Interesting catch on LOW last weekend

[Tundrasnake]

A couple of coworkers of mine fished out of Wheelers last weekend and caught a sauger with a lamprey attached to it. They have it preserved in a jar. Anyone else ever catch such a thing on LOW? I know they were quite a problem on Superior for a long time and there are such things as freshwater lampreys that inhabit North American waters, but I hadn't seen or heard of one up on LOW before. It was brown, but has since turned pale.

[BDR]

I have seen many, many Lamprey's up there when fishing the Rainy. We always pull them off and kill them.

[STMA_I_HUNTER]

Our group has caught a few eye's/sauger with them hitching a ride. Pretty disgusting little things

[igotem]

I fish mostly sturgeon up there and see plenty of them on these fish also. I would say half of the fish I caught last time I was up had a lamprey attached or a lesion from one.

If you look close, this one has one hanging from its nose, one on top of its head above the gills hanging over the back side, and a sore from one on its pectoral fin. I think this fish was happy to be caught, lost a few of its passengers.

[newfoldener]

I have been fishing on LOW since the 70's and have seen lampreys the whole time. They seem to be on the larger fish. Does anyone know were they come from or how they survive before they attatch to a fish.

[WAG416]

I caught 32" pike last monday with a 9" lamprey hitchin' a ride. It fell off almost as soon as it hit the cold air.

[SFBOY]

They dont look like the ones from lake michigan. the ones in the big lake are alot larger and nastier. I saw one come off a 39" pike a few years ago up there. Disgusting little things.

[JollyT]

These are a native species of lamprey. Not the sea lampreys that are in the Great Lakes.

[bturck]

I fish with leeches in the summer but to be honest I hate em, just something about them that makes me crawl. Might have something to do when I was kid and had a bloodsucker on my leg, my mother went nuts, scared the **it out of me, think I was 5. Anyway does the lamprey have a fatalistic result to the fish it is attached to? If the lamprey detaches itself and leaves a wound will the fish suffer from infection or worse. I know the Great Lakes had a big problem some years ago and a lot of effort was taken to eradicate them. Bill

[LOTWKIng]

Igotem,

Those are some nice sturgeons. Great Pics.

[walleyenerd]

The lamprey on LotW are native to the lake and are not the same as the sea lamprey in the great lakes. Check out: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/areas/fisheries/baudette/lamprey.html

Tom