So with all the concern about eels how will you proceed this season????

I will continue to use them but I'm in favor of tighter regs on their capture and use.

i will continue to use them i think if we were more careful with them it would make a diffrence like iam going to have a live well this year any eels that i dont use that nite will go in the live well till i need them again.if we buy only what we need that would help.and you dont need a fresh eel after catching a fish ive caught 3 bass on the same eel i just re hook it. and iam going to rigg my dead eels this year and freeze them.tighter regs.snake slinger

up until last year I almost just used eels at nite....last year I used them maybe twice...I'm still gonna use em'....but I'm trying for a Big Gal on wood

I hope SOME people figure out its a good idea to take the dead ones home and save the skins for plugs/jigs.

Throwing away bait/eels is a waste.

no eels for me this season.

if your not part of the solution, your part of the problem :hihi:

I am not a big eel user but I may use them maybe twice a year
This year I bought the Tsunami halo eels to rig and try out.

I'm going to use eels this season but I will be very selective on how I maintain them and keep them. I had a habit of releasing them on occasion instead of storing them but I will now store them. I also intend to keep the skins.

Don't use many at the canal but if the occasion calls for them somewhere else , I'll use them.

BTW , rigging your dead eels will not only keep them from going to waste but the rigged ones last about 10 times longer provided no blues hit them. The extra hook and better casting I think more than make up for the slightly less effectiveness and net result , I think you catch more fish on rigged eels.

Dont even have to rig the dead ones. Ive thawed and refrozen eels over 4-5 times and still caught fish on them. Just rinse off the slime layer after they thaw, and hook them the same as live. Caught my largest fish last season on a thawed eel.

I'm going to give rigging them a go this year. I've heard so much about it and it definately cuts down on waste and $$.

I only really use them at the canal. And this year i am going to make sure to keep em alive after the trips, i did well keeping them alive last fall, and the dead ones are gunna get rigged. I figure if we all either keep em alive after the trip, or rig them for later use we can do something about the problem, while still enjoying those slimy bastages.

http://tattoostackle.com/eelbob_dz.php Eel bobs and other rigged eels kept in a kosher salt brine in the freezer ,will always be ready to fish and are reusable. The look ,smell and feel of "real" but the convenience and castability of a sluggo.

I don't throw out dead eels unless they are bit in half by a blue. I keep dozens in a deep freezer either in a frozen brine or kosher salt sprinkled on them. They keep really well and I have used them over and over.

I love to fish rigged eels and have great success with them...to be honest, I prefer my eels dead. They work just as well without all the hassle of a live trying to free itself and twisting and curling the line or leader up.

I actually just made up about dozen eel skin rigs (thanks Joe from Pt. Jude and John from NJ Tackle!!! :hee: ); my first time and it wasn't that difficult to my surprise. I am going to make up even more and probably won't need to by eels this year. My local tackle shop throws out the dead ones from the tank (unless someone asks for them) and I asked them to freez the dead ones for me that are in good shape.....why let em go to waste when I can rig em whole or as a skin????

Rigged whole and rigged skins are coming back and in my opinion it is a great thing. These practices are somewhat of a lost art that we should all look at....a lot of today's anglers do not value the things left for us by our forfathers and go they go the easy route....it is sometimes best to go back to go forward. Just my opinion.

Kadir

Kadir,
That is a great idea, I went up to my bait store yesterday and spent
about 2 hours talking to the owner, I am going back next saturday to
get something I ordered and will ask him to save the dead ones.

rockhopper-
can you expand on how you rig eel skins?

Kevin

Kevin,

I am by no means an expert. I was lucky enough to be taught how to rig a whole dead eel by a shop owner on long island who was taught by "an old timer".

The skins are new to me, I bought some eel skin jigs from Pt. Jude and NJ Tackle and proceeded to give it a try. It was relatively easy.

You cut the skin around the head of the eel, some say nail the eel down on a tree or a board but I found this was more difficult in handling the eel. Using surgical gloves, after cutting the skin, I took a rigging needle and pushed it into the eel between the skin and the meat and proceeded to turn the needle 360 degrees (kind a like stirring soup). This loosens the skin off the meat. I then took a needle nose plier and turned the skin inside out about an inch all the way around. Once I have in this position, I hold the eel by the head as tightly as I can and pull the skin down with the pliers in one continious motion until it is off.

Once it is off, the difficult part begins, reversing the skin. Again turn the right side out about a an inch and then gently push the rest of it through with the end of a wooden spoon (some have suggested running water through the skin to get the right side out).

After the skin is turned out, run it through the hook (measure approximate by aligning the open end of the skin to the area of the jig to tie off to) and push the hook through. Pull it to the tie off area on the jig and tie it off with two double overhand knots using 80 lb. dacron and then drop a drop of crazy glue.

You are now done. Pyt them in a freezer bag and sprinkle kosher salt.

Good luck....you will have sucsess with them (dead eels - rigged eels and skins).....they do work.

Kadir

Wow, some good ideas Rock Hopper!

I must say I am a little amazed that with all the concern over 72% say that they will still use them as long as they are available....I thought that number would have been much lower.

I found its much easier to buy eels at the shop then potting. Its not only a bigger chore but more costly, unless you have a system and spots down packed and I think most of us don't. When you consider $ in gas/time/hassel maintaining bait, buying a dozen at the shop is well worth it unless your getting selective for skins.

If in the case they put tuffer restrictions on the sale of eels at B&T shops I'll devote more time into catching bait. I think cape guys would rather throw plugs if this where to happen..... where the rocky shore anglers prefre slingin eels especially in the warmer months. Although the amount of plugs I throw isn't much I know that done right, fishin nights with eels will consistanly catch bigger fish most of the time.

I would definantly chunk more. Every year I do less. With eels you cover so much more water. Also I think not every spot are ideal for chunkin. I throw chunk much like I do eels, wading or wetsuiting in heavy surf, having a zip lock with chunks in a plug bag. I'm a bigger beleiver in bait, I think I'd think differently if I fished the beachs and other places,,,maybe;) If your targeting qaulity then do what you got to do.

Got a dozen in the tank already :D
Ill be skinning everything that dont survive this year

I'm reluctant to use live bait such as eels. It's just a personal thing. Call me a wuss, I feel strangely weird trying to have a good time while some poor slimy critter is writhing in discomfort on the end of my hook. Go ahead, flame away and call me a wuss.

Ben, not to flame you, but what about that poor slimey fish on the end of your line feeling discomfort with a hook in its mouth

I'm reluctant to use live bait such as eels. It's just a personal thing. Call me a wuss, I feel strangely weird trying to have a good time while some poor slimy critter is writhing in discomfort on the end of my hook. Go ahead, flame away and call me a wuss.
What about the poor defensive tree that was chopped down and whittled into the BM pikie you throw in its place? :tm:

I thought you were the strangely weird poor slimy critter writhing in discomfort on the end of your rod!


Eels are like candy, you gotta love looking at em and just knowing what they could do to some big bass..

When I heard about the proposed ban on eels, my heart sank to the pit of my stomach. I primarily fish with eels and will continue to do so until laws force me to change my ways, at which time I will find an alternative as I am a law abidin citizen of this foreign country.
This issue has been on my mind since I first caught wind of it and have been considering ways that I can contribute to the conservation of eels.
I plan to cut down on the number of eels I toss once they are dead. I am going to explore the practicality of saving the dead eels and experiment with fishin rigged eels and eel skins. Gotta to really figure out how to rig them.

Ben, not to flame you, but what about that poor slimey fish on the end of your line feeling discomfort with a hook in its mouth

Hook in big fish's mouth one thing ...

Hook through one jaw and out the eyeball is another.

I sure hope eels don't feel any pain.

I'm going to use eels this season but I will be very selective on how I maintain them and keep them. I had a habit of releasing them on occasion instead of storing them but I will now store them. I also intend to keep the skins.

John,
Why? Other than saving some money, releasing them is better for the fishery than keeping them and winding up with a dead one or two.

I went to the CT ASMFC meeting on eels last month. A guy from a Deleware eel company that processes 100 tons of eels a year showed up and spoke a lot.

Of note he said that of the total eel harvest, the amount used by recreational fishermen was "miniscule". Thats the word he used. I asked him where the bulk of the eels are goining and his reply was overseas, mostly Europe.

If there are going to be restrictions, I hope our European friends take some of the blame and share in the restrictions. After all, they are "American eels".

Kevin,


After the skin is turned out, run it through the hook (measure approximate by aligning the open end of the skin to the area of the jig to tie off to) and push the hook through. Pull it to the tie off area on the jig and tie it off with two double overhand knots using 80 lb. dacron and then drop a drop of crazy glue.



Hey Rockhopper-
thanks for the tips. What kind of jig do use? do you have any pictures of what the finished product looks like. i'm just trying to envision this.
keep em coming!
Thanks,
Kevin