I recently moved to Summerville and live on a small pond, only a few acres. Caught some good bass out of it so far. Decided to throw the cast net and caught some small bream, shiners, and gizzard shad, one of which was about 12". After seeing this, I decided to put a bait trap out. Checked it yesterday and caught a 15" eel. I’ve never come across one in freshwater. Has anyone seen them around here before? I am going to assume it would make some good bass bait. Suggestions??
Are you sure it was an eel? There are two species of amphibian, Amphiuma & Siren, that look very much like an eel. Eels can get into ponds but are more common in rivers and streams. I have caught more of the above than eels when trapping in ponds.
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Probably was an American Eel. They are fairly common around here and turn up in minnow traps every now and then.
Def an American Eel after doing research and seeing pics. Thanks for the info guys.
Never seen an Eel in a pond before, but catch them in all the rivers around here…
Back in 1968/69 when my dad was building the water intake for the Jefferies Power Station, they’d pump water down the bank of the canal and thousands of little 4-6" long eels would climb/swim up the water stream…dad would bring 'em home to me as pets.
quote:
he eel lives in fresh water and estuaries and only leaves these habitats to enter the Atlantic ocean to start its spawning migration to the Sargasso Sea. Spawning takes place far offshore where the eggs hatch. The female can lay up to 4 million buoyant eggs a year, and dies after egg-laying. After the eggs hatch and the early-stage larvae develop into leptocephali, the young eels move toward North America where they metamorphose into glass eels and enter freshwater systems where they grow as yellow eels until they begin to mature.The American eel is found along the Atlantic coast including Chesapeake Bay and the Hudson River and as far north as the St. Lawrence River region. Is also present in the river systems of the eastern Gulf of Mexico and in some areas further south. Like all anguillid eels, American eels hunt at night, and during the day they hide in mud, sand or gravel very close to shore, roughly 5 to 6 feet under. They feed on crustaceans, aquatic insects, small insects, and probably any aquatic organisms that they can find and eat.
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eels will crawl across wet grass at night to get to out of the way ponds to grow up untill they go out to sea to breed in the Sargasso sea!
The gizzard shad is what surprises me. How in the world did he get in there? Seeing how they migrate from the ocean every year. Eels do also. Or I have been told they migrate to winyah bay in the winter and move back up in our river systems during the summer. I’ve caught them with panty hose and chicken livers on the lynches.
quote:I think I would agree with you Freedom. We probably caught 4 or 5 of them, but the size of the one was ridiculous.
Originally posted by freedomfisherThe gizzard shad is what surprises me. How in the world did he get in there? Seeing how they migrate from the ocean every year. Eels do also. Or I have been told they migrate to winyah bay in the winter and move back up in our river systems during the summer. I’ve caught them with panty hose and chicken livers on the lynches.
Don’t birds spread fish eggs to different areas? I saw something on National Geographic about fish eggs sticking to birds feet and getting transported from one location to another.
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The eel and the shad caught a ride together. I wish a pond with some gizzards in it.
Catfish
Gizzard shad don’t migrate. The are strictly freshwater!
You sir are wrong.
Lol. You wanna bet a paycheck on it?
I think you are thinking of a different species of shad.
You are right. Seems to be the only freshwater species. My bad.
There are a bunch of shad species in SC so it can be tricky. Gizzards and threadfin are strictly freshwater. American shad, hickory shad, and some blueback herring are your migratory shad species.
Good discussion. I’d add that the presence of gizzard shad indicates a connection with wild surface water, either during a flood or through a culvert or ditch. Eels can be found in ponds through out the low country. More make it into ponds through direct connection with surface water, but I once found a very large adult in an irrigation pond in the middle of an agricultural field 200 yards from the nearest ditch, which goes along with the previous observation that they can crawl overland during wet events. Interesting animals.
My opinion on how the shad got there is that someone was using them for live bait and they either came unhooked or were released at the end of the trip. Species like gizzards, shiners, etc., which are prolific reproducers, will take over a small body of water if released and there isn’t a sufficient predator population to keep them in check. And they can grow to an unusually large size (although a 12" gizzard isn’t unusual or rare). That’s why its important not to allow people to use live minnows, shiners, etc. in ponds. They can and have taken over ponds. As a much younger guy, I used to fish a 10 acre “public” pond way back in the woods. You could not use crickets to bream fish because all you would catch were large shiners. They had almost completely taken over the pond.
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gizzard shad are pretty fragile and hard to keep alive without specialized equipment. Hard for me to see them successfully bucket stocked, but golden shiners are a different story as they are sold for crappie minnows all the time.