Nice visual! I'll have to give it a try. I would think that the hook would get snagged up a lot, but I won't assume until I've given it a try

Great Post/ point, Back Beach! I was thinking the same thing myself! (i.e., who said the cast & retrieved eel at night must be live or lively to be effective? Or that there's only one way to rig for "all" eel casting approaches).

My added 2 cents to your point, though, is somewhat disagreement, if I infer correctly that you fish primarily the sandy beaches of the Back? My take is: IF I'm fishing shallow rocky/ structure- heavy spots when eeeling, then I prefer dead/ totally non- lively eels (fear of hanging- up, & other reasons too). But IF I'm fortunate enough to be fishing the snag- free (but unfortunately now seal & cocktail- Blue infested) Back Beaches I love so much too, then I like to fish my eels live always, given the choice. No, not lively! -- I'm fishing only for my trophy/ "50," never #'s, so I adhere to the belief that SLOW & easy works best for Momma. Dead is not necessary for her to decide to pursue/ take-- but slow/ wounded/ near dead, etc., yes, I believe so! :read:

Changing topics briefly, for sure if I were choosing to use conventional gear w/ 40 or 50 lb. test to throw my eels, or even spinning w/ 50+ lb. braid (never touch the stuff myself!)... then for SURE I would avoid using Gama Octopus' : as to my field- testing they are "light, thin" & thus less strong eel hooks than are other options (#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&'s Mustad choice being one, or my preferred the Owner (Gorilla? Not sure offhand). But: as I am a 17 - or 20- lb. test Mono guy always when throwing eels from Sand... I can use the Octopus hooks & receive their special benefits (thin is always better than thick/ heavy when hooks are discussed in live bait fishing), without worrying about my 5/0's opening up when the big girl takes, which I'm convinced they would with heavy gear/ drag/ pressure.

Finally, given a choice of what I'm throwing in rocky/ sticky spots like Quonny, Nobska, Sqibby, Block, etc. : I'd be using dead eels on a heavy- duty hook, on conventional 30 or 40 lb. gear/ mono. But as I'm stubborn, & dislike conventionals in the surf, I've gone the VS 300 w/ 25 lb. mono route for that application/ unforgiving turf. So far so good: only lost 2 "50s" that way since in those type places! (Used to lose "tons" w/ 20 lb. mono)... :exp:

I use the mustads bill showed but 7/0, I like em, but they do rust quick!!! (ie dont rig sluggos with them (d'oh)

I used the gami octopus the last two seasons in my skiff, 50lb braid on medium convench gear; fish up to 37lbs, never straightened or broke one.. do they tear easier? maybe... I switched to the gami HD's this spring and found them effective, but more expensive....

A hook is a hook, we all have preferences; I saw if it aint broke dont fix it...

Bryan

Hi, RI Rock!

No, if you're boat- fishing, & can ease up on the smooth drag of a conventional reel-- & take your time & ease fighting w/ a cow-- then the Octopus' are good to go! BUT: if you're fishing a rel. tight drag because you're in a rocky surf- spot, & muscling with beefy gear 40+ lbers. in fear of them getting their head down & into the rocks scant feet below the take... then yes, the Octopus' will be in grave danger of opening up in that scenario! Strength counts from rocky surf spots like Montauk or Point J., really more than anything else, in ALL your terminal & other gear. (I wouldn't fish a "fishy" plug at these spots, if it wasn't also industrial- strength in every- way!)...

I have a (modest) boat too, so I'm not anti- boat. But to me, gear/ tackle- wise, boat fishing is "easy," compared to what's necessary in the craggiest surf spots for us crazy wader- clad nocturnal trophy- hunters! (Who re- live their lost very big fish way too many times, whenever it occurs! :scream2:

I gave your method a try last night at the canal if you have not tried this method of hooking eels its worth a try. Thanks for the tip!

glad you liked it

LeCount.. maybe you've never fished in tight to structure where I fish at drags that EXCEED the pressure I can/have to put on big fish in the surf... in open water, yeah I can let em run, but in a minefield of lobster gear or tight to a rocky shoreline, that bass cant have their head.,... put it this way, my drag is such that a good fish will tow my boat....

In the surf 70+ nights a season (not all with eels) I am fishing 20lb mono, 50-80lb leader and the 7/0 mustads.... never had a prblem there either...

I would think it hangs up more like this but I will give this a go. For the last 3 years I have switched to circle hooks with eels for release reasons and have been very pleased with my ease of hook up, fewer dropped fish and mostly jaw hooked fish.

The reason this appeals most to me is because the hook has a lot more eel meat to bite into and the eel probably stays on the hook longer. When you have a jaw-eyesocket hook after a while it works the hole larger and in some cases you snap them off. That said, it is soft tissue where that hook is in the lower postion you have and it might open a big gap quickly. When you go thru the eye socket you have some skull that makes the connection a little stronger. I will have to try it to see for myself.

Next time I am eel fishing I will give it a try. Thanks for the pic.

Well Sandman, I am going to say this once again, very rarely do I cast an eel off or does the eel tear free, it holds well. The hook will slide up towards the mouth a bit due to the stress of casting but it simply does not come out often.Also I dont get hangups that everyone is worried about, just does not happen. I do not baby my casts either I use conventional and lay into my casts good.

As far as boat fishing, I see no reason why someone cant use this hooking method in a boat, I am sure it will work.

eels dont hang up much no mater how you hook them i will throw a eel were i wouldnt dream of throwing a plug.

Well I tried #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&s way, and after the second cast off i went back to hooking them the old way... At first it was wow easy hooking thru the mouth and out the throat.. 4 casts later and it's flying... rehook another and about 5 casts it the same story... screw that... using the same hooks on 40# fluro to 20# big game on a 704z and lami tri-flex combo...


after i was all tired i tossed a dead eel in my bucket... i rigged it up #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&s way again and inspected it every cast but i didn't lay into the casts... about the 5th cast there was a tear about 3/4" long where the hook has done it's damage...

his way might be great with a conventional but not so good with spinning gear...

I have to say i agree.I use 7 or 8/0 or even bigger live bait hooks.kinda between the HD's an the octopus.I also siwash an sometimes 8/0 owner octopus hooks. depends on my mood. .the bigger the hook the harder it is to penetrate.I have also felt the hook pop out of a spot in the mouth an rehook in the jaw on the way out. I feel the way I hook em the 5/0 is kinda small.I hook em behind the gills an up thru the back of the head i hate castin eels off.they stay alive long enough.seems to work good for me.i think hook bending or breaking depends on how the hook is set in the fishes mouth sometimes there is just nothing u can do.I have put quite a bit of pressure on some good fish wit the octopus without problems.I have 2 friends who landed a 57 an a 60 in a 6 knot current wit em.I would stay away from the smaller ones though.i think its like tyin knots u find one that u get right an u stick with it thats the best way.U don't make mistakes u learn what works for u an u get comfortable.a 80 percent knot is as better than a poorly tied 90 percent knot.

Something isnt right, There is more stress involved in casting with conventional than with spinning, if anything the conventional is going to cast off more eels, again somthing is not right.... I dont cast off eels and I lay into my cast.

So I would not say "screw that" When its abvious your doing something out of whack. I had an eel on last night that lasted me over an hour. hey whatever method you guys use eels work, I dont care how you rig them, I was just showing what I have done for 20years with HUGE Success.

I think I know why you may be ripping them off on the cast. I also hook eels out the bottom of the mouth. Make sure you go at least 3/4 to one inch inside the mouth before you bring the point out the bottom. If you go any less they will rip off on the cast. Your hookpoint should be in the throat before you bring it out the bottom. Depending on the size of the eel and size of your hook you may see the eels head actually curve a little from the hooks bend while hanging on your line. Hope this helps.

DZ

IMO,the only difference between casting conventional & Spinning is that you can get away with a jerky cast with spinning. A conventional reel doesnt like jerky casts, and a jerky cast will also make your eels rip. Also, the type of rod blank your using will make your eels rip or fly off the hook. Most eelers like a a parabolic blank as opposed to a fast action 'popping' blank as the soft action of a parabolic blank will allow you to 'lob' an eel pretty far without worrying too much about ripping the hook out of the eel or making a huge hole in the eels head.

Heres a great example- last season i was using a VS25o paired with a batson 1208 which was a pretty stiff, fast rod.. i cast off and ripped alot of eels-

This season i am using an Abu 6500 Cs mag on a Lamiglass 1201-L cut 4 inches off the tip- I dont eel alot, but when i do i rarely cast off any eels and i never rip any since i switched to this combo. I think it has more to do with the fact that I am always thinking about not backlashing so i always do a smooth cast.

good post!

This thread is getting beat to death! :yak:

Eel fishing aint that hard! :jump:

Its a moot point anyway...next year after eels are put on the endangered species list you will all be fishing with slugos. Looks like that is could actually happen too.

Nope will not happen and, if it does? its very easy to pot them yourself and take what you need for fishin, very easy :btu: :btu:

It is on the fast track and it very well could go thru and should it (probably this winter I would guess) it would be illegal to "possess" them...not just buy them you can have one in your possession. And this includes the European raised eels, as they are also the same species as ours. This probably will happen.

I have talked to some very reliable people who tell me at the fastest it will be two years! I am not worried and I tend to trust the people I talk to, they are in the know! And good luck to the eel police trying to find a guy on some rock pile in the middle of the night slingin eels, I am not the least bit worried.

Also what I have heard from people at high levels in DEM and marine fisheries is that what most likely will happen is that there will be a limit you can have in possesion, instead of buying as many as you want it may be something like only 6 per day. at any rate eels wont be hard to find.

Lets wait and see, my eels pots are ready! but honestly, its not going to be a big deal

Here's my dilemma...i use gami circles, and although rare, i sometimes gut/deep hook fish. Is it true that the hooks rust out? if so i guess i should be leaving a lot more hooks in fish. in years past i cut the line and released the fish, then i thought it couldn't be good for the fish having a hook lodged in its perforated gut so i started keeping gut hooked fish, and either eating them or giving them away.
what do you guys do if you gut hook a fish?

jam your hand down it's throat and unhook it.if you can fit your hand in you can get it out easily.
scoolies cut the line.

i will bet it takes over a year for a hook to rust out of a fish. if not longer.

I've been hooking eels down the throat, similar to the way #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^& does it for years. Another advantage is that you can cast them for long periods without tearing the eel. When you hook them through the lips, I find they tear easier.

Just my .02

And all this time I've been hooking myself in the bottom lip and just stuffing the eels in my shorts :err:

It's no wonder I'm not catching any fish :boots:

-spence

That is sick and cruel...you horrid man :fishslap:

e#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&,

Thanks for the post. There's a lot of us beginners that appreciate it.

Hmmm, Very interesting how I've been sucessful, while doing it all wrong! :eyes:
Not the first time I've noticed this though, probably not the last either.
Beginning to think there's more than one way? :bgi:

how do u get them to eat the hook ????

This was a good post by Bill.
An He says he doesn't care...
I wanna see how he hooks a bunker..

What about hooking them through the tail. I heard that if you do that you can just toss it out and leave it to swim around and you don't have to constantly reel in.

That post is old......Anyway bunker get a 4x strong VMC trebble right in the nose!! Thats it!

No way your serious...however if you are, no dont do that

I know this post is wicked old, but I referred to it before I started eeling for the first time this year and it helped a bunch! I hooked them exactly how #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^& suggested and except for a few cast offs (probably due to not hooking deep enought down the throat) had no problems, some eels stayed alive and on the hook for a couple of hours. Oh and I also bashed them on the rocks if they were out of line.

Sounds odd but I DID read somewhere that the cobia fisherman do that... maybe they arent head hunters???

the hooked then like 1/3 of the way back through the flesh...

4/0 trebble.. mmm... shad :jump:

um sorry?