I have dramatically increased the amount of surfcasting I do vs. boat fishing in the past two years. (Often felt I would have been safer in Sarehevo than on a boat with 4 or 5 kids casting!) But other than chunk herring, I have been using plugs and flies. I need some assistance in the proper use of live baits, especially how to 'hook' the live bait. Thanking you in advance...

Fishin with live herring I use a fish finder and a 30" leader hooking threw the head so I can cast. This works well for fishing on the bottom. Another good way in currant is to hook threw the head and let the herring do the work. You can also ad 3/8oz. sinker to keep it down.

When live-linning baits like mackeral or herring, you want to cast and work them, really you want to let them work for you... With mackeral use a 6/0 live bait hook behind the dorsal and same with herring or even better through the nostril with herring. You need to gingerly cast them out as too much pressure will send the fish in one direction with the hook staying close. You really aren't using any additional weight, therefore no fish finder rig... Then you let them swim on their own. You'll know things are happening when the live fish starts getting all skittish and frantic...

Eels are a hooked with a 6/0 in through the mouth fairly deep and down through the lower jaw. Many people prefer to come up through an eye socket but I don't like that personally...

The tough thing with live linning is when to set the hook. Usually, the longer you let the bass run with the bait in it's mouth, the better hookup you get. The down side is that you increase the chance of a gut hook which isn't good for the fish. As far as circle hooks, I use them when fishing cut bait but have not tried them with live macks or herring yet. I do not like them for live eels....

Hope this is a start...

I don't like circle hooks for live eels either. But I used a circle hook last night 1 1/2 hour into out-going at my marina dropped a herring right next to my boat, since my herring pen is tied to my boat and I figured there could be some attraction to the area. I never even had a chance to close the bail to set the baitrunner and a 32" bass took the herring , after a little line went out I closed the bail and held the rod stiffly for the fish to hook itself, which it did right in the top lip. So I finally got my first real keeper of the season.

Another live bait not to forget about is seaworms, they catch fish and big ones too.

The way I liveline bait depends on what bait I'm using.

If you are talking about bunker, just throw out a snagger, rip it through the school, and once you snag one, just let your bunker swim around. If there are blues around, they will take off the tail fast. If you don't hook up with a blue, the bunker will flutter to the bottom where a bass might just pick it off. Bass typically hide underneath and let the blues do the work for them.

For peanut bunker, put a snap on the line. On the snap put a 3/0 treble hook. Cast it out there, snag a peanut, reel it in, replace the treble with a single 2/0 or 3/0 hook, throw it back into the school. The reason why I like the single hook with the peanuts is, you are likely to hook up with smaller fish. If you used a treble, it can be quite a task to get it out of a smaller fishes mouth.

For shad, put a single hook through the nose. Bluefish shouldn't be around yet to harass the shad so you are really just targeting bass. That being the case, bass will swallow a shad head first. Even if a smaller bass just hits a shad for territoral reasons, they will still have the hook in them. I'm sure this will work just as well for alewives or herring. The other reason why I like them through the nose is because these herring family fish tend to be fragile. Through the nose allows you to reel the bait in and that will keep it head first like the way it swims. It will pass oxygen through the gills.

For snappers, bluefish will be around so I hook them through the back, right behind the dorsal fin.

Sandworms are easy. Fishfinder rig.

If I have a choice for live bait, it's a single hook. The only bait I don't use a single hook for is the large bunker because they are impossible to cast. Treble hooks can reduce the action I think.

Good luck.

Congrats - Slip!!! Right at the dock, eh? Next to your herring pen, huh? I know what kind of motor you got, what size boat and what marina yur at, now I have a new herring supply, hehehehe...

Patrick - what live bait have you used before to liveline?

John R (05-06-2001 11:06):
Eels are a hooked with a 6/0 in through the mouth fairly deep and down through the lower jaw. Many people prefer to come up through an eye socket but I don't like that personally...

John,

To pick your brain - I've done some eeling from shore but it seems the eels don't live very long on the hook. I'm using a realtively "small" hook (5/0 or 6/0) and have tried hooking the eel through the lower jaw, or both lips, or through the upper jaw out and eye. I'm very careful not to hook it too deep or to crush it as I'm holding it. Yet they don't seem to live as long as I would think they should.

Any ideas what I could be doing wrong? (How long should an eel be expected to live on the hook?)

ps- Using your hooking approach, I assume you put the point down the throat and the point out the bottom of the jaw?

Thanks.

Jaiem:
If your eels are dying that quickly, you are either getting bad, already dying eels or handling them wrong.

John R describes the two best methods for hooking live eels. I have used both methods. many people I have fished with, have caught numerous fish on the same eel, cast after cast and the eel has lived hour after hour. Sometimes we will even wrap an extremly livly eel in a cloth and give his head a few good wacks on the rocks to slow them down so they do not ball up and knot themselves and or the line. You would be very suprised how rugged these guys really are, they come right back to life and still live for hours. BTW, don't be afraid to use an eel who has died. Many fish have been caught on dead eels that have been raked so bad by stripers that they are turning white.

As for circle hooks. I have been using them with eels for two years now and like them quite well.

As for handling, Maybe this will help:

Never put eels in a container with water unless you have an aeration system.

There a number of proven methods for keeping eels alive.
1. Put them in a bucket with moist seaweed.

2. Use the double layer method. place ice in the bottom of the bucket and place another bucket inside the bucket with holes so the moist cold rises to them.

3. Place them directly on the ice and drain the excess water so they are not swimming.

4. Put them in the bucket and just rinse them every once in a while(I use this method). I have even kept eels alive in the refridgeartor using this method for a week or more(before having a live well).

Good luck

John R, one of your favroite South Shore spots produced some fish to 35" on Friday and Saturday at the top of the tide.

Jiaem, yep... The eels actually last a while with a little preparation beforehand. It's not unreasonable to get 4 or 5 decent fish on the same live eel. If an eel has caught a couple decent fish (and I have more in the bucket), I'll pardon his sentence and send him back to see alive. Eels are pretty resilient and the tracheotomy seems to repair fairly quickly...

I use the 6/0 Mustad (forget the number) shorter shank, non-stainless, which I re-sharpen frequently (quick ruster which is good if fish breaks line off). Having learned from the #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^& himself (insert bowing here), just run the hook fairly deep into the eel's mouth and out through the bottom.

As far as having the eels last, a couple items of preparation are really in order;

Transporting eels: I use a smaller shiner bucket with a lot of 1/4 holes in the bottom and put a bed of ice down (some use ice and burlap, some use ice and weeds) with the eels on top of the ice. This really slows down there metabolism and actually they can keep for as long as a week with frequent icing and misting from a garden hose... I put the eel bucket inside a 5 gal paint bucket with a couple bricks or rocks on the bottom so that as the ice melts and carries out the eal slime, they won't drown in the resulting, ahh, "juice" ... Some people go as far as a 3 bucket arrangement but I don't...

Hooking up the eels: Because they have been slowed down greatly being on ice, I find it's not necessary to "stun" the eel by wacking hard off rocks to slow them down (sometimes I have to if the ice has melted and they are getting very lively). This seems to make them last longer. After a few casts they warm up a bit and get lively at a very manageable level and seem to maintain that level longer... When hooking the eel, you want to be roughly past the eyes when running the hook down. This get's a deep set and gives you some room for the hole to open... I don't like running through the eye-socket because that seems to put more stress on them (not to mention if you go through the brain :P ). Going through the bottom only sligtly increases snagging and is worth it in my opinion and I know Bill is very convinced of going through the bottom.

Thanks for the tips.

What about transporting the eels along the beach? IOW, if you have to park and walk the surf how do you carry the eels so they're accessable and kept alive?

There are many ways. some people just carry them in an eel bucket and leave the bucket on the beach or jetty. If you are wading you can carry them in a mesh bag or a burlap sack and tie to your waist belt.

I heard of a method that sounds great if wading(never tried it though). Place a single eel in a ziplock sandwich bag and put the bag in your chest pocket(you can do this with 2 or 3 bags). When ready you can just pull the bag from your pocket and hook the eel right through the bag, then pull the hooked eel through the bag, no slimy hands and no rag required.

I, er, uh, dunno about the ziplock method as I've never tried it (my luck, the eel would pull the bag inside out and then it would fall inside my shirt - slimy side out :'( :P }> ??? )

Don's right about the mesh bags. You just need one that REALLY closes up tight, preferably zippered or with the draw strings brought tight, fold the bag over and put a strong clip as the eels will get out of a normal drawstring.

All I really use is the eel bucket. I can keep them iced longer but I'm looking for a good eel mesh bag for some more walking this year...

John,

I've live-lined shad, bunker, peanut bunker, river herring, and snappers.

There is no need to use a treble hook when livelining or doing any bait fishing for that matter. If a fish gets hooked deep, the treble does much more damage than a single hook. The CT CCA is working to ban the use of treble hooks for live bait in the CT River.

This is how I carry eels. I've only done it a few times but they haven't died. I have a soft sided cooler bag. You know the kind to bring lunches to school. I take a ziploc bag, put a blue icepack in it, put the eels in and I put the ice pack in the bag on top of it. The reason I put the icepack in the bag is so I can take it out of the bag and put it in the freezer.

The thing I have now is a laundry bag. For delicates. I'm just going to tie it to my surf bag...