Fished from slack (5 pm) to slack (11 pm) last night and then some in four different spots on the canal with one schoolie to show for it. However, I wanted ask a question. I was fishing eels around 1 am and got a real strong hit. Then the line went kind of dead. I picked up the slack, and sure enough, whatever it was, was still there. As I raised my rod I felt three strong successive tugs (a head shake maybe?) and then, POP, my line broke at what seemed to be right above the hook. I reeled my line back in and took a good look at the line in my flashlight. It wasn't "pigtailed" and did not appear to be frayed, stretched or kinked in any way. Just a very clean cut in the line. Any ideas as to what happened? My first thought was a big blue, but don't they usually hit eels at the tail, not the head? Maybe it got sliced up on a rock?

Anyway, my question is "How many of you 'always' use leaders in the canal?" If you do, what kind, test, length, etc... do you use?

Thanks.

50 Lb Ande pink or 60 Lb Ande green. Always use a leader for striper fishing. I can't even imagine fishing the canal without a leader.

60lb clear leader

never leave home without it.

40 or 60lb red ande mono for canal always

60lb clear leader

never leave home without it.
:hihi: me too

pigtail to me usually means a slipped knot......

That's why I looked for a "pigtail". It's easier to deal with when you can isolate the problem (and blame yourself). But the line appeared to be very cleanly cut.

could of been a bluefish or shark

Ive noticed that most of the time when i get a hit on an eel and i picked up and put it in free spool for a little bit and feel hard pulls it usually means a blue. Bass seem to just head away with not much jerking around, i usually end up with a cigar. I would say a blue did it. A few weeks ago around a bulkhead i saw a really strange fish. Bout 4 feet long with a head about a foot or so across, it was some kind of shark that i have never seen before, looks like it would cut line in a heart beat.

could be a dog. As in dog fish. I got cut off a bunch of times last year before getting smart and putting fluro carbon before the hook. The Dog fish don't really make the hard solid run the way a big striper will its more of a tugging but not a violent shake like a blue fish.

I'm thinking bluefish. It hit the eel and swam right at you, and since it didn't feel any tension, it ate its way right to the hook.

You get that little "rat-a-tat-tat" hit from a blue when it hits an eel on a taut line and them chomps down to end the resistance it feels. If you drop the rod on the hit and feed it enough line, you can hook the smallest bluefish out there when it hits an eel. If you get them in the corner of the jaw, you can land them. If they get their teeth on the leader, they're gone.

Blue.


5/0

Sounds like a bluefish to me.

I haven't fished this spot, but this has happened to me in some of my favorite spots.