Where are lake eels found?

[KTO]

Where can I find Lake Eels?

[Rattlesnake Gal]

Maybe in the lake?
I have no idea where, but if you search eels on the old forum there is some funny stuff.

[gtxrider]

Originally Posted by KTO

Where can I find Lake Eels?

I have seen one around the docks at Sandy Point. It scared us at first until we figured out what it was.

[Grant]

There's a big one that lives between the two hulls of the Lady of the Lake wreck, and you can find it by shining a flashlight down the holes between the timbers. One time, I was just floating along, moving along the wreck and shining my light down each section, not really expecting to see it, when I peered down one hole and *YOW* -- there are these glowing eyes looking out at me. I don't know who was more startled -- me or the poor eel.

Saw one swim out from under our dock once many moons ago. But haven't seen any while diving other than the Lady resident, so I'm not sure what their typical haunts would be.

[Porch Potato]

Ok, I'm a little disturbed by this....because I prefer to think that only cute little fish live in the lake. So, just exactly how big is a lake eel and what type of water does it usually live in (deep, shallow, calm, murky, etc)

[searay220]

I saw a guy catch a lake eel off the public docks in Alton.The eel was about 2 feet in length and about as thick as a baseball bat.I was amazed it came out of the lake were I boat and swim.

[donnamatrix]

I have heard that Opeechee Pond is listed in the Guinness World Book of Records, where it has been called Eel Pond. Evidently, the largest eel caught in fresh water was caught in Opeechee. That is why you often see so MANY turkey buzzards swirling around both the Pond and near the dam in Lakeport where Winni/Paugus Bay water flows into Opeechee. The buzzards are hunting the eels for dinner. Yikes.

[MAXUM]

If you do any reading on fresh water eels you'll find that they are mostly nocturnal and it's not all that common to see them during the daytime hours. They are perfectly harmless unless you have an active imagination, or run into an electric one , that might curl your hair a bit. I'd be more afraid of the lake monster.

[KTO]

If you really think about it, lake eels would probably be more populous among milfoil (stupid weed!) or other various thick weeds. Just a thought!

[Winnipesaukee Divers]

But, why on earth would you ever want to encounter one of the big ones? Legend has it the really big ones reside well below a hundred feet. In the ship’s library on board my boat, I have a book that has a story in it about an encounter the Navy hard hat divers had while deep diving off their base on Diamond Island in the late sixties.

I was rafted up one day with my dive buddy Diver Don and our families off the sand bar at West Alton. While we were having lunch together I pulled out the book and read the passage to the group gathered around the table in my cabin. Everyone was very intent on hearing the details about the last fateful dive the hard hatters made just off the northwest side of Rattlesnake Island in the famed “deep hole”. The purpose of their dive was for testing visual colors in deep water. When the two divers reached the bottom at the 160' level, they settled deep into the silt. As they struggled to set up the test they encountered several large eels, as they described them. They were approximately 14’ long and more than a foot in diameter. The eels became very aggressive as the divers tried to defend themselves and the divers had to call for extraction. Once back on the dive barge the divers were in a fit of hysteria and refused to do another dive there. The story claims that this incident ended the deep water diving experiments on the lake by the Navy and they just packed up and left, leaving all their gear on the bottom, most of which is still there today.

After lunch we prepared to do our dive on the edge of the sandbar where it drops to 30 feet. As we explored along the shelf, we came upon an old tree. As I turned it over I was hoping to find some kind of treasure but instead I disturbed a 3-foot eel. My daughter Beth and Diver Don reeled back in shock as the eel swam out of sight. Both were new divers and were petrified by eels. On the return course back to the boat I was running low on air and needed to conserve it to avoid a long swim back on the surface. So I swam up the sand embankment to the shallower waters. I watched as Beth and Don continued to search the muddy bottom for bottles as they made their way back. Being totally bored in the 6 foot depths of the sand I found a tree trunk about 6" in diameter and about 10' long, After debarking it, the white wood glistened. Thinking it felt like a large javelin, I decided to chuck it in the direction of Beth and Don knowing full well it would never make it down near them.... Well, I was mistaken... I as I heaved it, it corkscrewed through the water and looked for all the world like the famed 14' long eel as it passed in front of them. They let out a scream I could hear 30' away under water as they both bolted for the surface dropping all their goodies. At the surface Beth was screaming in hysteria and Don was making a wake as he swam for his boat. When I got back on the boat I asked them what they thought about the over sized javelin I found, completely forgetting about the story I had just read to them earlier. I could tell you what their comments were, but Webmaster Don would just edit it out.

So, if its eels you want I know where you can find them, but its cold dark and deep there.
.

[Gilligan]

Originally Posted by KTO

Where can I find Lake Eels?

In addition to the info from Winnie Divers this is from the forum archives: The starter message in a thread about eel that describes where to find them in Weirs Bay.

Forum Archive about the eel in the Lake

If you are worried about it you can get eel protection. Read this from the forum archive. Eel Protection

I don't think eel hang out in milfoil.

[Paul1]

I caught one off of Sandy Island about 4 years ago. About 3 feet long and very heavy and ugly!!

[GWC...]

Laughed so hard the tears flowed...

[Bubba]

I know of two divers that had a school of eels swim by them on the northeast side of Ship Island. The divers were on a night dive. They shown their lights ahead of them and were surprised to see them coming. They froze as the eels swam in between them and kept going. They didn't know how many. There were too shocked to count.

[JohnNH]

For those who are interested in the American Eel:

Yes they live in Winnipesaukee as well as most lakes. The record Eel for New Hampshire was caught in Crystal Lake in July of 1975 by Mr. Michael Hasharak and it was 44.5" and weighed 8 Lbs.

The Eel all originate in the Salt Water and migrate from as far away as the Sargasso's and this takes a long time. They migrate up rivers through brackish waters into fresh waters. They end up spending their maturing years in fresh water lakes, ponds, rivers and move back to the sea when the maturity bell rings and sends them on their mission to propagate.

For a very long read, I have listed a link to the U.S. Department of Interior, Fish & Wildlife Service report about the life cycle of the American Eel.

John/NH


http://www.nwrc.usgs.gov/wdb/pub/1047.pdf

[Water Camper]

We keep our boat in one of the boathouses at LakePort Landing. Usually in late August we will start to see eel in the water in the boathouse. Not sure if it's because we're looking at them through the water, but some look quite long, in excess of 4 feet. Have never had any issue with them, and have never heard of anyone else at the marina having an issue.

[KBoater]

Are the Winnie Eels land locked like the salmon?