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??

[JohnR]

...Yup

80 percent of the Rhody Surf Sharpies use eels 80 percent of the time or more. When they are not is usually because of a massive influx of a favorite bait or they're just awaiting a turning tide... Simple as that (disclaimer: I'm not - yet - one of the Sharpies).

To me, the perfect eel is a tick smaller at 12-15 inches, no cobrahead and about as thick as a quarter. Not that the aerodynamic and balistic properties of an eel are in anyway good, but IMO that's probably the best tradeoff on size -v- castability...

For those that wish to fish items other than the magical mystical eel, swimmers, needle fish 'n teasers are the way to go but the eel is the recommended choice for the surfbound angler. Remember 4 out of 5 Surfcasters recommend using eels...

So Don, a special eel order? hehehehe ;D :P

[Slipknot]

John R (06-27-2001 13:25):


So Don, a special eel order? hehehehe ;D :P

You can put me down for 10. But I gotta fill the cookie jar if I am to make it down Sat.

[Don M]

Hum! Special eels, well sounds to me that I will need to put in an order for a Friday afternoon delivery. I'll make sure the eelmeister sends medium to large noir in color or I'd better get the paint brush or black magic marker out.

[JohnR]

You can have any color you want, as long as it's black

[Patrick]

Hey, get a can of spray paint and give them the Krylon touch! My brother has some multivitamins from his weightlifting days that are past the expiration date for humans. Maybe you can force feed them to the eels and make them big. Either that or stick a bar of uranium in there and make them grow.

[chris L]

I never fish eels (wink wink nudge nudge know what I mean )put me down for a dozen and a bag o ice Please . hmmmmmm RI and breachways with heavy current on the outgoing boy can they drift far but I dont fish eels (wink wink nudge nudge know what I mean ) .

Oh I forgot I like em black and from 15 to 18 inches about as thick as a quarter and lively but down to 12 inches work good for me too . keep them comments to your selves . I know I left myself open for all kinds of crude jokes but lets not go there . I dont fish eels skins at least never have seems like a lot of work doing the rigging and salting for storage .

[Got Stripers]

I'm not sure eels work as good as all this hype . Even if my livewell will be wriggling with them for the upcoming MSBA tourney this weekend...lol.

John I've decided to change up, but you and I are still on for Sunday morning. I will be fishing Saturday morning as well, rather than Friday night...like the morning bite. If you and scoolie monster want to hook up with me on Saturday, we can hit some spots , as long as you leave the big ones for me haha. FW if Bill's working Saturday, your welcome to tag along in the back, just leave those queen cochahoes home, we're fishing for the big ones now.

Tight lines.

[Jaiem]

Darn. That's the weekend I'm coming back from vacation.

Are these tourney dates posted on the site somewhere? Had I know earlier in the year I might have been able to schedule things differently. I'd love to meet up with some of the guys here and try some of that great RI fishing I hear so much about.

[JohnR]

GS - I like yer thinking and I'll see if I can twist Schoolie's arm about it...

Notice to those that may hit the Breachways and a suggestion or two... First Korkers are necessary and the tides will be wonderfull for the Breachways with the Quonnie drop good at midnight and C-Town starting strong around 1am but probably not the easiest place for the first timer... Secondly, the breachways may be a little crowded unless Don can get the word out in time that there is no fish at any of them :P

Jaiem, correct me if I'm wrong but your at Block that week, right? If so, we're all going to your place, hehehehe. Can you hit it on the return? A far as the posted date, we've been discussing it online (when the boards work) for the last week or so...

[Got Stripers]

John, just so we don't have crossed wires, I invited FW for the boat and you guys to launch and follow in SM boat on Sat. Even if FW can't go, I really don't like fishing 3 guys in a boat, especially when dragging eels is going to be the method of choice. Didn't want to have you get too far along that road, because it's a one way and it goes no where .

My boats open to anyone Sat morning if FW passes, but I wanted to give her another shot at those big ones; and I don't mean POLLACK lol.

[JohnR]

No prob - I understood what you meant. You want us to anchor in HIS boat across the intended path of your drift, eh?

That's what I'm going to suggest (less the anchor in the driftway thingamajig)...

[Lil_Hands]

Eels are gonna be the ticket alright!!! And from what I can see there are a some big fish to be had.. Good luck and I'm sure Don will be dishin up some big bass eels for the tourney...

[Jenn]

Hey Saltheart....did you know you used the word "eel" like 22 times in that post??? Got obsession?? :P heh, heh, heh...

[Jaiem]

John - My trip to BI is in the fall, not the summer. As for the dates, a couple of weeks wouldn't have helped me anyway. I booked this vacation months ago. Oh well.....

[Don M]

Thought I'd put up another picture for all of you fishing during the day. You can see Jan trolling the Weekapaug Breachway with her Ultralight and a small tube and worm combo.