Fresh water Eel!

Spent some time in the San Lorenzo with family last weekend and we saw an Eel! Has anyone ever seen one before?..Wasnt afraid of us either!

Seen plenty of eels on the East Coast. Didn't know we had them in California.

 

Sturgeon bait. Lamprey.

At one glance it looked like a lamprey which would be more common

Based on your short video, I think I saw the same eel last week when I took my students on a field trip to release our steelhead fry!  I'll have to upload the pictures I took but the one I saw looked like it had some sort of injury on its back like it had been attacked, possibly by a bird.  It also appeared to be digging a redd as it layed on its side and was dusting off rocks.

My first thought was A lamprey but didnt have the funky lips.. Looked like A monkeyface.

Pacific Lamprey (Lampetra tridentate) FSC
     Large (to 2 feet long) parasitic lamprey that migrates to the ocean to mature. The blind larvae rear in bottom mud for 2-4 years before transforming to adult body form (developing eyes and parasitic sucking disk) and migrating to the ocean. They return in winter to their natal stream after 2 years in the ocean. They are restricted to larger streams of the region (Pescadero, Soquel, Llagas, Uvas and Coyote creeks, San Lorenzo and Guadalupe rivers), and are relatively uncommon except in the San Lorenzo River. Lampreys have declined for some of the same reasons that steelhead and salmon have (water diversions, channelization and dams that affect migration and rearing conditions). Lampreys are able to surmount some barriers that block steelhead (such as the spillway of Uvas Reservoir) and are sometimes able to complete their life cycle in freshwater if landlocked by dam construction.

?

cool find!

Very cool,

great vid!
I also think its a pacific lamprey

Jim

They call it " UNAGI" in sushi bar.     


Kiel

That is just a freshwater Eel ..cost 2 bucks a piece ..we would buy  for catfish bait in Virginia ...buy them live and put them on ice ...  ,,the cold slows them down so you can grab ,, use a sock over hand like a glove for  grip ,,knock the S^*t out of its head on floor  of boat  ...back hook , bottom drop Carolina rig style and when he wakes up and try to get away ..,,you need to be  ready for a 50-80 pound James River , kitty kitty ( the record is 104 pounds but you kinda need to know the tricks and spots to break the 80 mark).... 3 AM southern-boy  fun....you can see Eel results on my friends  website ..
http://www.catfishingva.com/

A lot of freshwater eels spawn in saltwater too, at least on the east coast, catadromous I think it's called. Lamprey usu spawn above a natural fish barrier like a waterfall (they use their mouths to climb) in rivers and creeks where steelhead can't get above

just don't pee in the water bro...

just don't pee in the water bro...

 


Kiel

It is a lamprey.  Let it suck down on your forehead for real fun!