Eel Or Leech

[Danimal]

Al,

That really changes my perspective on the American eel. The only time I ever have seen an American eel was down in Louisiana on Lake Providence (an oxbow lake off the Mississippi). I lifted up someone's trot line (I was just a teenager then and looking back I can't believe we actually did that) and all that was on it were eel. They freaked us out and we just dropped the line back in the water, not that we were going to take anything, just bored, curious teenagers.

Are there leeches in the Ozark rivers, such as, Buffalo River, Kings River, etc? I saw what I though was a leech once in Crooked Creek, but now I think it was the lamprey.

Indeed there are. Had one on my foot after fishing the Elk a couple of years ago. It was about an inch long and I didn't even notice it until I was taking off my sport sandals about an hour after leaving the water. Peeled it off with a knife then couldn't get it to stop bleeding for another half hour. Itched for about 3 days. Dan-o