It has been a while since i used eels, and last night I spent just as much time dropping eels as I did tossing them. The sock i found in my car was no match for the slime. Then I had flashbacks of every trip with eels and what a pain in the butt they are to hold on to. I figure some you guys surely have a better way of grabbing them, than an old rag. Perhaps some type of glove? I have some work gloves with the rubber pads on them, i'm gonna give a shot this am, when i introduce the girlfriend to the wonderful world of rock hopping in the dark with eels. She's gonna have a blast lol.

I use a green scrubbing pad for washing dishes. They are small, 4 x 6 or so and cheap. Works for me.

Zip lock bags with one eel in each .... Take the hook and slide it threw the bag then pull the eel out with the hook under its chin.
Take all the bags back home with you :)
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Gloves will not do he job. I wear rubber-coated textured palm gloves when I fish, and they will slime up instantly and not help you.

Here are some tips:

* Put ice in your eel bucket... the ice calms them down and they dont go crazy when you pick them up... they "wake up" when they hit the water.

* Use slightly larger eels... small eels tangle up your line and are a nightmare.
try to find a shop that will either let you select your own eels, or ask for a few larger ones. (I sometimes offer to pay a bit extra if they will give you larger eels.) the larger eels make a huge difference

* use a green scotch-bright scour pad as mentioned for dishes... try to keep your eel rags dry if possible. As with all rags, they will eventually slime up... so having an extra on hand is good. (if the scour pad slimes up, scrub a rock with it, some of the slime will come off) also get some sand on your hands or rag if possible for added grip

* SAVE your dead eels!!!! freeze them and use them next time the same way you would a live eel. They will look just as alive in the water . I have caught huge bass on dead eels. You will have to take a bit of caution how you hook the eel after freezing, since the skin gets a bit more prone to tearing on a cast. I sometimes use a small zip-tie around the head onto the shank of the hook.(trim it CLOSE leaving no sharp tag end) there is always "rigging: eels, but I am keeping the tips simple here.

Try some of these tips... enjoy less frustration and more fish.

Keep em dry in a double bucket. Ice in the lower section with a weep hole to allow melt off to get out. Then grab some sand grab the eel your in business. Wipe your hand off with a rag if you so choose
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Ice and a dry rag
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On nights like last night, ice doesn't last very long.. holy crap was it humid. Never sweat so much at night in my life. My ice was gone in about 30 minutes. i gotta get around to making/buying a double bucket. i got to used to fishing eels with my buddy tom, who has one. The green scrub pad idea sounds great, for when theres no sand on the rocks. Never would have thought of it. Thanks guys! Good stuff. As always.

P.s. girlfriend trip total failure. All the spots I had scoped out were near impossible to fish at the stage of tide we arrived at, the heat and humidity had us pouring sweat, rocks were covered in pincher bugs, so she couldn't even sit and watch. Forgot bug spray, so we were swarmed by mosquitoes in numbers I didn't know existed, i rolled my ankle, and then my reel decided it would be the perfect time to start locking up on one specific part of the gears. It was fine a few hours before and hadn't hit the sand or been dunked, so I know it was just to pour on the pain . you know i would have stayed and toughed it out, but i was trying to get her to have a good time on her first fishing trip, nope. welcome to fishing, where murphy's law is always enforced around me. lol. And yet she wants to try again.. but we'll see if she means it.
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If you can find a girl that wants to fish with you prepare to be out fished often.
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If you can find a girl that wants to fish with you prepare to be out fished often.
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I hope so! Then again even if she caught 10 times more fish than me... 10 x 0 = 0 haha. But no really it would be awesome, i can't wait to get her on to her first fish EVER. Will be a priceless moment for sure.
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I hope so! Then again even if she caught 10 times more fish than me... 10 x 0 = 0 haha. But no really it would be awesome, i can't wait to get her on to her first fish EVER. Will be a priceless moment for sure.
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Take her on a charter on a nice sunny day and get her into a pile of bluefish on light gear, then explain how bass fight sooo much better and are much more of a challenge to fool....have to fish at night, etc...worked with mine except now she's jealous when I catch at night while she's home sleep with the kids.

On nights like last night, ice doesn't last very long.. holy crap was it humid. Never sweat so much at night in my life. My ice was gone in about 30 minutes. i gotta get around to making/buying a double bucket. i got to used to fishing eels with my buddy tom, who has one. The green scrub pad idea sounds great, for when theres no sand on
the rocks. Never would have thought of it. Thanks guys! Good stuff. As always.

P.s. girlfriend trip total failure. All the spots I had scoped out were near impossible to fish at the stage


of tide we arrived at, the heat and humidity had us pouring sweat, rocks were covered in pincher bugs, so she couldn't even sit and watch. Forgot bug spray, so we


were swarmed by mosquitoes in numbers I didn't know existed, i rolled my ankle, and then my reel decided it would be the perfect time to start locking up on one specific

part of the gears. It was fine a few hours before and hadn't hit the sand or been dunked, so I know it was just to pour on the pain . you know i would have stayed and
toughed it out, but i was trying to get her to have a good time on her first fishing trip, nope. welcome to fishing, where murphy's law is always enforced around me. lol. And yet she wants to try again.. but we'll see if she means it.
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Planning is the most important part of fishing. Plan on fighting bugs, heat, humidity, know the eels need ice to slow them down. Pick a spot to land a fish before the first cast not when you hook up. Check knots twice. Cut back your leader after you catch a fish. Sharpens hooks after every fish and after a dozen casts if you are getting weeds.
The one thing that separates those who catch from those that try is preparation.
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Man the mosquitos have been brutal. I feel your pain. I didnt have any bug spray on the boat. was fishing a spot, had about 12 fish in an hour, including a 40, and high 20# fish. We couldnt take it anymore, we had to leave biting fish because we were being mauled. I will never leave the dock without at least 3 cans of different big sprays.

I only add ice in weather like this... and even then rarely... double bucket is important... dry rag.. once you select your eel, let it calm down.. dont squeeze to tightly and they( most,not all, every once in a while you will encounter a extra feisty one) will relax a little ( this may take a second or two) and posistion it in the palm or your hand belly up... JAMB your thumb into the base of the skull where it meets the jaw.. the eel will go limp... those that have fished with me or been to my seminars have seen it in person.... hook your eel and toss it in the water... becasue as soon as you release it it will go balistic.... try this trick it... works great once mastered... in most cases I can hook 3 eels to the average persons one using this trick...

I've always used ice ahead of time to slow them down a bit, then usually a dry rag and a quick slap on the rocks or anything hard, then it's hook through the jaw and away they go.

I only add ice in weather like this... and even then rarely... double bucket is important... dry rag.. once you select your eel, let it calm down.. dont squeeze to tightly and they( most,not all, every once in a while you will encounter a extra feisty one) will relax a little ( this may take a second or two) and posistion it in the palm or your hand belly up... JAMB your thumb into the base of the skull where it meets the jaw.. the eel will go limp... those that have fished with me or been to my seminars have seen it in person.... hook your eel and toss it in the water... becasue as soon as you release it it will go balistic.... try this trick it... works great once mastered... in most cases I can hook 3 eels to the average persons one using this trick...

THAT is a cool little piece of advice right there! thanks Joe!

I am mobile, use a small soft sided cooler filled with ice in the bottom and a tupperware that's deep enough to hold 6-8 eels and cut holes in the bottom and add a little more ice on top. They are pretty slow when you grab them but I grab them hard by the gills with any type of rag with towel texture, stuff lead in their throat button them up with a 6/0 and keep the line tight until I cast. They wake up pretty quick when they hit the water.

I use an Aquasinz Eel bag, I poke just the head out of the bag, then hook them....then just pull the rest of him right out of the bag....seems to work well for me

I just a dry terrycloth rag.

I use an Aquasinz Eel bag, I poke just the head out of the bag, then hook them....then just pull the rest of him right out of the bag....seems to work well for me

I do exactly the same thing, TDF learned it from me :D
prob the opposite actually....

Dry rag, burlap or scotch pad. Grab them and smack them on a rock before hooking. You want them alive but not lively. It's mean, but so is hooking them through the head, casting and feeding them to fish.
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i use a triple bucket i made, i use ice in the top bucket with holes drilled in bottom, this gives a slow ice cold rain on the eels, then thur the 2nd bucket into the last one that has a drain in it or a plug to hold the water as i travel around. they stay alive for days!! this way. helps to have my own ice machine!!
innew bedford they have the commercial store near the fish markets that sells all kinds of gear, i have some gloves there that are covered in what looks like sand and they work great!! just rinse off your hands after each use in salt water.

Frezze 1 or 2 Poland spring bottles the Ice last Longer and if you get desperate
you got something to drink .. didnt see anything about hooking I go under the head through the eyes the seem to stay on and you avoid the whip noise when your 3.00 dollar eel came off

If you grab an eel with your middle finger on one side of the eel and your index and ring finger on the other ( eel now resting across your knuckles) you don't need a glove. It puts a kink in their spine and holds them in place. This is how sushi chefs handle them. ;)
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Keep it simple. Use an old face cloth or towel peice.

lol. today the ice lasted 10 minutes... thought i could get some into a boat channel while my girl was getting sun... nope, she couldn't hang. but that ice went quick! guess i'll just sit and wait till dusk... ::siiiiigh:: i'm too addicted to this...
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Scrubby pad
Dry rag
Wet rag rinsed out and wrung dry
Scotch brite pads work INSANELY well

Also if your ice melted and you were at the water already. Adding bubble weed to your eel bucket helps keep them cooler and moist. Also if your eel bucket has drain holes you can just drunk your whole eel bucket, and then locate it up high and dry and it will help with the eel slime. Combine the dunking of your whole bucket to rinse and cool them with a few pieces of bubble weed and you should be good to go. Good luck catch em up!

Instead if throwing away empty Gatorade bottles or water bottles. Rinse them and freeze them. And just toss that in with your eels. Depending how many eels you are using you can freeze single bottles of water or gallon sizes and add them. To keep the eels cool.

If you're having that much of a hard time hooking them. Try rigged eels easier to hook and maintain since they are not alive. May prove easier for the gf to handle as well until you can get your "methods" perfected to transport, keep alive, and hook your snakes. If rigging floss and needles and thread isn't your thing, look at a quick and dirty method of rigging them using zip ties ;)

Remember you can go fishing alone or you can take someone fishing. When you take someone fishing it's about all attention on them to make sure they have what they need. You're sharing something that is important to you. You don't want to make it a chore, they'll not want to be a part of.
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If you're around sand, let them roll around in sand for a bit so they'll bread themselves ;)
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Scotch Brite Pad

Ditto on scotch brite pad... from a dollar store 3 pack for $1 dollar, then cut them in half = 6eel grippers for $1