American Eel - Rare Catch!

[scarkner]

I was fishing a tiny lake about 100km from the St. Lawrence when i hooked into a real fighter... was confused at first when I saw this down the hole!

An American eel, now marked as Endangered in Ontario as they can't get through most of the dams that have been created. I reported this online and have been contacted by several researchers already about the catch as it was so unusual (apparently the first in about 20 years from that area).

Ontario Power Generation in particular was interested as they have been trying to improve eel survival, so catches like this show it is working.

You might also be interested that it had a very distinctive "look" on my fish-finder. It came in mid-water, around 25ft in 40fow. At first it was a straight horizontal line, but as I brought a lure near it... the line would "jump" about 2-3 ft in a step, either up or down. So on the fish finder it was a set of jagged steps as it swam up or down, I guess becuase of the snake-like way they swim in the water. It was a completely unique pattern that I will never forget!

[Piscivore]

That is awesome, you won't forget about that catch!

I know they used to be quite plentiful all the way up the Ottawa and all its tributaries. They are also very good eating. You'll know what I mean if you've ever tried unagi at a sushi restaurant. You can still fish for them in some rivers along the east coast. There is such a demand for eel in Asia that people try to smuggle the elvers(baby eels) back to Asia for the farmed eel trade.

How cool would it be to be able to add a few eels to a catch of walleye, perch and burbot after a day icefishing on the Ottawa.

So you say it fought hard? What was it like trying to pick it up out of the hole? Did it wrap around your arm like a burbot?

[scarkner]

So you say it fought hard? What was it like trying to pick it up out of the hole? Did it wrap around your arm like a burbot?

It was a weird "pulsing" fight. I thought it was a big pike, but the pulses were sharp, almost felt like it was getting off the hook every time with my rod bending over double, then popping right back up, then down again... but quickly (again, think of the shape and how this fish would swim... now that I know what it was it makes perfect sense, but at the time I was really confused. Then I thought maybe I had a walleye in the tail or something).

I was fishing through a "double hole" so getting it up through the hole was easy. Getting the hook out, even though it was only "lip hooked" was absolutely brutal. I would try to hold it and it could pull back through my hand. I really thought I was going to get the lure in my hand several times.

Some guys have said that they smell bad, but I didn't find that at all. Zero smell on my hands after. It was very very slippery. Much harder to hold than a burbot.

Luckily it didn't try to bite me (I have heard that the bigger ones do try to bite).

Unagi... yum... I wish!!!

[Out4trout]

Very nice!! Not very common... see them once in a while on the SLR...

[Nyarlathotep]

A really unique ice fishing catch - well done!

[JimW]

Awesome catch!!! I remember I caught two eel about 20 years ago on the Clyde River near Lanark, a 38" and a 44" crazy fish.

JimW