Fish Weir

[theoriginalnickyp]

Anyone come across old fish weirs? I know there are some along the Susquehanna and heard rumors of one on the Lehigh, some of them are 6000 years old, about 1500 years older than the pyramids. Pretty cool to have in our own backyard.

 

[ryansheehan]

There is a discussion in off the water about them, not sure how to link it here though.

 

[afishinado]

ryansheehan wrote:
There is a discussion in off the water about them, not sure how to link it here though.

Here is the link > Weirs

 

[Baron]

http://www.asmfc.org/files/AmEel/2018AFS/26%20Best%20AFS%202018%20NY%20Weir%20Fishery.pdf

 

[wbranch]

I know of two. One on the EB Delaware is active and the guy who owns it uses it to make a living catching eels and smoking them. The other weir is on the main stem Delaware at the tail-out of the Stockport Pool. There are tons of eels in the Delaware. I remember one time years ago a guy came out to where I was fishing on a day where it was drizzling all day long. He told me that is the best time to catch them. He used a spinning rod with some BB's and angle worms and just cast out an in no time was catching one eel after another. They weren't big - maybe 12" - 15" long.

I caught a huge eel when I was in my late teens on a stream in northern NJ. It was as thick as my wrist and about 3' long. I was amazed that it was living in that trout stream. Some guy helped me get it off the hook.

 

[Canoetripper]

I have canoed most of the Delaware River from Hale's Eddy on the West Branch to Trenton, NJ where it transforms into a Tidal River.

The remnants of eel weirs are everywhere. I saw a show on TV about an active eel weir, probably the same one in the above post. The guy said he had a big problem with Bald Eagles picking off an easy meal trapped in the eel weir.

My sister lives in Hopewell, NJ. There is a tiny little creek that flows through her property that eventually empties into the Delaware River. I once saw an eel in there that was at least 18".

 

[moodyblues]

I'm pretty certain there are a few on the Schuylkill River.