Eel pot bait
 

I have ben setting eel pots this season and have been doing OK. I have used cracked or broken clams from the fish market (crush them with a shovel) Cat food. and now I am going to try chicken guts. I used to use horse shoe crabs (best bait yet) but dont find them and would feel bad about using them for bait as opposed to leaving them alone and letting them be used and released for medical use. Something do do with their blood. Does anyone out there have any suggestions for eel bait? thanks charlie

clams and stale bread

SQUID

chicken necks... night crawlers

This has come up before. Stale english muffins were the suggested entrée I believe. Haven't tried it yet, however.

Get yourself a few horseshoe crabs. Smash them up a bit and put it inside. Best eel bait there is.

Don't smash em you'll make a mess. I find its better if you quarter them with a machete. You get nice big meaty chunks that way. Yes horseshoes are the best, but he said he doesn't find them to often.

Any clam will work. If I don't have horseshoes I use quahogs or bay mussels I find near the eelgrass. Smash them up a little, just enough to expose the meat and throw in any kind of stale bread. works pissah

female horseshoe crab

Female HSC, freeze them stiff and cut with a bandsaw, they got to be full of eggs.

stale english muffins, same with bagels. last two day. keeps on giving.

See if Numbskull will loan you a couple of lightly used potatoes.

Watermellon
 

Some one at work suggested watermellon. I find this hard to believe. Has any one used it? I told him he was nutz but anything is possible. thanks Charlie

Italian eels like it.

An old school fisherman told me to use cat food shoved into one leg of a pair of pantyhose. Tie it up and then tie it of to a rope secured to shore. He said this is the cheapest and easiest way to catch your own snakes.

I would never use horsecrabs when other things work as well; horsecrab numbers are free fall because of commercial harvesting of them.

Oh for gawd sake don't do that! Horseshoe crabs are rapidly evaporating because the unscrupulous are nailing them for market.

niniget pond was loaded with em this spring

Dumb question
 

A couple of posts back it was suggested to use cat food. I have tried canned catfood with limited results. Did you mean dry cat food? Also starting to see a lul in the number of eels in the pot. Is this part of the year a down time for potting eels? thanks

I thought it was illegal to use horseshoe crabs??? what do I know...

depends ;
I,m catching them on bread & squid ....... but almost as well when there is no bait ;:confused:

If I really wanted to catch them . then it would be in fresh water .//with chicken bones :fishin:

i use chicken scraps like skin, neck, bones, place them in an onion bag, allow to dry in the sun, hang bag from middle of pot, leave in two to three nights for best results.

ive also used salmon skin and belly fat with great results, same techinque.

my dad uses stale bread, works just as well. and no smell.

i average 8 eels every time i set the trap. i set two traps in two different spots, once or twice a week, have a large tank set up in the basement.

try different spots too.

my best spots are drainage tubes that go under streets with saltwater flowing into them, slow brackish water is where i do best.

Put a half of a lobster body (not the claws or tail of course) in a bait bag with any kind of bait fish that you didn't use and some liver. Crushed crabs and mussels can replace the lobster body. Old uncooked chicken is also good.

I almost double my catch with this mix compared to just fish.

Do you need the presence of eel grass, or is a muddy bottom of a salt pond eel territory as well? I have some great eel grass nearby, but I need the kayak every time, and I think a buoy might get run over by nearby docked boats... do any of you guys drop a buoy? or just shore spot and tie off? I would like to find a few shore spots... I'd be way more likely to do it. Ive tried without much luck, but it might have been my bait (striper carcass.)

A friend of mine just uses dead bunker. That is pretty easy to get.

You should see all the eels he gets; big mongo eels for skin eels too.

The trap is setup in a local river.

Mud bottom is good, eel grass is not needed. I set mind in a march that has those trenches they put in years ago for bug control. Throw it in the trench on a rising tide occurring at night and pull it 12 hours later. Just stake the trap to shore. Also hang one from a bridge in a canal that is there all the time. Theft is an issue in many areas.

Last night I came to the conclusion that I'm the worlds worst eel trapper. I tried each of the following some many times, squid, pogies (fresh & rank) horseshoe crabs (male & female, yes I broke the shell) chicken drumsticks, chicken thighs, stale bread, mackerel and even a tog rack. I have set the traps in eel grass, next to eel grass, on mud bottoms, or rocky bottoms, next to bridges, under bridges, in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of everywhere. Only place I can catch them is the bait shop for 1.50 a piece! I can't fathom that it's easier to catch a bass then a %$%$%$%$ing eel! :fury::buds: