Limerick May 29, 2009 (What fish / eel?)

People: me, Gabriel & Sophie

Duration: 21:00 - 23:00

Tide: high

Weather: Great!

Bait: Mackerel, Squid heads

Rigs: various

Results: (8) Dab, (1) Whiting, (1) Eel for confirmation what type?


Report:

We thought a great way to start the long weekend is with a fishing session. Got all gears, packed our baits, grab the food and off we go. Gabriel and Sophie are both looking forward to this. We started driving towards Kilteery Pier from Limerick just before 20:00 unfortunately there was a fatal accident at Kildimo which blocked all traffic before some detours were set in place. It took us close to an hour to get off it and arrive a few minutes pass 21:00. We got a few Dabs and a good sized whiting on my catch standards around 1/2 kilo. We also got an Eel which I don't really know what type. Maybe you can help me identify it. I am attaching the picture below. This an addition to my species count for the year! Will go back again today at Kilteery and maybe tomorrow and try another Mark on Monday.

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well done simplywabs...conger eel alright

Are you sure Zeke? Looks to me like the eel we pick up in our local rivers.

European eel I think you call them

well done wabs, probably a small conger there, checked the larger mouth and eye, but enough of the practise now with these wee straps, next time you might have one of these fellas pulling your line

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I'm not so sure, look at where the dorsal fin starts..

The conger has a smooth, apparently scales skin and no pelvic fins. It differs in having a slightly protruding lower jaw, a dorsal fin that starts near the head, and larger gill slits. The dorsal fin of a conger begins quite near to the head, and its lower jaw protrudes; these two features help distinguish small conger eels from common eels.

In the common eel the dorsal fin arises about a head's length behind the gill slits and pectoral fins while in the conger eel the fin arises further forward, from just behind the pectoral fins.

I'm not so sure, look at where the dorsal fin starts..

The conger has a smooth, apparently scales skin and no pelvic fins. It differs in having a slightly protruding lower jaw, a dorsal fin that starts near the head, and larger gill slits. The dorsal fin of a conger begins quite near to the head, and its lower jaw protrudes; these two features help distinguish small conger eels from common eels.

In the common eel the dorsal fin arises about a head's length behind the gill slits and pectoral fins while in the conger eel the fin arises further forward, from just behind the pectoral fins.

well spotted John, clearly a common eel by the description, great find, still have to catch one myself though

I'd say common eel myself, welldone none the less

Thanks to all for your reply. I'll treat it as common eel since I was catching in the estuary a mix of these type exist there. Hopefully will get a Conger soon and I can definitively say the difference from the first one.

the large eye would have me inclined to think conger....

it is 100% a small strap conger

nice one on the catch, your really getting in to the swing of it now.

For what its worth I would also recon baby conger - big eyes and mouth, an more distinctive 'bulgy' head.

davy

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mouth, eyes and skull shape would lead me to the belief that it is a small conger. i have caught many like it.

i have caught thousands of common eels they are usually a darker colour, than that, unless it has something to do with the type of ground.

i have caught common eel and they didn't look the same,i would say its a strap conger ,well done whatever it is

On closer inspection, I'd have to change my mind and agree with a few of the others, its a baby conger

"The early stages of the transformation are those which interest the sea angler. Little piggy eyes enlarge to become large, lustrous, light-collectors for deep sea work. The impermeable skin with its coating of waterproof slime, that for so long has had to prevent the eel becoming waterlogged, now has to keep water in against the highly concentrated salt solution outside. In open water the greeny-yellow camouflage uniform is of little use and is replaced by silvery, mirror-like sides. Many other species of fish which migrate to the open sea have a similar strategy and everyone must be familiar with the nickel-plated appearance of the salmon and the sea trout. In estuaries silver eels are the quarry of many sea anglers. As your legered ragworm rests on the grey mud it is a toss-up whether it will be taken by a flounder, a bass or silver eel."
excerpt taken from http://www.mikeladle.com/tackle/tackle106.html (Migration of Silver Eel)

nice one wabs there's no stopping you guys now. you'll have a good species tally by the end of the year if you keep this pace up. well done guys keep it up

"The early stages of the transformation are those which interest the sea angler. Little piggy eyes enlarge to become large, lustrous, light-collectors for deep sea work. The impermeable skin with its coating of waterproof slime, that for so long has had to prevent the eel becoming waterlogged, now has to keep water in against the highly concentrated salt solution outside. In open water the greeny-yellow camouflage uniform is of little use and is replaced by silvery, mirror-like sides. Many other species of fish which migrate to the open sea have a similar strategy and everyone must be familiar with the nickel-plated appearance of the salmon and the sea trout. In estuaries silver eels are the quarry of many sea anglers. As your legered ragworm rests on the grey mud it is a toss-up whether it will be taken by a flounder, a Bass or silver eel."
excerpt taken from http://www.mikeladle.com/tackle/tackle106.html (Migration of Silver Eel)

It doesn't explain the head and mouth shape though does it?

i`d go for baby conger.eye too big and its too pale even for a silver eel/common eel....
we used to catch them on the north coast at the same time of year every year,think it was autumn/winter.
they were a good bit smaller(prob just arrived along the gulf stream) and we would get one a cast,they made a real mess of the traces