Report on the Eel Condo

[Fishpart]

First off I have to thank Mr. Sandman for his input on designing an eel condo for storing live eels between trips. Late last season I put it into operation and it is working well.

I am lucky enough to have a small stream next to my house that flows all year, so I thought that it would be a good idea to save my eels between trips rather than letting my extras go. I had an old dry chlorine bucket with a screw top hanging around the house, I painted the inside black and drilled it full of 3/8” holes. I put a stone inside and rope on the handle and now I have a home for my eels between trips.

With all the rain we have had over the summer I lost a few because the current would wash the bucket up out of the hole onto a sandbar and once the water level dropped to normal a significant amount of the bucket ended up out of the water. I moved the spot where the bucket was tied off and they have been surviving much better.

There does appear to be a limit to the amount of time that the eels will live in their new habitat, I bought a large amount of eels back on August 29th and have been using them on and off ever since. It seems as if one to five of them die each week, I don’t know if it is a result of damage they sustain when I “take them for a walk” or if their habitat is less than ideal. As of September 26th I am down to 4 living eels and they are starting to look pretty ratty.

If anyone has any suggestions on improving my “eel condo”, I would love to hear them.