Anyone have experience with needlefish skin plugs. Wondering what needles work best, how long a skin, 1 vs 2 hook set-up, etc? Got some extra skins left over, might put some on a few needles. Thanks

1 forward hook and make the skin no longer than 3" from the tail end of the plug.....most needle's will work fine, even the stubby's.

this is from a needle fish article at http://www.bassdozer.com/articles/surf_needlefish.shtml

I would never recommend that you remove the hooks, slide an eelskin over it, and use rodwrapping thread to tie it down in the recessed eye sockets. Never tie a double length of heavy mono to the back hookholder before you slide the skin on. The mono will never prevent the eelskin tail from fouling the belly treble too much. Never replace only the belly hook (no tail hook) with a larger size treble. It just won't work - and if you somehow get it to work, never tell anybody. It is our little secret, okay?

Any of you guys ever actually seen a difference using skins on a needle vs a naked needlefish. I have tried it back and forth with myself and side by side with guys I trust a bunch of times and have not seen any difference. Same with scents. Smelly jelly bunker and herring oil. No difference. now where you stand on a bar/bowl/ rock pile can make all the diff in the world.

I agree with John - fished them together and never noticed the eelskin out produce the bare needle. But I'm sure they'll be times.... If you're going to make some try and use needlefish with two belly trebles and leave the back treble off - not to many of them around. The best needlefish for skin applications was always the old Gibbs 1.5 oz screw eye needle - perfect needle - skinny and buoyant.

Used em before as well, both on homades and a skinny little boone needle... worked very nice but I dont think it added anything, but I was eitrher alone (so no comparison) or noone else caught either so I cant say which was better....

I also used them before. Had the same amount of success as with regular needle. Skin jigs however....:D

USE THE SKIN INSIDE OUT :)

VB

But of course...
too much of a pain to turn em back right-side out anyways

Nail 'em to a board. cut (girdle) them around the neck and with a pair of pliers pull off the skin. Not as hard as you think. Now you can use them blue side out. :) Its a good way to "recycle" spent eels. Plus, at the end of the year just leave em in kosher salt in a tupperware container in the freezer and they are ready for the nexyt year.

Another trick I do is I frezz them up and crack their back before I nail them to the board. seems to work better when you pull back the skin!

I also use dental floss to wrap them to what ever plug/jig you use

Are using skins really worth all the effort? Whats the benefits of using them? Why not just use a dead eel with a lil lead in the mouth?

With skin jigs you can cover a hell of a lot of water and different zones in the water column. Also fishing live eels can be a task (although it is my preferred method of fishing) keeping them alive, worrying about eel balls, etc. The effort of of skinning them is well worth it THEY produce. I also use them on Large swimmers and troll them. Deadly. If you are going to fish dead eels be sure to break the back a few times so they "swim" naturally. You can keep the dead/rigged eel for years by keeping them in salt in your freezer.