I apologize. What for, you will soon learn.

I went down to the bait store and asked for eels. They gave me all normal eels. I went to the marina with my St. Croix. I made up a little rig. From my 30 lb shock leader, I tied a barrel swivel. To that I had about 2.5 feet of 50lb fluorocarbon with a 6/0 black mustad hook. All used palomar knots reinforced with glue. To that, I had one slimy striper candy. One guy laughed at me. Some kids laughed too. I fished the end of the fakejetty for a few minutes. I couldn't get a good cast there so I went to the boat channel. Too many boats around to work it right. I went back in. I told them that I was hitting the beach. Well, hitting the beach was no good so I walked down to Penfield reef. The tide was coming in and by the time I got there, I could only walk about 500 feet and the water was waist high. I walked out past one angler. I made the first cast. I reel it in slowly. Tap. and the line started running. I set the hook. There I was, my ten footer bent over in my hands while I am waist deep in water. No waders mind you. Just me in a pair of Khaki shorts. After a few minutes, the fish was in. I tried to lip it but at the last minute, the fish moved and my whole forearm disappeared in it's mouth. My eel was gone and the mustad was lodged in it's lip. I couldn't do anything with this fish. I began walking him to shore. The only tape measure I had was a leatherman tool. It might have made 40 but my guesses are 34-38 inches. Most probably the middle to high teens concerning weight. Chris, a gentleman that I passed on the way out just grabbed him by the tail. I tried to get the hook back, but couldn't. I couldn't cut the hook either so I slit the 50lb fluorocarbon. Honestly, that is the biggest fish of the year so far, perhaps my life. He got the hook, I got the memories. The hook will rust out in a few days, the memories will never corrode.
Two big changes. I believe in eels and I believe in the Reef.

I rerigged and went out. That eel fell off the hook some how. The next eel jumped out of my bag. Another lost the curl in it's tail. The 5th(slightly used<img src="/Images/Happy_Face.gif"><!--e1-->) and 6th were given away to a boating angler that I met in the marina. No more fish. Even though I had a sea robin go to the surface and grab the eel's tail. The eel didn't like that one bit.

I have seen the light. Tomorrow I am going back with more eels. I am trying to convince my dad to go with me but he isn't a big fisherman. I have 3 little kids into the eels too. They will be at the reef tomorrow as well.

Thanks to all of you. That fish knows better now and I think I saw him running up towards Massachuesettes. If you guys catch a bass with a 6/0 black mustad in it's top jaw, mail it to me at....

Patrick, Welcome to the club! Eels may be the most under-used bait on the sound. Your rig sounds good, don't use egg sinkers just the eel. You may find the circle hooks work better but with Mustad. I'd go to 10/0 because of Mustad's sizing.

Well I joined another club. The "I hate bluefish club". I knew it was going to be a bad day from the start. I took out my first eel, he slithered and jumped and made a clean break for the water. 4 eels left. The rest of my eels just didn't work and all of them eventually died or fell off the hook. The one I saved for last was a piece of art. It was maybe a foot and a half. It's back bone was a dark black and the belly is was white as snow. The sides were an awesome blend. I hooked her through the eyes and tossed her out. The eel was frisky. I had a hit but it wasn't one of those gulps. It was a tap-tap-tap of a lousy rat bluefish. After the hit stopped, my eel chunk fell to the bottom. I reeled it in and I had half an eel. The bluefish that hit that must have been only half the size of my eel. Well I rerigged with a swimmer because I was out of eels. Nothing much. I saved the eels that died. I am freezing them in a bag of water so I can throw them on a swimmerplate. What do I have to lose?
No fish today. Oh well. That other fish will last me for a few weeks.
Patrick

Dont stop using your eels when they die, unless the bass have shown a clear preference for lively ones. Most of the bass I take are on eels that arent very lively or completely dead. As for the circle hook suggestion, I fished with them last season and the beginning of this season and have determined that standard live bait hooks or octopus hooks are better. When the fish hit light, which has happened to me a lot this year, you cant set up hard and quick with circles.

I use 6/0 black mustad live bait hooks. They have a turned eye that I assume is for easier snelling but I'm not crazy about snelling so I just use a palomar knot with some glue. I'll try the dead eels when I try eels again. Probably tomorrow <img src="/Images/Happy_Face.gif"><!--e1--> I have caught one fish on eels and I am hooked on using them. I like being known as a big fish angler. People ask about them and because I don't really have a secret, I tell them exactly what I do. Friday, I had 3 kids wanting to try eels. Yesterday, I had 6 others intrigued. The only problem, 4 of them used gear that was inadaquate for eels.(Flyrods or too light of a spinner)

I would not get too elaborate in how you rig your eels. Barrel swivel, 50# leader, 20+# test line, single hook (SHARPENED) Mustad or one of the others around 5/0 - 6/0. Only weight to use (VERY RARELY) woud be a light rubber core ahead of the eel for swift moving currents. 95% of the time you want to be weightless. You do need to use the swivel with spinning gear or your eel will spin with it. Conventional is OK without.... Good luck

That is my rig essentially. The only difference is that I use 12lb test. What color do you prefer when it comes to swivels and hooks? I had a snapper hitting my swivel so now I am going to black. Well the swivel was black but the color got stripped off.
The hooks are black.

Patrick, you can accept this or reject it as you see fit, but if were you, I'd lose the 12# test and go with 20# for eel fishing. You might be able to handle the 37" fish fine on it, but mark my words, if you continue to run 12#, the day will come when you'll live to regret it.

I know it is really light for eeling. As soon as I have enough money, I am going conventional for eels. I have a Penn Long Beach. It is made out of Bakelite and doesn't have a drag system but I have one and it works so why not? It just has a reverse system. I think it is the Long Beach 65. It doesn't have a levelwind either which I don't like but I don't necessarily need. I'm just going to get a cheap rod. Probably a Daiwa or something. I have a birthday coming up so whatever cash I get from that, plus graduation money, I'll have a decent little set up. If I could just finish this boat, I could sell it and get something good but the rain is putting a damper on it.

Patrick, don't try to redefine eel fishin'. You can use a spinning setup just fine or if you choose to go conventional and want to save a couple bucks, you can start off with a Abu 6500C3 for short money $60 ($75 minus a $15 rebate). This reel will hold plenty of 20# test (a safe minimum). If you choose this reel, make sure you get the newer style. Don't use a Long Beach or any non-levelwind to start off. Absolutely no need to do so. As far as surf sticks go, there are alot of options open but an 8-10' with 9 being optimal is the way to go. I think to stay cheap, you can get a 9' Fenwick which is a decent factory rod for around a hundred plus... <a href="mailto:mike@capecodtackle">Mike</a><!--url--> often has used sticks in nice shape for a good price