# Sea Lamprey............



## rwenglish1 (Jan 6, 2007)

I saw three Sea Lamprey making or mating in a nest. They were 9" to 14" long and different colors. I also saw a lot of smaller single ones passing by. I saw one I am sure was over 18" I could see the fins and head on it no problem, or this was a Bowfin. If I would have had a net with small holes I could have got them. I anchored to fish a hole and must have spooked them off, soon I noticed them over the clean spot in the gravel.


I tried to get some photographs of them, the bigger one is blurry but you can see one of the smaller ones a little clearer. This is a hand held photograph in the anchored boat with a good current, plus the lamprey's never stopped moving.










Link on Sea Lamprey
http://www.gma.org/fogm/petromyzon_marinus.htm

Saw lots of fish, Steelhead, Rainbow, Smallmouth, Rockbass,and what I am hoping was Browns. But I have had two fisherman tell me there are now Browns in the lower Au Sable.

To say the least, I saw fish Friday afternoon, I got out of the river at 9:30 pm just got the boat secured on the trailer and it started to pour. I was back on the river by 7 am and got poured on untill about 9:30am I think and fished all day Saturday till 8:30 pm when I was finally frustrated by all the fish I would see and cast to and only get lookers but no takers. What ever they were feeding on was small. I tried a small black stone nymph and small green # 18 caddis nymph, some moved to look but then go back over to where they were and keep feeding. I know they were feeding because I could sit there in the drift boat 25 to 35 feet away and watch them flash their sides as they would move to get what they were after. 

Also it was interesting to see fish flee as I approached a hole , I would move back up above the hole, anchor and have a sandwhich and some coffee and soon they would be back. If the sun got real bright they would go back down in the hole. As soon as the clouds would come back out the fish would come back out of the hole. 

and a little wildlife










I wonder how long before this bad dude is blocking the river, even as I was taking the photograph, I noticed what the storm had loosened up the night before. I thought, if that thind lets go now, I would be like a fly under the fly swatter.










I took spawn which I tied on the river, wax worms, angle worms, night crawlers, one panther martin spinner, streamer, wooly buggers, fry, nymphs, egg patterns. Only the small rainbows and one small rock bass hit.










While I was getting the flies out to dry off, I found this in the bottom of one of the containers. It is a small black stone fly, the legs fell off but they were on it. It looks like a size #20, so now I know what they were feeding on. I do not have anything that small, and I don't know if I ever would. Some of the Rainbows and Steelhead would have easily broke any tippet used with a fly that small, IMO. I was using 6lb. flourocarbon and they must have still seen it. But if one would have hit it, I know I would have landed it.










I just don't know what I did to the fish keepers, to have them not bite anything I pass by them. But the water is super crystal clear and they must have seen my finger print on the tippet line.


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## flyfishinchristian (Oct 5, 2006)

rwenglish1 said:


> I just don't know what I did to the fish keepers, to have them not bite anything I pass by them. But the water is super crystal clear and they must have seen my finger print on the tippet line.


I couldn't tell for sure, but it sounds like you were on the AuSable...

Your trip is reminding me of my salmon fishing trip over to the Pere Marquette a year or two ago. I had between 8 and 10 salmon right in front of me, and I tried everything I had in my box to catch them, but not one taker... It can get frustrating, and I usually take it as a challenge to go back and clean-up on another day, or I head over to a bass and bluegill pond, and shake the skunk off.


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## muxxsteel (Mar 29, 2010)

i have "taken care" of almost 20 lamprey this year and 8 last year.


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## TJHUNTER (Oct 18, 2007)

i seen some go by me at the foote. they have 2 traps set up down by the dam for them. i didnt look in it to see if there were any in there or not.


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## moreychuck (Aug 19, 2006)

I was wading over the weekend and saw hundreds of lamprys in the shawllows spawing took out out 10-12 of them then gave up and went home I have seen several in the spring before but never like this week


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