what kind of snake is this

[NennaMeerkat]

If it was on its side I would say eel...was it alive in that picture? Never heard of a snake laying on its side while being alive.

[stephanbakir]

Hoggies do it all the time playing dead, but I'm 90% sure that its an eal

[Lankyrob]

Knowledge of american animals not great but could it be some sort of leech?

[stephanbakir]

Leeches don't have a spinal ridge like that, or an eye.

[Lankyrob]

So it is DEFINATELY laid on its side?

[stephanbakir]

Can't think of anything but a flounder that has eyes on top? And the body shape is wrong for them. If it is a leeches sucker its one of the roundest ones I've ever seen, and the body is huge too!

Second thought, could it be a lamprey!?

[brheel]

it was definately on its side in the picture but it was still on the line with the hook in its mouth. but like i said the hook appeared to be a through and through (through both the top and bottom of its mouth) its definately not a lamprey or a leech there was no sucker on its mouth, i got a clear view of it before i took a picture of it. stephan if you take a look at my facebook there are two more pictures of it on there kind of hard to see but its there. the first one has a leaf on top of its head. i called the game warden on camp lejeune today and they told me that eel's are not native to the area or native to the waters on base being that the ponds on base are stocked ponds and that means they are controlled with what they have in it, so they are in shock. oh and by the way yes it was still alive in the picture, and not sure if this helps but when i cut the line because i was not sure how to handle it it just kind of laid there and playing it on the safe side i used the tip of the rod to roll it back into the pond because it would not move. i figured it was either in shock or just really pissed.

[brheel]

here are the other pictures i have of it, not the greatest but its all i had to work with for lighting at the time

[brheel]

thats a leaf on the top of it not actually part of it

[NennaMeerkat]

Wish I could see the mouth on it.

[stephanbakir]

Its an eal, look at the frilly fin at the end of the tail.
If the pond is indeed a sealed site, tell the game warden that someone had a few pets and decided to release them there.

[NennaMeerkat]

That is true...the tail like it is does scream eel. Snakes just don't have tails like that at all.

[stephanbakir]

Even sea snakes don't have frilly fins. It has to be an eal, or a similar animal.

[Lankyrob]

Defo an eel - and most of them can travel across land so even if it is a stocked pond it could have travelled there itself rather than been dumped.

[Aaran]

Its an eel used to catch em alot , the tend to fight good and are good to eat