What shops stock eelskins on a regular basis in New England? Not eels just the skins.

ssssshhhhhh............its a secret. :blush:

whooo secret eels :devil2:

:devil:......................................... :deer:

Maco's, but the quality varies. Have fun picking.

Im pretty sure SWE does.

Maco's -bring your own bucket an plan to pick through them.:cens:

Maco's; like everyone else said. The only problem, it seems, is that some of the ones that you pass over this year - are the same ones our forefathers passed over in 1929.

I tried to grab a few last year, and it was a daunting task. I made my own from a few very large deads.
:raiders:

Maco's but last year they were all pretty much junk.

Do up your own. I bought a dozen live eels last year from Mike at M&D's and he picked thru to get what I wanted. Took them home and skinned them all alive. Sounds gruesome but a skin seperated from a live eel is more translucent and stores and looks better on a plug. The crows got the bodies.

A hammer, a nearby tree, some nitril gloves, a razor blade and two sets of forceps with curve tips. Off in seconds.

You'll get over the squirming and get a much better product.

The skins cost almost as much as live eels, why bother picking through smelly skins.

The skins cost almost as much as live eels, why bother picking through smelly skins.

Put a skin on a plug and its good for the season ...in and out of the freezer all season ,,holds up well ,,convient.. Maco's you can pick thru the skins everyone and his brother has picked thru ,,gets pretty grim .. I've skinned dead ones .. piece of cake .. Plan on being a dead eel ho ..

Some shops will gladly sell you the monster eels. I bought 2 dozen at the end of last season and that reminds me.

Spot burners :af: ....................... :rotf3:

I bet if you are a regular...the shop owner would give you a few dead ones you can skin...it is not that hard. I know you want the real big diameter ones and you could ask for them to be put aside in the freezer...perhaps pay him in advance for them or spend some real coin in his shop.... and ask him to freeze the giant snakes for you as he comes across them.

He is right, they last a long time in and out of the bait freezer. I don't use the kosher salt storage method as I find the salt is too harsh on the plug hardware.

That said, I haven't fished them in a 3 or so years. They are a little cumbersome to deal with. But they do indeed work esp when you have the wind at your back.


Now we have to worry about "shop burning"

makes me sad to think of all the big dead eels i throw away last season

Big eels for an eel fisherman and big eels for a plug guy are two separate things. If you want an skin to go over an Atom 40 or large Danny you are going to have to trap it yourself, or maybe get some from a fish market.

Skinning them alive is stupid and unneccesary, which is why Flap advocates it. Better to just throw them in a bucket with some dry Kosher salt........kills them and gets the slime off in about 15".

Big eels for an eel fisherman and big eels for a plug guy are two separate things. If you want an skin to go over an Atom 40 or large Danny you are going to have to trap it yourself, or maybe get some from a fish market.

Skinning them alive is stupid and unneccesary, which is why Flap advocates it. Better to just throw them in a bucket with some dry Kosher salt........kills them and gets the slime off in about 15".

I was going to comment on the skinning them alive method but didn't. A painless way to kill them is to put them in a bucket of water and slowly (over 10 -15 min.) add kosher salt. I think dropping them in dry salt would hurt them needlessly. Freezing them doesn't take that long either.

Maco's but last year they were all pretty much junk.

Do up your own. I bought a dozen live eels last year from Mike at M&D's and he picked thru to get what I wanted. Took them home and skinned them all alive. Sounds gruesome but a skin seperated from a live eel is more translucent and stores and looks better on a plug. The crows got the bodies.

A hammer, a nearby tree, some nitril gloves, a razor blade and two sets of forceps with curve tips. Off in seconds.

You'll get over the squirming and get a much better product.
This could go on America's Slimiest Home Videos.

Buy live , fish them til they die , then skin them and use the skins. The same eels you use live are fine for skin jigs. For the swimming plugs you need bigger. You can also put a smaller skin on a needlefish.

put them in a bucket of sorts. throw in a cig. butt. about 1 min. later. dead eels.

Big eels for an eel fisherman and big eels for a plug guy are two separate things. If you want an skin to go over an Atom 40 or large Danny you are going to have to trap it yourself, or maybe get some from a fish market.

Skinning them alive is stupid and unneccesary, which is why Flap advocates it. Better to just throw them in a bucket with some dry Kosher salt........kills them and gets the slime off in about 15".

It's so nice to be loved.

Another way to get eelskins is to ask your local bait shop. I asked Beverly at Big Bear in Glocester RI and she got me 2 dozen from her bait supplier. They were big skins that had been salted and dried. I still have a few and they are perfect after 5 years.

Geeeez, Paul - you old guys sure get up early....:hihi:

In bed with the chickens and up with the roosters

Did the skins come from Paul B by any chance - :huh:

Geeeez, Paul - you old guys sure get up early....:hihi:

In bed with the chickens and up with the roosters

Did the skins come from Paul B by any chance - :huh:

You too you old *&&^%!!:chased:

No I think she got them from Tom's Bait.

Thanks Paul - :wave: