Well, have to keep busy a few more days until the opener, so tonight we went downriver from the village to check out the "eel" fishing scene. Folks have been catching these things by the burlap sack full, but apparently the run only lasts a couple days max.

I, along with a lot of other folks, happen to call the critters Lampreys, but if you do that around here, you will get 'corrected'. Quick. At any rate, I thought I would share some pics, and see if anyone has a favorite recipe for these things, cause otherwise, bait station, here they come....

An elder on the way to his fishing hole...


The scene...


Everyone (except me) has an 'eel stick', which is basically a long (8 feet-ish) pole with nails protruding from all sides that has been whittled to a narrow width to ease its path through the water. You swing the pole out and up, and then back down to a hanging position. As soon as you feel a bump (or several), you raise the stick and flip the little suckers up onto the ice. The activity is great - keeps you warm on those loooong periods between passing schools.

Here I am with a pilfered eel stick:


Success!


Tell me this little beauty doesn't look appetizing?!


For those who haven't ever seen the inside of a lamprey's mouth...


All in all, it sure beat sitting around the house waiting for Tuesday to get here, but I'm not convinced I want them for dinner when there's still sheefish and pike in the freezer...

AK,

Great posting!

Never tried eel, but I bet with the right recipe they would be delicious, minus their toothy head.

Good Luck on your trap line and keep safe.

Yuck.....

AK, thats the neatest thing Ive ever saw! I didnt even know there were eels in the Yukon. Do the nails hook them? Thanks for the post!

That face/mouth remind me of a girl I knew back in high school...

I used to see them in NY too, attached to the side of the trout and salmon. All the old guys I knew would chop off the head and toss them back. I would say 95% of the trout and salmon we caught had either one on it or a scar from one. Pretty nasty buggers if you ask me.

Why the stick with nails and not a dip net like they do with hooligan.

-TJ

Yukon 254 - yep, the nails hook into them, but it's not a phenominal success rate - you get to watch some of them them sail into the air and out into the river when you try to swing them up onto the ice. But some will stick, too.

TJ - I think the stick with nails is an older method and maybe sort of a standby or tradition - but I agree the net idea was far more efficient. That guy on the snowmachine had a net as well as a stick...technology must have been his plan B

Pete, you should check out facebook - you couldn't miss her profile picture when you see it.....

AK 26 : The memories begin. In later years , the pics will be priceless - take all you can and keep sharing them with the rest of us. Long live T man !

Nice pics AK26, thanks for posting those..

On Lake Superior, 75% of the lake trout we caught ice fishing had lamprey scars. Usually still bleeding. We ice fished with jigging wire in about 300' of water and the lamprey would usually let go on the way up. They supposedly do quite a bit of damage to the lake trout population, and we always killed them and fed the seagulls if they came up still attached to the fish.

Sounds like they were a real problem back in the great lakes. To be able to stand at most any open lead on a river the size of the Yukon and snag them just swimming by at random, I'd have to think that their numbers here are just staggering, as well. From what I've heard, the larval stage is an important food source for many, many species, even otter.

I'm sure there's a good number of them but you're seeing a concentration of them that happens every year at this time. Nasty looking critters. I'd rather eat a marten.

I would bet the net has some associated drawbacks. Ice buildup and maybe the eels don't come out of it as readily. Also you may not be able to feel them hit the mesh like you can the stick.

Actually there is a commercial fishery going on now for them in the lower river w/ a 40,000# quota. The "main run" is usually around thanksgiving.

they are artic lampreys

Those things look like leaches on steroids. Do they make a good fishing bait? Maybe chunks for burbot?

Now I know where starwars got its inspiration...

I know that some guys use them for burbot in the tanana.

I know several people that will eat almost anything and, once trying them, added lampreys to their very short "WILL NOT EAT" list.

I wonder how a cast net would work....same goes for smelt. You can normally catch more than you need with a dip net for smelt, so moving up in technology for them isn't needed.

Are they really trying another commercial fihery form them. A few years back , 5 or 6?,they caught a whole bunch and the buyer backed out.

Eels are supposed to be the best bait for burbot but I'v never tried catching them. I spent a few years on a salmon hatchery on the Klamath river in California and would collect small lampreys off the screens where water flowed into the raceways, these were the best bass bait I've ever seen. The adults were 2'-3'long and swam up the fish ladder just like the salmon.

The eels (Arctic Lamprey) are quite a hit on the delta villages. And contary to what Marten pine said. "The "main run" is usually around thanksgiving." If this is true no one fishes for them In my 25 years on the delta it is usually around right now. Last number of years near open water. I remember i Russian Mission around the 11th. Usually 2 runs. Some years none that can be found and fished anyways.
There is a lot of folklore superstitions that go along with the eels.
My first encounter with them was in the Mid 80's in Russian Mission. I was new to the village and didn't have an ice spud (pick). I grabbed my axe and went down the river. We got ahead of the mass of people knowing the eels were moving up river. I promptly proceeded to get my axe and chop a hole in ice that was probably 5 thick. The native guy below me started hollering. "YOU CAN'T USE AXE" Of course being the seasoned outdoorsman that I was and not having my machete along chose to holler back. "IT WORKS GREAT."
Of course he hollered back. "YOUY CAN;T USE AXE IT WILL SCATTER THE EELS" Well being new to the village and its customs I promptly found an alternative.
Other customs were that pregnant ladies or those on their period could not even go on the ice. For fear it would scatter the eels.

They are fine to eat really and I am rather picky eater. Thing is they are very very oily. You have to render the oil out. My wife craved eels when she was pregnant one year. So we did the deed. I have had them ground and made into burgers also.
But my most vivid memory was when my dog, who my room mate let out of the house without my knowledge, ate a pile of eels I had set out for bait. He was locked up in the house all day and well- the laxative nature of a meat with probably 30% oil can't be held back.
Almost got busted for houses damage on the pile that was real hard to clean up.

Len, were you in Russian Mission the winter of '80-'81. I was on the Goodnews that winter and often talked to a teacher in Russian Mission on the HF. Can't remember the name though.

Your supposed to freeze them, then eat them raw with seal oil!!!!

Seems like I got a few in the past from Emo. If I remember right, they dry out quickly and lose their smell. Meaning I wasn't impressed with their baiting ability.
mt

mt I agree with you. I never like them for bait. Too oily. Make good fox bait stations. But could never get them to be very stinky for a tainted paste. Just too much oil. But man can you stack them up on a good year.

AK, we get them here in MI, in the UP, with home made cage traps. Don't tell anybody, but they are the best coon bait a person can use. I don't believe you have coons but maybe other critters up your way would go for them too.