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Disturbing news about lampreys


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Yeah, I see them all the time while out Chartering.

The most scars on one trout I have seen is nine!

Sad to see them increasing~

B2

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The lampreys are def. still there, I just got one in the boat that fell off a laker up in silver bay last month. The last one I saw in my boat was a couple years ago when I was fishing out of duluth. That one also came up on a laker and fell off once in the boat. Both of them are going to have a hard time attaching to another fish since I cut em up into chunks and turned em into chum. Hey maybe a laker ate the pieces on the way down to the bottom, the circle of life is complete, Ha.

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In Portugul, they eat lamprey. It is some sort of delicacy. I wonder if it tastes like unagi?

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

Sci, About 10 years ago there was a local event were the main coarse was lamprey. If I remember right they used a different lamprey then what we have. I think they were a little chewy.

An increase in those little suckers is alarming but I wonder if its a result from different or better testing methods. In their home waters they don't pose a threat to native fish because of the fishes bigger size.

Seeing the all the scars on the lake trout is a confirmation that being host to a lamprey isn't always a death sentence. I'm sure with the slow growths Superior laker's have that its not helping them to be latched on either.

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When I went to Lake Michigan last month I caught a nice salmon with one attached to it. These are horrible monsters. I felt extreme joy and happiness when I saw it getting chewed by the food processor at the cleanings station, he-he grin.gif

Ugly beasts !!!!

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I've picked up two on lakers this year out of Superior, and one on a eelpout out of LOW last winter. That one got the fish house movin' as it slithered all over the floor while we invented a new dance " The Lamprey Lambada".

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Had smoked lamprey in europe a couple years ago...actually tasty with a few strong beers! smile.gif

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Has anyone caught fish on LOW with the lamprey on them? We had a guy pull up a northern almost 40" through the ice two years ago with one on it. It was smaller than the ones that we used to see on Lake Michigan.

My uncle claims that almost every sturgeon that they catch up there in the spring has scars on them, usually on the top of their heads. I had no idea that there were so many on LOW. Are these the same lamprey that are in the Great Lakes, or are they some sort of distant cousin?

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The ones we've seen on pout have been much smaller than those I've seen on Superior. I think the biggest I've seen on LOW was maybe 8"-9" long. I asked one of the resort guys about them but he did not know if they were the same or not, I would guess not.

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The Lamprey in the LOTW are either 'chestnut' or 'Silver' Lamprey, both native to the system and other watersheds in the midwest. Chestnut Lampreys are the ones seen most, Silvers are uncommon. I've seen Chestnuts up to about 15 inches myself. Lot's of them in the Red river and it's tribs as well.

That article is refering to Sea Lamprey in the great lakes.

ISHTA I hate those nasty buggers, and they meet an untimely death courtesy of my needlenose pliers as soon as they hit the deck or shore.

fiskyknut

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I tried to crunch one with the needlenose a couple of weeks ago that I took off a laker and the dang thing managed to get loose and back in the water. Nasty Buggers

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I've found that the best method for dealing with them, for me, is a size 14 brought "gently" down upon their cranium!!

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For killing 20 lbs of fish per year they get the death penalty. I also endorse the "foot-to-cranium" method as well as the needlenose. You guys have eaten those buggers? Even with a bunch of ketchup and a few beers I would never.

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I AGREE COMPLETELY; EVEN BEING FROM WISCONSIN I DONT THINK I COULD DRINK ENOUGH BEERS TO PUT ONE DOWN. MY BUDDY AND HIS GROUP FRY UP THE "DEER NUGGETS" EVERY HUNTING SEASON FOR A LIGHT SNACK. I WOULD RATHER DO THAT. THOSE THINGS ARE NASTY. I WOULD LIKE TO SEE PEOPLE HAVE TO CHOKE DOWN FRESH,LIVE LAMPS ON FEAR FACTOR SOME NIGHT.

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