Eeling problems
 

I'm new to eeling, and am wondering if anyone has encountered the 2 problems that I have. I fish the beaches on the cape and use a 9' spinning rod with Penn 5500ss reel. I tie a swivel to the main line (20# mono) with about 3' of 30# mono leader and a Gamakatsu live bait hook. The first problem is line twist, it seems that the eels have a tendency to roll on the retrieve, twisting the line. Second, because they provide very little resistance on the retrieve, the line is very loose on the spool. This, combined with the twist, leads to significant bird's nests on about every 10 casts.

Any suggestions as to what I'm doing wrong?

RE:Eeling problems
 

The swivel isn't binding on you is it?? I fish very little spinning so I really don't know what to tell you. One of the reasons I fish conventional so I don't have that problem. As far as the line, what type do you use? When fishing live eels its recommended to hold your rod tip very high. This alows you to drop the tip quick to allow some line run for the fish. With your rod tip high, there may be enough additional line friction to (maybe) give you some additional tension (wag)...

RE:Eeling problems
 

If a regular swivel is not doing the job, maybe try a ball bearing swivel. These are a little more expensive, but they do a great job. Also, hold the rod tip up like John said, and reel really slooooow. See if this helps.

RE:Eeling problems
 

Capecodder,
As Carl said, try a ball bearing swivel. I use just a barrell swivel to connect my 40-50lb test leader and do not have line twists, but if you are having problems the ball bearing swivel will help. Do you always keep in contact with the eel???? Are you keeping it moving just enough so he does not twist up??? That can also be your problem. As far as little resistance, maybe you are using eels that are too small, most eels in the 15" range are heavy enough to give enough resistance to avoid the nests.
Hope this helps.
MZ

RE:Eeling problems
 

My opinion would be that the 20 lb line is too heavy and stiff for the small diameter spool on the 5500ss. This will cause it to take a "coil set" that is it will have curvature along its length do to being wrapped around the tight radius of the spool (like a slinky). This length curvature will result in a lot of twist do to the way spinners take up line.
As far as the slack goes , every 10 casts or less if nescessary , cast out and reel it in as fast as you can. That will tghten that line back on the spool periodically. Between going to a thinner and limper line , and taking up the looseness every now and then , things should improve.

RE:Eeling problems
 

A 9ft rod with a 5500 ss is a great outfit for fishing eels on the cape, but I agree with Saltheart that your line is probably the culprit of your troubles. I use 30lb fireline on my 5500's and they work great. Fireline acts more like mono than braid and it tends to be more forgiving in my opinion. The 30lb test fireline is only 12lb diameter so it is well matched to the 5500's spool. As far as swivels go, I havent had a problem with the cheaper barrel swivels, but have recently switched to the SPRO brand swivels which are small but very strong. Try the 80 or 130lb size. The 130 is about the size of a normal 75 pound barrel swivel.

RE:Eeling problems
 

I've seen those SPRO swivels lately and they are something... very smooth and very strong... though not cheap either...

RE:Eeling problems
 

I also use 30# fireline but on a larger spool baitrunner reel. Line twist is not a problem.

RE:Eeling problems
 

Thanks for all the suggestions. I followed the advice on the rapid retrive every so often and was careful to maintain some tension which required a faster retrieve. I didn't have the problem this time. Unfortunately I didn't catch anything!

RE:Eeling problems
 

Hopefully you'll get some nice bass pulling on the line to keep the line twists out <img src="/Images/biggrin.gif"><!--e7-->