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Posts: 94
Location: Perham, MN | This past week on LOTW dy dad and I boated a nice muskie with a lamprey attatched to it. I havnt heard of lampreys parasitizing muskies before and was wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience on LOTW or any other body of water? I will try to post pictures
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Posts: 96
| Sure - we caught one on the St. Croix earlier this year that had welts all over it. Some were fresh as the lampreys had obviously jumped off during the reel in. |
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Posts: 70
| Have seen the tell tale scars on fish caught on Green Bay. |
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Posts: 717
Location: Grand Rapids, MI | Lake St. Clair has a real problem with them. My last fish out of there had 5 or 6 marks on her. Rip them off and kill them! |
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Posts: 723
| we catch lots of fish in GB that have lamprey spots on them.
especially further towards the deeper water.
even on lake winnebago, long time ago I caught a 40" pike icefishing,
had 2 lamprey on it when it came up.
The sturgeon that I speared last year had about a 2 footer on it when she came in the hole. it popped off when she cork screwed tho.
one year ice fishing in Gb buddy caught a pike with one on it,
we drilled a hole about 6 inches in the ice, filled it with water,
and watched the little bugger swim circles all day. thats where he died later that night I imagine.....
but getttin back to the musky, some that we have caught, honest to god truth, had a hole that if you put your finger in it, you could touch the guts of the fish.
there were some with multiples in one area, amazing it didnt seem to affect the fish as of yet. im sure there is a good mortality rate out there tho. |
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Posts: 2015
| Zman - 7/23/2009 8:43 AM
This past week on LOTW dy dad and I boated a nice muskie with a lamprey attatched to it. I havnt heard of lampreys parasitizing muskies before and was wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience on LOTW or any other body of water? I will try to post pictures
Interesting - I have had several 100 muskies in my boat from LOTW - never seen one with a lamprey. I knew they were in the great lakes system - didn't know they were in LOTW?
Edited by IAJustin 7/23/2009 10:14 AM
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Posts: 2015
| I thought this LOTW post spawn fish was beat up from spawning - but the scars could have been caused by lamprey?
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Posts: 1243
Location: Musky Tackle Online, MN | I've caught a few out of Yellow Lake in WI with them.
Aaron |
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Posts: 198
| The lampreys in LOW are native. Either Silver or Chestnut lampreys. They are not the exotic sea lampreys like those in the Great Lakes. They are not a big problem for fish in LOW. |
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Posts: 19
| the ottawa river has muskies with lampreys attached
some of the lampreys are rather large
bob |
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| IAJustin you edited out the best part of that pic......the sunburn on his feet!!! HAHAHAHAHA Man that had to of hurt!!
Edited by muskydeceiver 7/23/2009 1:44 PM
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Posts: 906
Location: Warroad, Mn | Silver Scale has it right. The lampreys in the LOTWs are silver lamphrey (Ichthyomyzon unicuspis). They are native to many watersheds in the central and northern part of the US, including the LOTWs. They are related to the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus), but are not as deadly because of their small size. Most fish attacked by a silver lampery will survive. I too have caught muskies, pike, sturgeon and suckers with silver lamperys attached. Doug Johnson |
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| Caught several here in Western PA with them attached.......most of our largest winter fish had several on they but they fell off as soon as they felt the 25 degree air temperature. Our local lampreys are Ohio strain and according to our regional biologist, pose no threat to the musky population as they are native to this drainage. |
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Posts: 2024
| Yes, lampreys use muskies as hosts. Quite a bit out east actually.
Renaud, C.B. (2002). The Muskellunge, Esox masquinongy, as a Host for the Silver Lamprey, Ichthyomyzon unicuspis, in the Ottawa River, Ontario/Québec. Canadian Field-Naturalist 116(3): 433-440 |
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Posts: 157
| This weekend while floating down a river in northern Wisconsin I drifted over a low 40'' fish that was sitting in 3 feet of water behind a snag. I was casting for smallmouth so I turned around and floated over it again just to get a better lood. I did this 3 or 4 times before I finally figured out what was hanging off it's belly. A 18"-24" inch lamprey was firmly affixed to the fishes. It was a pretty cool thing to see. Now I need to go back with the proper gear and get some hooks in it!
Dylan |
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| almost all muskies on the st.croix have lampreys or the wounds from them on them..... no biggy, just kinda gross |
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Posts: 28
| Last season I landed 18 Muskies in the St Croix. One had a lamprey. This current season, I've landed 9 in the St Croix and most (at least six of them) have had at least one lamprey. Some have had as many as three.
Maybe it's a coincidence? I haven't seen a lamprey on a muskie in any of the other spots I fish. |
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Posts: 1663
Location: Kodiak, AK | Boated a decent fish tonight, and she was covered in sores, and had three live lampreys on her. In fact, all of the fish I've caught this year in LSC have had them, or signs of them. |
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