EEL attachments on rigger balls

[stinger]

...so what's with the eel attachments on rigger balls? A couple of you have mentioned that it has happened to you it in the past few weeks. Well, Sunday I had two occasions during the day that there was a eel stuck on my rigger ball (12lb sharks) and the second time the ball came up with an eel on, it had 2 on it. These bad boys are are mature ones, say 14"+. Not sure when they hitch on but my set was between 100' & 120' down.

I was hoping one of you fishologist would chime in and educate me (us).

[MikeyP]

...so what's with the eel attachments on rigger balls? A couple of you have mentioned that it has happened to you it in the past few weeks. Well, Sunday I had two occasions during the day that there was a eel stuck on my rigger ball (12lb sharks) and the second time the ball came up with an eel on, it had 2 on it. These bad boys are are mature ones, say 14"+. Not sure when they hitch on but my set was between 100' & 120' down.

I was hoping one of you fishologist would chime in and educate me (us).

Hopefully, you took care of business before returning those predators

[ERABBIT]

................. one comes in the boat and two go back !!!!

[MikeyP]

................. one comes in the boat and two go back !!!!

[rustyrat]

I had it happen again on sat too. Big uns!

[ Post made via Android ]

[Sk8man]

I used to have them attach to the transom my 13 ft Boston whaler in the winter on Seneca Lake,,,,,,huge ones. The only reason I knew they were there is that they were causing a disruption on my depthfinder....man was I surprised when I saw what was causing the commotion! :>)

[Outdoorsman]

Mature sea lamprey are pelagic predators/parasites (and are actually not eels). They latch onto fish that are suspended in the pelagic zone, so I would say that they have mistaken your downrigger balls for a fish. I'm not sure how long it takes for a lamprey to rasp through a fish skin, but it could probably take a while especially if latched onto a fish with large scales...so these are probably being patient, trying to get through. Why it is happening now, who knows? Maybe they are feeding more this time of year, or maybe the activity of the fish they are targeting brings those fish to your downrigger balls.