Do any of you that live in West Virginia ever hear of freshwater eel in WVa? Alot of people dont beleive it but i know its true

[OPTIMISTA]

None of us want to touch filezilla uc browser rufus them.

[Sarge01]

Never heard of any down here in southern WV.

You don't have them in southern WV they are only in the Potomac River drainage. I am a retired DNR Officer and checked people with them all the time mostly at night. When you get one on the bank cover your hands with sand and then you can handle them. be careful they will bite you. They are good to eat.

[jhjimbo]

We have them in Oneida Lake in NY but they are Lamprey. Had a 4' one latch on to the back of the boat. We park the boat on a soft muddy bank where the creek bottom drops off rather deep. My father dove in first - all of a sudden he comes flying in over the back of the boat. That bugger stuck onto the boat and held there for an hour or so. Not uncommon to see walleye with scars of where they latched on.

[Buckshott00]

TIL: Apparently, there are true american eels and not just lampreys.
https://www.fws.gov/northeast/americaneel/

[Sarge01]

TIL: Apparently, there are true american eels and not just lampreys.
https://www.fws.gov/northeast/americaneel/

Freshwater eels and lampreys are two completely different critters.

[Buckshott00]

Freshwater eels and lampreys are two completely different critters.

yup sarge TIL is an abbreviation for Today I Learned. I knew there were freshwater eels, I've eaten plenty of them in sushi, but I never knew that we had them in North America. I always thought the sushi places must have bought them farm raised.

[franchi20]

Ed Zern story - A fellow fell through the ice while fishing on a tributary of the Delawawe river. His body was found the next spring in bad shape and the sheriff sent a telegram to the wife, " Your husband found, bad state, full of eels. Please advise.

She replied " Sell eels, send procedes, set him again."

[Pmacc60]

In Maryland eels are everywhere and are caught quite often. They are also a effective striper bait. First time you catch an eel you think you have a big fish on , they use their bodies to back away from the rod pressure and it makes them feel real heavy . Catch one and you realize what you have on every other time you catch one. I have not caught one in years because I use very little bait. Fish with night crawlers in creeks , rivers or ponds and your bound to catch them. They have a incredible migration story , all American eels start their life in the Sargasso Sea in the Atlantic Ocean. That’s where the mature eels migrate and spawn , the young eels drift back to east coast estuaries , it can take years. They then grow to maturity in fresh water and migrate back to sea as mature adults .

[Buckshott00]

In Maryland eels are everywhere and are caught quite often. They are also a effective striper bait. First time you catch an eel you think you have a big fish on , they use their bodies to back away from the rod pressure and it makes them feel real heavy . Catch one and you realize what you have on every other time you catch one. I have not caught one in years because I use very little bait. Fish with night crawlers in creeks , rivers or ponds and your bound to catch them. They have a incredible migration story , all American eels start their life in the Sargasso Sea in the Atlantic Ocean. That’s where the mature eels migrate and spawn , the young eels drift back to east coast estuaries , it can take years. They then grow to maturity in fresh water and migrate back to sea as mature adults .

Are they good to eat? How do you unhook and clean them?

[Pmacc60]

Are they good to eat? How do you unhook and clean them?

I wish I had listened more but people do eat them but I warn you that those may also eat opossum . Lol Neighbors across the street use to use them for crab bait. They would set out eel pots and catch them in the pond. If memory serves correctly they deslimed them to make them useful. There is a article in Outdoor life may of 2017 titled how to catch and eat eels. We cut the line at the mouth because they usually swallow the hook some guys use a leather glove to hold them.

[Buckshott00]

I've eaten plenty of freshwater eel in sushi, it's not as good as saltwater, but I've never tried making my own sashimi cuts.

Are they bitey when you grab them? Still trying to fight?

[Solitario Lupo]

A lot of people like them smoked.