Black Lake, NY Forum

Caught a 30"+ northern in the rapids by the brasie corners rossie road bridge and it had a lamprey attached to it. I knocked it off before releasing the fish. Is this normal, or did I identify a potential invasion issue? Wanted to put this information out there in case it was important. This was my first trip to black lake so wasn't sure if that was a normal sighting.

I've never seen one and I've caught hundreds and hundreds of fish out of that lake.

Did you kill the eel?

Everything happened so quickly and I was definitely not expecting to see that or I would have snapped a picture. Only reason I knew what it was a parasite was from an episode of river monsters. Stuck a pocket knife point into it's head and flicked it off the fish. Was difficult with the pike thrashing around and trying to handle and release it gently. Left a round wound on the pike where it was attached. Hopefully the fish survived. He seemed strong and active? What an amazing fishery, I truly hope this isn't a sign of a future problem.

Lamprey eels have been from time to time in the lake for a long time. Their numbers have been relatively small thanks to long standing DEC eradication efforts to control them. As for actually seeing a lamprey on a fish - I have never encounted this situation but I'm sure it may happen. My camp has been in the family over 55 yrs. I can remember my Dad saying he used to see large Pike and Muskies actually jumping out of the water to rid them selves of lampreys. He used to spend a lot of time just sitting and watching the lake. Other than other same reports from the old timers this may have been just a fish story - However for the most part I believe they are under control. Only wish the Zebra mussles and other invasive species were under control. Oh- well - cant have everything. Catch & Release!

I have heard people mentioning catching fish with lamprey marks on them but have never seen one myself here. Kind of strange since I think of them as being in deep water attaching to Lake Trout. Probably why it was down near the deeper water in Rossie.
Speaking of invasive species I am surprised and relieved that there aren't Gobies in Black Lake yet. At least that I am aware of. Seems like they would get here somehow being so close to the St Lawrence.

I know gobies are invasive, but man oh man do they make for some FAT smallies in the river.

Left the lake Thursday... We caught at least 10 pike in lonesome bay(not deep water) that had marks on their sides... At first I wrote it off to being attacked by bigger fish or scars related to mating... But after a few I noticed that they were mostly round spots and not slashes... After reading this post I'm almost positive that they were marks from a lamprey...

Last year I saw two occasions where lampreys were attached to two different Smallmouths. The lampreys were about 6-7 inches long.

Columbus weekend I Came across a 10" catfish with a lamprey stuck to its head. Both were floundering around on the surface making some ripples in the water. Took a little bit of effort but I got that eel unhooked and the catfish swam off.

WHAT PROFISH said. We've had a family camp on Black Lake for well over 55 years and we've come across many fish with lamprey eel marks, I've seen a few on a fish and they do jump out of the water to try and knock them off their bodies. Kill them if you see them, but they're relatively rare.