Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating

Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating (http://www.striped-bass.com/Stripertalk/index.php)

- How To's, F.A.Q.s, Tips, & Tricks (http://www.striped-bass.com/Stripertalk/forumdisplay.php?f=33)

- - Eeelin 101 (Work In Progress) (http://www.striped-bass.com/Stripertalk/showthread.php?t=7020)

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnR

Eeling…

He basically said this about eels; fish them slow & deep. And always check to make sure you are fishing slow and deep, then check again and again.

First hooking the eel. As with all hooks, sharpness is the key and easily overlooked – even if you sharpened your hooks, they will dull after hooking several fish or fishing along the bottom – so re-sharpen your hooks!

I like to place the hook into the throat as far back as reasonable (don’t want to hit internal organs), to the back of the jaw and with the point coming through the bottom. This will make the shank of the hook parallel with the bottom jaw and depending on hook model, the eye will just be out of the mouth. Many people are advocated of running the hook inside the mouth and out one of the eyes. It is a good method with some advantages like being less likely to snag on the bottom and a firmer hold to the eel as the hook is held in by some cartilage (or whatever fish have) around the eye socket. It also has some disadvantages that I’ve seen, primarily that you run a good chance of killing the eel much quicker or doing an impromptu lobotomy on the eel. Running your hook thru his brain - that just can’t be good.

Last thing? Eels are VERY resilient creatures. I’ve caught Three high 20#ers and a 30 #er all on the same eel – and it lived. I was so in debt to this eel that I released it knowing that it’s tracheotomy would grow over J …

Good luck & Enjoy Eelin!

John how many snags do you get a night? I've been throwing them this way since reading "eeling 101" and I get hung up like crazy..eel seems to always find a rock and my hook gets snagged. My uncle told me its better to go through the back of the head or eye..He said its much less likely to snag and he says they still stay lively for a quite a while.. once they die you can always put them on a wobble head.

Makes sense..i am sick of snagging and not catching enough..but at the same time i hate popppin' poor eel's eye out when i can use him w/ hook through his trach and i like how the eel slides up the line after the bass is hooked. pretty cool letting a eel go after it has caught you some nice keeers too.

Id like to keep fishing w. hook out trach but snags are driving me insane. Is there a trick or tip you can give me for this trach method before I start :lurk:ing :shocked: out?:eek5:

Quote:

Originally Posted by MotoXcowboy

John how many snags do you get a night? I've been throwing them this way since reading "eeling 101" and I get hung up like crazy..eel seems to always find a rock and my hook gets snagged.

Pretty rarely as I try not to cast into excessive weed but to work more around rock and structure. Most of the time when I do get hung up I can get it undone. Very rarely do I get permanently hung up.

If you keep in touch with your line you'll start to notice when you are hitting the snag and can twitch over or around

Hey JohnR,
Im a newbie here. That was a great post. I usually like to use eels and I usually put them on the hook and cast and leave them out there like chunk bait. I usually keep keep my dead eels and try to use them dead on my next fishing trip.... I just wanted to know if its worth using them when they are dead or if there is another proper way to using dead eels effectively

thanks

dead eels work.... also do a search on rigging dead eels, they are killer

thanks man, I will. I hate throwing eels away because I know if usued correctly they can be effective when they are dead. I just needed from advice. thanks

So reel...

I just read the post of rigging dead eels and I think you were the one that wrote it. I should cut the head off the eel and rig it to a jighead? How heavy should the jighead be? Should I still retrieve it slow just like JOHNR talked about or should I bounce it off the bottom like a sluggo? Sorry for so many questions dude, I just want to be sure. I have made so many trips down to the canal this yr and I have only had 3 keepers. I just want to tighten up my game a little bit if you know what I mean

More info on eelin' from the EelMaster himself. . .

http://www.striped-bass.com/Stripert...ad.php?t=25061

I'd like to try the hooks Bill uses..Im sure its tried and true..Maybe I will get less snags with the slightly bent, Mustad 94150 6/0 short shank live bait hook.

I rarely sling eels anymore but when I did I was using the Gamagatsu 6/0 - 7/0 Live Bait hooks.

Rigged eels have their heads on :)
Eel skin jigs/plugs is just the skin wrapped around either a, well , eel skin plug or eel skin jig... PITA, but very worth it...

Quote:

Originally Posted by reelecstasy

Rigged eels have their heads on :)
Eel skin jigs/plugs is just the skin wrapped around either a, well , eel skin plug or eel skin jig... PITA, but very worth it...

Half chomped :drool: freakishly twitching eels work well for some reason too...

I use eels both dead and alive, most times i"m in less than 5' of water, the fish are right on top, an eel on the bottom catches no fish..

I combine a technique of slow trolling with an electric motor and casting and retrieving, both live and dead/rigged eels work for this...

Here's a few pics of rigging a dead eel I did for a seminar awhile back,

now with the tail hook in place place your front hook and weight(if desired)

secure the nose hook to swivel bu running your bait needle up from the bottom and thorough the hook and swivel, make 4 passes through securing on each side of the jaw, secure the tail hook with a series of half hitches, be sure it is snog.....

I had two more pictures but cant upload them...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jonny5-22796 (Post 273181)

Any luck at all with an artificial eel lure? There's little to no chance I'm going to be playing around with the live ones... :yak6:

Yes, I gave up using live eels when I found how successful the Lewinsky Jerk bait was. They don't smell, they don't tangle your line, they don't escape into your car, but they just catch fish. If you can't find a Lewinsky, try a sluggo. Good luck.

Rockfish, how do you keep your eels up top?

you might notice that Rockfish's post was made in January of 07 ....

keep reading ...everything you want to know is in the Archives and then some....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Colombianrico (Post 637571)

Rockfish, how do you keep your eels up top?

Move them a little quicker will keep the eel on top, beginning your retrieve as soon as the eel hits the water will tend to keep them on top, more twitch , etc...

Something I learned from an old timer.

For catching eels yourself without a trap a few simple items are needed.

1) your favorite estuary
2) a nylon stocking
3) a piece of rope
4) a can of cat food

Take the cat food, shove it up the leg of the nylon stocking to the toe. Tie off said stocking. Tie the rope ahead of the knot in the stocking then fasten the rope onshore somewhere. Toss your rig into the water and come back tomorrow.

THe way the eels "teeth" are, they bite the stocking for the cat food and can't get themselves off. Pull them in. throw em into your bucket and go fishing!

One more tip from a novice eeler.

I can't be carrying a whole white bucket setup with me. One because they don't work out on rocks and two because the ridicule would be tremendous. (Sorry John)

Take your eels and ice them up. Break their backs while iced so you don't have to do it later. When they calm down, put them in cheap ziploc bags. Just put the bags of eels in your plug bag or even pocket to go out fishing. When you are ready to use them, you just take your hook in one hand, corner the eels head in the corner of the ziploc and insert hook through the bag into your wiggly plug. Then pull through the bag. The cheap bags will rip easily enabling you to have your eel ready to cast with minimum slime on you and few escapees.
Make sure you poke some holes in the bags and try and dip them once in a while so the eels stay not dead. Don't poke the holes with a knife because they WILL end up in your pocket if the hole is two wide.

Please Please Please make sure you take all your used slimy eel bags with you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frankiesurf (Post 770282)

I can't be carrying a whole white bucket setup with me. One because they don't work out on rocks and two because the ridicule would be tremendous. (Sorry John)

Hehehe, the white bucket with three layers allows the ice to drain through, keep them moist in your truck or shed, not out on the rocks. For THAT I use a soft sided cooler to carry them or the good ol' shiner bucket with 50 holes on the bottom.