Eels in Little Tennessee River

[Raylander]

The biggest one I have ever seen was maybe 18-24 inches I guess!

That’s big enough to eat!

 

[Doug B.]

They're wrong. There are no eels in the Little T, at least not in western NC. Maybe in the lower reaches 200 miles downstream in TN. There is no path to the ocean without passing 50 dams. I've lived near it and fished it all my life. An eel ain't gonna climb that 496' high Fontana dam, sorry.

You know, this may sound dumb, but I have never looked to see where the LTR runs into the Tennessee River. I'm guessing it would have to be before Chattanooga.

I know where you live (or at least I know close to where you live). How close is the LTR to you. I should actually know this but I have never really looked to see how it runs. I spend a lot of my time on the headwaters of it hunting, fishing, and trapping!

 

[Doug B.]

That’s big enough to eat!

I guess you are right! I'm not opposed to eating one, except there don't seem to be an abundance of them. I'm guessing that it has been over 30 years since I have seen one.

 

[Raylander]

I guess you are right! I'm not opposed to eating one, except there don't seem to be an abundance of them. I'm guessing that it has been over 30 years since I have seen one.

I’d never eat one. They pretty rare. But when you see one, just know you’re in a good creeek

Plus I think they’re protected.

 

[Doug B.]

I’d never eat one. They pretty rare. But when you see one, just know you’re in a good creeek

Plus I think they’re protected.

I would hope they are protected. I would be willing to bet that 98% of the world's population has never even heard of one, much less ever seen one!!!

 

[NCHillbilly]

You know, this may sound dumb, but I have never looked to see where the LTR runs into the Tennessee River. I'm guessing it would have to be before Chattanooga.

I know where you live (or at least I know close to where you live). How close is the LTR to you. I should actually know this but I have never really looked to see how it runs. I spend a lot of my time on the headwaters of it hunting, fishing, and trapping!

The Little T hits the Tennessee River between Knoxville and Chattanooga. There are several major dams on it that would block any eels coming upriver- Tellico, Chilhowee, Calderwood, Cheoah, and Fontana are all bigguns.

It takes me a little over half an hour to get to it at the closest point to me, around Bryson City.

 

[Doug B.]

The Little T hits the Tennessee River between Knoxville and Chattanooga. There are several major dams on it that would block any eels coming upriver- Tellico, Chilhowee, Calderwood, Cheoah, and Fontana are all bigguns.

It takes me a little over half an hour to get to it at the closest point to me, around Bryson City.

Wow, I didn't realize there was that many dams on it!!!

 

[Resica]

Thanks! I think you are right! It's funny that I have lived here in this county, wading this same creek, wading other creeks close by, and I've never seen or knew of this critters existence. There is also a lizard that is in these same waters that most people have never seen. We call it a water dog. It is a large lizard with a very rounded head. I have seen a few of these critters, but never this lamprey!!!!!

We have Hellbenders and Mudpuppies in Pa.. Both big.

 

[Resica]

They're wrong. There are no eels in the Little T, at least not in western NC. Maybe in the lower reaches 200 miles downstream in TN. There is no path to the ocean without passing 50 dams. I've lived near it and fished it all my life. An eel ain't gonna climb that 496' high Fontana dam, sorry.

Probably a boat load of eels beneath the first dam. Some probably go around lower dams on land, able to do that. 496 feet would be a tough one, for sure.

 

[Pig Predator]

I would be 99% sure that was an American brook lamprey. They live in a lot of streams in western NC, and top out at about 6" -7" in length. There are no eels in the Little TN system.

Here is a brook lamprey:

View attachment 1207122
View attachment 1207121

I've caught trout out of cartecay with those attached but they drop off as soon as you bring them out of the water.

 

[NCHillbilly]

Probably a boat load of eels beneath the first dam. Some probably go around lower dams on land, able to do that. 496 feet would be a tough one, for sure.

Fontana and Cheoah are huge, tall dams, basically built in vertical gorges. Not much going over or around those.

 

[Nicodemus]

One species, as far as I know. The "biddies" are called elvers, I think and they are kinda clear looking.

Up to a foot long, they are a prized Striper bait.

I have personally seen them nearly black in tannic water, and yellow to green in clearer or muddy water.

In the Satilla River, they are dark and up to a couple feet or so.

In the Altamaha, they are yellow/green, and can grow to about four feet.

We used to catch a lot of eels in the Oconee colored up like the ones you describe in the Altamaha. They`d be up to 3 feet long. We used them for cut bait on trotlines. This was about 10 miles or so up from the forks of the rivers. I`ve caught one on the Flint like that, a few miles below the Warwick Dam. I suppose it came through the lock at Lake Seminole.

 

[NCHillbilly]

I've caught trout out of cartecay with those attached but they drop off as soon as you bring them out of the water.

There are a couple species of lampreys in the southeast that are parasitic. I think the Ohio lamprey is one that occurs in parts of northern Georgia.

 

[NCHillbilly]

We have Hellbenders and Mudpuppies in Pa.. Both big.

We have plenty of hellbenders here, mudpuppies not so much.

 

[Resica]

Fontana and Cheoah are huge, tall dams, basically built in vertical gorges. Not much going over or around those.

I guess fish ladders aren't being installed on those huge ones. Are those dams from the TVA times?

 

[NCHillbilly]

I guess fish ladders aren't being installed on those huge ones. Are those dams from the TVA times?

Yeah. Old ones. Fontana was built during WW2 partly to supply power for the A-bomb building project. The newest one is Tellico, I bet you remember it, that was the one that the whole snail darter fiasco was about. It was the last dam that TVA built, in 1979. Cheoah was built in 1919. If you've ever seen that movie The Fugitive, that was Cheoah dam that Harrison Ford jumped off of.