For the RI tourney , we need EELS!!

[Saltheart]

We got the RI tourney coming up weekend after the 4th. For shore fishing RI in early July , eels are the ticket to big fish. You can toss whatever you want and get some fish but the high probability for a fish of a lifetime is with eels. Chunks are also good for big fish now but thats waiting for the fish to find you. Me , I prefer to toss eels at them.

We need some perfect eels. To me , a perfect eel is about 16 to 18 inches long but no cobra head. I like black but sometimes I'll take some green too , just in case. Anyway , I hope Don M at Weekapaug Bait and Tackle will have a good supply of perfect eels for us.

Some prefer live eels on a single hook but my experience has been that rigged eels outfish live eels. Guys who are not eeling experts can also do better with rigged eels since you'll get lots of hook ups on the second hook that don't require the deciplan and presence of mind to drop the rod tip and give line like you do when a bass hits a live eel. Anyway , if you have the time , rig some eels. I'll try to make time to type up how i rig them and if I can , I'll look for a link to wherever Tim S talks about how he rigs them Jersey style with a squid. I rig them RI style , no squid. RI rigged eels can be dragged through the rocks better but Jersey eels are better in a strong current do the action imparted by the squid.

You might also want to consider skin plugs. Skin jigs are good in some RI spots but skin plugs are potentially deadly from all the beaches. For them you need to get big eels NOW and starve them a little before skinning. You want big pythons for the best skins for skin plugs. Atom Jrs with a huge skin attached and retrieved slowly on the top result in that skin just slithering along and wiggling in a way that is erresistable to the big fish. many a big bass has gotten off its butt to rise up to strike a big eel skin swimming along.

Anyway , think eels and start getting ready now. I'll be throwing eels most of the time. If #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^& comes he'll be doing the same as will John R. If you are new to the area , you want to consider doing as the natives do and sling eels.

I'd like to see people put down everything they know about eeling under this thread. That way next week when we are done typing and start fishing , people can print out the whole thread and have something worth keeping.

Don't get me wrong. You can do well on swimmers like bombers and mombos and with jigs and poppers but eels and chunks is your ticket to big fish this time of year. With eels , you hunt the fish.


Got eels??