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| I have not researched this - but the other day I caught a 22 inch walleye at the south end of Lake Winnebago and it had a lamprey attached to it. Has anyone else seen the lamprey in Winnebago? Maybe I am way behind on the times but I had never seen a lamprey on a fish in Winnebago over the 20 years I have been fishing it. |
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Member
Posts: 21
Location: Freedom, WI | Are you sure it was a lamprey? Chestnut and silver eels are native to the lake. They feed on the host fish and then detach, whereas a lamprey will stay attached until the host dies. If it was less than about 8" long it most likely wasn't a lamprey but one of the other native species. |
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Member
Posts: 3899
| I get these on Poygan all the time. Had three in one day a couple weeks ago. Can't remember the last ime I saw one on Bago. A few years ago maybe. Not sure why they are more frequent on Poygan. I always thought they were Lamprey's and would cut them in half. Maybe they are not as bad as the Lamprey, huh? |
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| I think you were right with the chestnut lamprey/eel - it was 4 or 5 inches long and tan in color - I googled chestnut lamprey and the picture was very accurate to what I had in the boat. I threw the lamprey/eel back into the water and then second guessed myself - should I be killing these things next time I see one? I guess if they are native there are a bunch in the lake already. |
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Member
Posts: 617
Location: Oshkosh, Wisconsin | Sea lamprey are the bad ones... the chestnut lamprey is native to the 'bago system and they are not a big deal. Kinda creepy looking, but definitely not a big deal.
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Member
Posts: 1656
| Yep, they are native to 'Bago and seem to be fairly common. If you get the chance to see the sturgeon spawn. There always seems to be some fish that have a lamprey hanging off of them. |
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| Yep your right, what you saw was a eel, there are two species of eels in Winnebag neither of which is very prevelent. I also have been fishing the lake for 20 plus years and for some reason this year is the year for them. I caught one fish myself, but have seen others caught and heard about more than a few others. Anyhow, there here, and there here to stay, hopefully they dont become such a problem as they were in the great lakes 10 to 15 years ago. |
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Member
Posts: 1195
Location: Orland Park, IL | Lemme guess, "tastes great smoked". |
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| mark when you smoke them do you light the head or tail first????  |
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Member
Posts: 132
| What the gas can't get the match will! Very crispy critters! Use them as smores!
 LP |
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Member
Posts: 859
Location: Appleton wi | mmm chestnut lampry's are tasty morsals |
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