eel laws
 

Are their any laws and or regulations on catching eels in a trap???
Because my favorite bait store closed and now I have to catch my eels.

Basically they have to be over 6 inches long and you can't have more than 50 of them in your possession.

there are regulations revolving around horeshoe crabs if you chose to use that creature as bait for your traps. Im not 100% certian of them, but i think there is a period aroiund the full moon when you are not allowed to harvest them. Check into it.

we used to use chicken guts as bait

A Chunk of gravid Horseshoe crab is the best bait, but as Eben says, there are regs governing when and how many you can catch.
They are on the DEM website.

whats gravid?

One of those fancy scmancy words CPA's from RI use :read: :rotfl:



:wavey:

If you live in Mass, trapping eels is dealt with under each individual town's shellfish regulations. You need a recreational shellfish license to put in eel pots.

you need to have a license to put in an eel pot.... that sucks

A fancy word for carrying eggs.

how do you know if its carrying eggs?

They carry them similar to the way a lobster carries them, on the outside of their shell around the swimmerettes. Only with horseshoe crabs the eggs are green.

where can i get a good recreational eel pot.

a minnow trap with an extension in the middle works well.

where can I buy or how can I make the extension? BEcause i have a minnow trap

most tackleshops sell extenions. One tip i was told once was not to use fish frames for eel bait because the frames attract crabs and the eels may think twice before entereing a crab infested pot.

On second thought, just buy surfog eels and reel eels :hihi: just kidding.