Round Valley Surprise

[Eskimo]

I've heard about these. They are female eels that were unable to migrate back down river to spawn in the ocean, so they just remained in freshwater and grew huge.

The odd thing is, Round Valley isn't fed by a river. All the water is pumped into it from somewhere else. So where do you suppose it came from?

[Fish n Jeep]

Originally Posted by Eskimo

So where do you suppose it came from?

A bait bucket?

[TSouth]

Oddly enough I went back the next day to fish Spruce Run and my buddy caught a small eel on his first cast...on a hotdog! I didn't even know they were in Spruce.

[ATH1089]

Originally Posted by Eskimo

I've heard about these. They are female eels that were unable to migrate back down river to spawn in the ocean, so they just remained in freshwater and grew huge.

The odd thing is, Round Valley isn't fed by a river. All the water is pumped into it from somewhere else. So where do you suppose it came from?

My brother caught a couple of these things on a private lake when we were kids. Completely landlocked, miles from any current rivers. They fight like devils, and they are so slimy it is a challenge to keep them still enough to remove the hook.

[lunkertaker]

EELS...OOOHHH! Guess they are everywhere. Have caught lots in the ocean and have been blessed not to catch on in FW...never use bait in FW and there ya go. Have seen them caught (catfish night out last year rings a bell).

Edible....maybe....on our table...NEVER~

[Mark B.]

The current State Record (6 lbs. 13 oz.) caught @ RVR in 2005, is on the wall here @ the Fisheries Lab.

Could’ve come from a bait bucket, or from the S. Branch @ Hamden,…….where the water to fill RVR is pumped from.

I have visions of a Godzilla-sized eel, swimming there,………making its way up & over the north dam to the Rockaway Creek, then the Raritan R. on its way to spawn in the Sargasso Sea.

“The Eel That Ate Lebanon”,……..& Raritan, Manville, Bound Brook,………..