,we would go pick up a worm and walk along the little crick that ran through the golf course until we spotted an eel in the water and dangle the worm in front of him till he took it

 

[bringthepain]

Don't know if anyone caught this article in "Angler's Journal"

https://www.anglersjournal.com/freshwater/end-of-an-era

I didnt realize Mr Turner was anti freedom

I guess he also really likes his privacy and is his own man except for when he was on a tv show and had cameras following him all over, lol

 

[AndyP]

I didnt realize Mr Turner was anti freedom

I guess he also really likes his privacy and is his own man except for when he was on a tv show and had cameras following him all over, lol

I think Ray Turner was all about freedom. His freedom to live life his way. He's a cool dude in my eyes.

 

[bringthepain]

I think Ray Turner was all about freedom. His freedom to live life his way. He's a cool dude in my eyes.

A couple of things discussed in that article make him seem like not such a cool dude in my book and certainly not pro freedom in a societal sense. Everyone is entitled to live life their own way, but thats not the kind of freedom i was referring too

 

[tomgamber]

Just watched a cool episode of Wild Fed on the Outdoor Channel about eels and eel aquaculture. Pretty cool if you can find it.

 

[redietz]

I THINK we discussed this once before and I seem to recall Mike saying the small eels are excellent climbers which explains my experiences and ongoing fear that I will be killed in my sleep by giant eels.

Eels can get out of the water on dewy mornings to get around obstacles like small dams. I once doing that when I was a kid. Not sure they can get around Conowingo, though.