Okay I made a post the other day on spawn and post spawn battle scars on bass. I caught a 4lb bass the other day and it had what two spots on its left gill that appeared to be where some kind of creature was sucking its blood or something. A few guys replied to my post saying that it had to be lamprey, but lamprey eels are only native to the great lakes and surrounding areas? What are the chances that a 250'x1000' pond/lake be possibly infested with lamprey? I live in fayetteville, NC where this pond is located. About 13 hours away from the great lakes. There are no streams or rivers attached to this, and I'm an hour and a half to two hours away from the ocean. 

Absolutely no way that was a Lamprey. Various parasites can cause circular wounds. Bacteria and other microbes on up to leaches.

We have Lamprey Eels here in the Delaware River and some of its tributaries and backwaters. Nasty lookin things.

while i doubt there are lampreys in your lake, they are found in more places than the great lakes

There are lampreys in some of the smallmouth rivers in Missouri.  They are in other places than just the Great Lakes.

 

But yeah, your pond probably just has some sort of parasite in it that makes those wounds.

Plenty of Lampreys on the west coast in the Columbia River and its tributaries.

The lamprey eel is not native to the great lakes. It invaded the great lakes when the lakes were open to ocean traffic. There is a freshwater lamprey (type) eel that is native to some waters of the US. 

Just found out that this pond/lake was dug out about 20 yrs ago. Used to be a white sand pit for DOT crews. Then someone claimed the land after DOT was done with it and finished digging it out. Stocked it with tons of crappie, brim, bass, and catfish. No way it's lamprey. Gotta figure something else out I guess.

 

 

 

 

The lamprey eel is not native to the great lakes. It invaded the great lakes when the lakes were open to ocean traffic. There is a freshwater lamprey (type) eel that is native to some waters of the US. 

 

 

Plenty of Lampreys on the west coast in the Columbia River and its tributaries.

 

 

There are lampreys in some of the smallmouth rivers in Missouri.  They are in other places than just the Great Lakes.

 

But yeah, your pond probably just has some sort of parasite in it that makes those wounds.

 

 

while i doubt there are lampreys in your lake, they are found in more places than the great lakes

 

 

We have Lamprey Eels here in the Delaware River and some of its tributaries and backwaters. Nasty lookin things.

while i doubt there are lampreys in your lake, they are found in more places than the great lakes

 

Caught a bass on the road trip from Pickwick with one on it and many fish that had the marks from them.

I caught fish today that had circular marks on it that looked like it had had something on it it was about the size of a dime

Ever think about going there with a flash lite at night and look at the edge of the shoreline? I see eels at night right up against the waters edge. I figure this is why the bass are close to the shoreline at night and the black plastic worms work so good.