What is the most average distance casting with eels in your experience, profession, and opinion? And state your reason. Mine is usually about 20 or 50 feet. Eels are squirming weight baits. The aren't like plugs. When I was reading Joe Lyons' NY Times article and a reporter stated that he casted 200 feet with an eel. Is that true, Joe? I was thinking that it is impossible for an average surcaster to cast an eel that far. Maybe you can help me out with it or debate against it...

notaro, theres a lot of variables to consider.. length of pole, type of reel, the person who is casting, and the size of the eel.. wind etc.

Its definately not impossible.

Yes, I use a ten foot rod to cast a eel. I would say about 50 feet. So you sa the person who cast it, his or her height may dicates it?

Notaro if you were standing in the end-zone of a football field, could you cast an eel--the right eel for the rod that you use--to the 65yard line? Maybe, maybe not, or if you had too-- and you wanted to risk losing the eel from the hook being ripped clean from its head.
For me I'm with you, the shorter the better.
The eel cast as I was once taught is somewhere between a lob and a cast................................it is not as Mike P said a power cast.
Happy lobbing.:)

I'd say I cast eels 20-50 feet from my boat. I'd be afraid of loosing the eel if I whipped it to far and hard. Eels are Precious!!!
:laughs:

And costly too, fishaholic;)

They are costly and that is why I rig em dead. They hold together better and when you get em up into the suds they come out with big Momma Bass on there trail.
Course, I be casting from a boat and have to get into the shore.

Never seen a 65 yardline on a football field before :confused: :laughs:

I can't cast an eel worth chit :mad:

I don't have to toss them far from my boat. I don't use weights, but don't forget that some people do when fishing eels. You could get more distance that way.:huh:

in a lot of the places i fish, there is no need to put an eel much further than 50 - 75 feet from shore. most cow holding structure is nearby. anything more than that can be accomplished by drifting the eel. even when not fihsing an inlet type area, drifing an eel in the current can be deadly. walking an eel, when done right, can score some good fish too.

I don't know how ya cast an eel 200 ft unless you use an 11' rod and have a tail wind.
I use a 9' rod and I don't think I can cast an eel that far, close but not quite that far.

i may have put an eel 200' out a few times, but that was when the hook came free and the eel got launced into orbit! :smash:

On the boat I don't really cast. I just toss away from the boat a little and let them swim away. If I find that they are not swiming to the bottom i will put like a 1oz egg or rubber core sinker on, but not to offten.

I've launched an eel farther than 200 feet.

Yes, you CAN power-pendulum cast an eel.

If it's rigged and has a weight on the front of it. :laughs: :hihi:

I'd say in the low to mid 100's on my 10' spin
around 100 on my 8'6" w/ squidder... mmmm squidder... so nice and slow with an eel.......... :humpty:

Depends on the size of the eel, maybe 75 -100 feet on my 10' Lami, more of a lob than a line drive. I don't really need to go for the long ball in my favorite spots, it's more about placement.

And the 'splat' of the snake hitting the water is a good way to ring the dinner bell.

Don't know for sure, depth perception is off quite a bit in the dark. I know I can put them out there pretty far, but no where near as far as a plug when I'm reaching to hit the edge of a rip.

Echo the slapping = the dinner bell ringing. On several occasions I've stretched to reach the sound of a slurp and after the splat the line started paying off...........

Since 50 to 100 and 60 to 200 overlap, do you want to add a choice for "far enough". I'd agree with the 75 - 100 for a live eel and 100+ for a rigged.

200'? Yeah, with a 20" eel, an 11' XRA 1322, thin braid and a 30 kt tailwind.

Most times, I'd say an eel flies 30-40 yards. Many times, that's 20-30 yards farther than where a fish hits it.

Yup, what Mike said...

I know its not 200 ft but it gets out far enough to catch fish . 30 40 yds is probably a fair distance to catch fish . the harder you cast to get distance the more likely the eel will fly off the hook . it comes down to practice and learning what is the point where I get the distance but I dont loose the eel .

i fished with joe in june, and yes he can cast an eel out there. not sure how far because we went at night, but he does use a lami and really pulls with his left hand on the cast . comes with practice.

50ft or 50 yds-- 50 ft would seem kinda easy to hit even with sm eel on sm rod.Just lob -em they go where they go fish will find them.

Certainly more than 100 feet , I doubt 200. More than 200 if rigged.

I absolutely crank my eels out there in every effort to reach that outter bar. It cast so hard it makes a giant "wooooshing" sound that you can hear from down the beach. I very rarely loose eels ch#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&' 'em hard. Most of the time the reason I loose an eels is after I have caught so many fish on it that its head looks like I mashed it with a hammer so that I have to hook it in the arse. Or after I spend time edging my way out onto a bar so that it is a long walk back in, then I always seem to cast it off on the first cast.:smash: At night, I would say I am casting it at LEAST 200 YDS. But then the sun comes up and the effects of the sun's gravitational pull seems to reduce my cast to about 50 feet.:smash:

redlite rocks!!!!
I love slimeys!!!!!
winter is gettin to me:(
50 feet bubba no kung fu on those babies

That's my most estiminated casting, Slingah.
So if you properly rigged a eel, you can cast far. Ron Arra used a fishfinder rig to cast his eel in distance.

Redlite, appearances at night can decieve you...;)

2.99 miles.

just shy of the EEZ :)

Originally posted by Notaro
Ron Arra used a fishfinder rig to cast his eel in distance. arra = :smash:
i take anything fishing related coming from him as seriously as i would from my old lady! actually, at least she has me as a teacher.

I tried using a fishfinder rig and it wasn't fun.

FWW, when you said that I could use a pendulem cast with a eel, does it apply to the spinning or convench?

Originally posted by Notaro
[B]I tried using a fishfinder rig and it wasn't fun.B] 99% of the time you do not use this set up with a live eel. that is, unless you want a nasty eel knot like the old timers tell stories about! as far as pendulum on an eel, spinning or conventional works. there is a feel that comes with casting an eel. you just gotta make a million casts and lose your share to know how much you can put into your cast. it will be different for every casting style and rod action.

Originally posted by t.lapinski
99% of the time you do not use this set up with a live eel. that is, unless you want a nasty eel knot like the old timers tell stories about! as far as pendulum on an eel, spinning or conventional works. there is a feel that comes with casting an eel. you just gotta make a million casts and lose your share to know how much you can put into your cast. it will be different for every casting style and rod action.
Yeah, so true. It doesn't matter if I cast short or far with eel, right? I mean the fish comes closer to the shore at night.

This is an interesting post. Like someone else said there are lots of factors. You rats in the Cape need not to throw it as far as we do in Montauk or many other areas here on the Island. I use a Lami GSB 132 1M for my eeling, plugging and bucktailing in Montauk. I like my eels 16-20"and rarely will fish them with a wind in my face. With a little wind at my back I don't see a problem with 65 yards with a lot of wind-- no problem. As far as eels coming off-- it rarely happens. I use a 8/0 mustad Tuna hook in the lower jaw and out the eye socket. I have had problems with eels coming off the gami hooks because of the small barb, and have switched back to the Mustad. Duller hook- but with a little home depot file you really can juice it up. I know of a few guys who swear by the gami hooks and punch the hook threw the back of the eye. The problem I have found with this is that my eel dies much quicker-especially on the warm summer nights where the eels had to make a loooong walk with me to reach the goods.

Another thing, when you retrieve a eel, the body tuned upside down.

Kinda tough to tell in the dark. But sometimes it sounds about30-35yds