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Lamprey is the common name for any of about 40 species of eel-like, jawless fish, they are widely distributed in freshwater streams and seas of temperate and sub-arctic regions throughout the world except for the waters off southern Africa.

Lamprey are parasitic, they live on the blood from the host fish. They are smooth-skinned with a row of seven respiratory openings each side of the body and when fully grown can reach a length of 36". The feeding mechanism is rather awesome, their mouths are circular and without jaws, the inner edge of the mouth and the edges of the tongue are lined with numerous small horny teeth which is used to pierce the flesh of the host fish. The tongue is piston-like that creates suction when drawn back allowing the lamprey to gorge on the blood of it's host. Lamprey have no bony skeleton, its main body support coming from the cartilaginous notochord.

The lamprey that we pack for bait is the sea lamprey ( Petromyzon marinus), a marine species that is native to the Atlantic coast of North America and Europe. All lampreys breed in fresh water, usually in clear streams with gravely, sandy bottoms. Marine lampreys swim up freshwater river and streams like salmon, climbing weirs and waterfalls that obstruct their path, using their sucking mouths to attach themselves to rocks in order to take a rest in fast currents.

Both males and females move stones with their mouths and excavate a shallow nest in which the female deposits about 62,500 eggs. As the eggs are laid the female stirs up the sand on the bottom of the stream so that it rises and adheres to the eggs, weighing them down. After the spawning, which occurs only once in the lifetime of a lamprey, the adult fish wastes away and dies in two to three months. The eggs hatch in 14-21 days and the larvae drift downstream until they settle in a quiet pool, where they burrow in the mud. The larvae are completely unlike the adult, they are blind and toothless, and have a different feeding mechanism. A fringe of tiny barbs called barbules surrounds the mouth, serving as a strainer to capture its food.

The young lamprey remain in the mud for a least 4 years, at the end of which time it undergoes a metamorphosis into the adult form and departs for its adult habitat in the sea.

In the Middle Ages lampreys were a food delicacy, but they are now used mainly for bait. As pike bait they prove to be very efficient, this is due to copious amounts of blood released when cut. Predator Baits pack the lamprey in 2 size packs, 2 sections in pack, and 4 whole lamprey in a pack.