Lamprey In The Mississippi?

Today while ice fishing on De Soto Bay I caught a LMB about 13 inches long. Attached to the middle of it’s head was a lamprey looking like thing. It was sort of orange brown colored, about 6-7 inches long. I didn’t get a good look at as it fell off while the fish was still in the hole, but it definitely was on the fish. The bass even had black mark about the size of a dime where the whatever it was was attached. Are there lampreys in the Mississippi or was it something else?

see them on northerns quite often. they are definetly there!

the Mississippi has everything, lake giants (pepi), Asian carp, lampreys, a scour hole, and just about anything else a guy could ask for

Absolutely! Chestnut lampreys are in the Miss. I do believe all the lampreys except the sea lamprey (in superior) are protected species, so make sure you don’t harm them if you ever get a chance to see one again!

Yes, They are Native to Minnesota.
Partner caught a LMB with one attached on a lake near Rush Lake last summer.

Here is reply from MnDNR Fisheries

Dave,

Here is the response I received from Roger Hugill, Area Fisheries Supervisor:

It is a Chestnut Lamprey. We have lots of chestnut lamprey in the warm water tributaries to the St. Croix (lots in the Snake River). Hard to see but looks like a few bicuspid teeth present. Silver lamprey are unicuspid. Silvers are much less abundant “here”, I have not seen any myself while at Hinckley but they have been sampled in the St Croix River and a couple of the larger St Croix Watershed Tributaries. Southern Brook have been sampled in Pine, Kanabec and Chisago Counties but they are small and none parasitic. American Brook are farther South and Northern Brook could be in northern Pine County.

Roger

2-photo’s sent to DNR, Look like this?

I had one fall off a walleye,and it found a drain hole in the floor.I guess I will find it some day if I ever remove the floor

Ive caught catfish with them stuck on in the Misissippi

They are pretty common on sturgeon in the Chippewa, so I imagine they are common in the Mississippi. Haven’t caught any other species with them attached, only sturgeon. Scary little guys.

It was about that size but more orange color I’d say. Why are they protected? Anything that hurts fish before I get a chance to catch them should not be protected.

Just part of the ecosystem. Its the DNR’s trying to keep the native ecosystem in balance.

I haven’t heard of them being protected. I’ll believe it when I see it in writing. Not that I don’t return them unharmed anyway.

Here’s a cool read on lampreys of MN
http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/education_safety/education/minnaqua/lampreyrochure.pdf

I know they are protected in IA, and I could have sworn I heard of someone on here in MN getting a nice letter from the DNR stating the lamprey they killed was protected, after sending the DNR an email with a picture of it.

Anyways, if its not a sea lamprey its a native species that really does not harm anything in the big picture. They’ve been here for a LONG time and should be given some respect.

As a parasite, studies show they “seldom” will kill a fish unless it’s sick to begin with.

There’s no benefit to a lamprey killing it’s host.

I was amazed when I saw my first one on a bunch of carp. Paddles and sturgeon either have them attached or the scars of one.

Looking up their home range was another shock as we normally only hear about Sea Lampreys and their effects on the Great Lakes.

I “hear” they make awesome walleye bait.

Chestnut Lamprey Range

I’ve seen them in the Zumbro river system and the White water river system. Ya, those little monkeybutts are well known in MN waters….not just Superior

Quote:

---

. Attached to the middle of it’s head was a lamprey looking like thing. It was sort of orange brown colored, about 6-7 inches long. I didn’t get a good look at as it fell off while the fish was still in the hole, but it definitely was on the fish. The bass even had black mark about the size of a dime where the whatever it was was attached. Are there lampreys in the Mississippi or was it something else?

---

Fell off while the fish was still in the hole……..never been that lucky Those things still give me the Heebyjeebies

Lamprey Pamphlet

Not sure about being protected as I cannot find any info. But that doesn’t mean they should be harmed just because we don’t understand them.

I still want to let one latch on to me for 10 seconds. But it seems like every time one gets boated I see those teeth and say, “Maybe the next one”.

Quote:

---

I still want to let one latch on to me for 10 seconds. But it seems like every time one gets boated I see those teeth and say, “Maybe the next one”.

---

Jeremy Wade did it… So did Jay Leno….