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See the fishing tripsThe American Eel
April to September
50 cm
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The American Eel belongs to the Anguillidae family. The size of the adult female can reach 1 m in length, while that of the male does not exceed 40 cm. Spawning takes place in mid-winter. Females lay 3 to 22 million eggs. He can live to be 50 years old. It can be fished from April to September.
The American eel is a species of fish with a snake-like body all in length with fins that extend over its back, around its tail and along its inner surface. It has thick lips and a slightly longer lower jaw than her upper jaw, which gives her the appearance of having an overbite. The color of young eels varies from yellow-green or brown. Adult eels are grey with white or cream bellies.
The American Eel lifestyle
The American eel is a very voracious fish. In general, it feeds mainly on small fish and invertebrates at night. However, its diet varies according to the different stages of its growth:
- larval: the diet consists mainly of zooplankton and dissolved organic matter;
- Elver: it feeds on insect larvae;
- yellow eel: feeds on insect larvae, insects living on the surface of the water, mollusks, fish, crustaceans, worms and plants;
- silver eel: it stops feeding completely and migrates to its spawning area.
American eel spawning grounds are located east of Florida and the Bahamas Islands, and south of Bermuda. In late autumn, when it has reached the size of sexual maturity, it leaves rivers and lakes to join the ocean. Spawning takes place in mid-winter, so adults are not seen again. Depending on their size, females lay 3 to 22 million eggs at a depth of about 400 m. Hatching occurs a few days after laying. The larval form of the American eel is the leptocephalon. This larva has the appearance of a wide, transparent ribbon reminiscent of a willow leaf. For a period of about a year, it gets carried away by the currents while actively swimming towards the shore. Its body then undergoes a new metamorphosis: that of a transparent glass eel. Glass eels arrive in fresh water between May and June, and their transparency gradually disappears. They pigment until they become almost black. The scales appear around the age of 3 years and the glass eels have become yellow eels. The final stage of the maturation process is that of the silver eel, where it is finally ready for migration and the long journey to its birthplace in salt water, where it will reproduce and disappear.
The American Eel habitat
The larval stage occurs at sea.
The American eel then spends most of its life in fresh water. It is particularly fond of muddy, rocky and sandy substrates but also of the natural hiding places of tree trunks and submerged vegetation. At the end of its life, it joins the salt water to reproduce.
Note: Some American eels remain in the brackish waters of estuaries and never enter fresh water.
It can be found in the Northwest Atlantic, rivers, lakes and estuaries of North America.
The American Eel angling
You can fish American Eel from April to September. They are particularly abundant at night when they are looking for food.
You can bait it with earthworms or small fish with the bottom fishing method.
