Last night picked up 6 eels for a couples hours fishing before the shop closed...figured they would be OK while I took the family out to dinner, then I would head out afterwards. got tot he beach around 10pm...only 1 was alive . ened up freezing them and will cut them up for eel plugs. They hate the heat!
I have taken 3 buckets. They are short about 3gal I guess 5 gal will work but are tall. main bucket will have a hole in the side near the bottom for drain, and you will need a plug for it. 2nd bucket will have a ton of small holes drilled in the bottom.1/8" works great. 3rd buckt is the bottom 2" cut off again drilled with a ton of 1/8 holes in it.
Now fit the 2nd bucket in to the first bucket and scure it wit some screws near the top of the first bucket with 1" screws and wing nuts. the 3rd bucket bottom will have a handle of some kind, I used a 1" band I cut from on of the buckets that I cut and rivet it to the bucket as a handle. You can also use a piece of rope or what ever you have.
Last you will need a cover. I use a Gamma screw cover.
Now what you do is put your eels up to 2 dozen in the 2nd bucket that is now attached to the first, you can cover them with seaweed for longer storage. then you put that 2" tray you made on top of that resting on the wing nuts. Fill the 2" tray with Ice and screw the cover on.
The ice will melt slow and give the eels a slow cool shower keeping them alive for a week!! when they are sitting in the yard you want to leave the plug out of the bottom so the water will drain. This way they can't drown. when you transport you can put the plug in so it won't drip all over your car.
I have used this for 4 years now. A friend of mine came up with it and it works great!!
....A-right!!!!I threw away almost 30 bucks just last week, it kills me, nevermind all season. Never thought of the top slow shower thing.I'm making mine tommorow!!!
Thanks MacoJoe
great set up joe !! now that you posted pictures i'm sure we'll see them in walmart in the future! fishin's a good time but not having to work and recieving checks in the mail is certainly the way to go... something as simple as that can be worth millions***** it will work great for shrimp too and many other baits down south ,ballyhoo if not live at least keep em fresh. i'm sure nils c.could help you market this!!!
my best days are in, on, or at the waters edge...... (We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.) Ernest Hemingway
That is an excellent set up. I generally don't have a problem with them dying as I tend to use them in the cooler seasons. I keep them at the dock and just pop them into a handled rubbermaid container which I place in my truck. Once at the beach, if I am going for a long walk and don't want to carry anything I put 4-6 in a mesh bag and tie it to my belt. Most nights I can leave them in the rubbermaid container all night without a problem.
During the summer however it is another story they will die in a matter of hours and your set up is ideal. It is not something you want to lug 5 miles in the sand with but to getting from here to their this looks nice. It looks like it took a while to make...nice job!
I followed Mr Sandman's advice to keep them alive between trips. I use a bucket that I painted black inside and drilled full of 3/8" holes. I throw a rock in it and keep it in a nice cool stream by my house, a dozen eels made it 3 weeks, too bad they die when I take them out for rides at night......... I think the key is to keep them in a cool well oxygenated stream. I'm not sure what they eat, but some of them are starting to look chewed up.
“It’s not up to the courts to invent new minorities that get special protections,” Antonin Scalia
Great post, I have been attempting to come up with something and your post looks like the way to go. My only question is, I may be a dummy. But here goes anyway. What is a gamma screw cover and where do I procure the same?
. ened up freezing them and will cut them up for eel plugs. They hate the heat!
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