danc Posted June 22, 2009 Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 Quite often when I leave the house for a casual drive, I'll bring a camera with me and stop off somewhere if I have the time. I did that today when I went to visit my Dad for Fathers day. After I left his house, I decided to stop off at the river where I basically grew up on. It's only a block from my parents house. It's been several years since I've been down there for a look around. There were years when I caught over 100 Steelhead in this river, but a flood control diversion plan that connected this river with another has pretty much ruined the Steelhead run. Anyways, while looking around, I noticed some creatures in the water just below a bridge. So I went on top of the bridge for a better look. I was pretty confident as to what I was going to see. It's been 30 plus years since I witnessed this, but it seemed like yesterday. Three huge adult Lamprey were spawning right below the bridge. In my teens, when I last witnessed this, we'd have a few guys on the bridge and a few guys on the river banks with fishing rods loaded with 3 prong hooks. The guys on the bridge would be the eyes and tell the rod guys where to cast and when to "set the hook". We pulled out some huge Lamprey back then. And killed them of course. Illegal, yes. So go ahead and arrest me. It was quite the blast from the past for me today. I just wish that I had my polarized camera lens with me today to get some better shots. Perhaps I can do that in the next few days. Or perhaps I'll go back with my fishing rod and a freshly sharpened 3 prong. Here's the shots. The biggest one (the lighter colored female) was 2 to 2 1/2 inches across the neck and probably about 18" long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markiemark70 Posted June 22, 2009 Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 Wow thats pretty cool. Thanks for sharing. Mind if i ask what river? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammercarp Posted June 22, 2009 Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 Great pictures and write up. Thanks. Ya it would be hard not to think of how to off the monsters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holdfast Posted June 22, 2009 Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 Nice Pics, never seen them things alive. Evil, Evil invasive Creatures Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danc Posted June 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 Wow thats pretty cool. Thanks for sharing. Mind if i ask what river? That would be the Neebing River in Thunder Bay Mark. I grew up a two minute walk from where these shots were taken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purekgw Posted June 22, 2009 Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 KILL them all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holdfast Posted June 22, 2009 Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 That would be the Neebing River in Thunder Bay Mark. I grew up a two minute walk from where these shots were taken. I guess they came from Superior Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victor Posted June 22, 2009 Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 Great shots Dan, very interesting pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MillerPhoto Posted June 22, 2009 Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 We used to get them down here all the time in the stream in Colborne.. fished them the same way, and would throw them on the road for the cars to take care of them! lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
young_one Posted June 22, 2009 Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 fascinating, those things give me goose bumps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StoneFly Posted June 22, 2009 Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 you should see them sucking on a prime steelheads back as it makes its way up river,...kinda sad!! Does anyone ever notice it is worse on Lake O fish than G-Bay? maybe the distance on some southern notty fish are becasue the 'strong' survive? just curious on observations.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danc Posted June 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 you should see them sucking on a prime steelheads back as it makes its way up river,.... I've seen that many, many times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonny Posted June 22, 2009 Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 Great pictures, even without a polarizing filter! We've got lamprey in Nipissing too, which I didn't know for sure til I actually saw one during ice fishing a couple of years ago. Can't remember what kind of fish the guy took it off of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bucktail Posted June 22, 2009 Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 Dan Do you know if they treat that river with Lampricide or not? Might want to send that pic to the Ministry in case that isnt one of the rivers they treat. God there an ugly animal!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ThisPlaceSucks Posted June 22, 2009 Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 Dan Do you know if they treat that river with Lampricide or not? Might want to send that pic to the Ministry in case that isnt one of the rivers they treat. God there an ugly animal!! We do work on the neebing-mcintyre system... And lamprey management is handled by the Dept. of Fisheries and Oceans, not the ministry. I'll be up there killing lampreys in august dan. Cool pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danc Posted June 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 There was some kind of Lamprey trap attached to a nearby weir. It looked like a big minnow trap. There was some writing on the trap that was difficult to read, but I did make out the word "lamprey". Go get em' Dr. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ThisPlaceSucks Posted June 22, 2009 Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 i might have to hit up the nip. river/frazer lake in the evenings of course... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave524 Posted June 22, 2009 Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 First time I saw them would have been early 60's and I would have in my tweens, Dad and I used to go trout fishing in Youngs Creek at Vittoria and Big Creek between Lynedoch and Delhi in Norfolk County. I swear they were over 2 foot maybe 30" long and lined up like cordwood in one pool , but they may have grown over the years, it was one of those sights you don't forget. Fished that area fairly frequently later on my own in the seventies and never again saw them that bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohhenrygsr Posted June 22, 2009 Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 (edited) Edited June 23, 2009 by Henry Nguyen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCTFisher9120 Posted June 22, 2009 Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 Great shots, Cheers to the 3 Prong! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Governator Posted June 22, 2009 Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 I just looked up pics of these..... things. Man they look naaaasty not to mention something from a horror movie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musky66 Posted June 22, 2009 Report Share Posted June 22, 2009 My buddy just told me the MNR poisoned the Pine river with lamprecide and cleaned out a whole mess of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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