Eel, American Goldenfishberg

Photo: 

Species:

Location: 
St. Croix!!!!!!!
Date Caught: 
Friday, September 9, 2016
Notes: 
Caught on a single crawler threaded onto a larger Gami octopus. 34 inches long, slime ratio 700:1, excitement gauge: Off the dang charts
Strains, Subspecies, and Hybrids: 

Comments

A major bucket list species for me - the slimier the better - looks like that one slimed you a litte too up close and personal - or you got a little too excited ;) Congrats on the great catch!

andy's picture

Great catch man.  I'm envious of that catch.

Goldenfishberg's picture

Thank you! It was unreal, I was and still am in shock and awe of getting to handle my own Eel. I was most certianly too exicted and may or may not have ruined that pair of draws. Once I get the pics from Moose's camera I'll throw it up as a notable catch, he got some great action shots on his camera. Big BIG thanks to Moose for landing it for me and being the photo man. 

Ya just Can't catch um from the couch.

TonyS's picture

very little out there as cool as catching an Eel so far from the ocean, it is an unreal experience.  Congrats on great catch!

If I was superstitious, I'd say those are now your lucky draws, but I bet your angling skills had a lot more to do with it than you give yourself credit for - I'm equally envious!
Dr Flathead's picture

Nice!  Congrats on the catch.  September has been the best month for them.  Always cool to see one of them all the way up here from the ocean.  Its amazing to think about them and the struggles they must face making it around some of the dams.  And the fact that its like 2000 miles up the Mississippi to make it to the Croix.  The females live up here for 20 or so years and head back to the ocean to spawn and die.  What a life!

tom's picture

I had no idea those things were around here. How'd that feel on you line?!

 

Phil's picture

Very cool - you are on a roll this year but that's a whole other level.  A nice thick one too -Nice!! 

Goldenfishberg's picture

Thank you Andy for putting this on the front page! HOLY COW Never thought I'd see my ugly mug up there! I'm very honored. I've always entertained myself with the idea of catching and eel in the fall on a dreary rainy Foggy kind of night and that's exactly the kind of night we had when I caught that one. It fought pretty dang good when I first set the hook it felt heavy then it felt like I lost the fish and it was back and forth between solid weight and rapid head shakes to "Oh crap it came off" untill finally I got it to the surface and once we saw that it was an eel it was all I could to do to stay calm-ish and not stroke out right there on the river! Still can't believe it happened for me, especially with how many miles that fish swam only to find my worm sitting there all non-chalantly like at the bottom of the river in the main freakin' channel! The odds are mind boggling to me still. Thanks again to Moose for landing (wrangling) it for me and taking pics couldn't have done it without ya man. 

Ya just Can't catch um from the couch.

pmk00001's picture

Congrats man!  Eels are cool in general but catching one in Minnesota is cool af!

 

 

FP4LifesDad's picture

Awesome catch big guy!!  That's my unicorn fish right there, the coolest fish in the state in my book.  Congrats on getting one, super jealous!!  Fish On Brother!!!

Hal Edward's picture

If you don't mind me asking, where on the Croix did ya catch this. This is a huge bucket list fish and I live right on the river, it's astounding to think how far these fish travel and how amazing it is that you could catch one. Huge Kudos to you man!

Moose439's picture

Awesome catch man. Been busy as sheeet ill get those pics up tomorrow.
Carp Chaser's picture

Wow what an eel fishberg! That's an insane lifer. The gatekeeper of the Croix must have opened his treasure chest and that eel swam out.

"There's always a bigger fish"

space monki's picture

Holy wow. That is a nice one!