here's a little "tip" i garnered from Daignault's "Striper Surf",
after you've hooked the live eel, under the center of the jaw and out the eye socket, i ALWAYS hold tension on it for a minimum of 90 seconds. not enough to break it's back, but enough to keep it from going bat-bleep crazy before you can cast it into the strike zone. i also kind of let it dangle and bob it every now and then as i make my way to my perch allowing the weight of the eel to keep it straight. that is, if ya don't go with the above MV method,,,,,,,,,,
i haven't had the dreaded eel ball in six years since employing this tactic. also, for me, i transport my eels in one of those cheap softsided coolers from Wal-Mart and i always take a gallon-sized ziploc filled with 2 trays of ice in it, placed on top of the eels, to keep them sleepy and chilled until i get to the rocks. and i would echo the rag(old t-shirts)/sand techinique for grabbing them.
low and slohhhhhhh, 12 to 6(look for the hit on the drop), and a loose drag is my mantra for the retrieve; yet the first retrieve is quicker to get the eel acclamated to being hooked, as others have said. i would concur with at least a "three count" per 10 feet of depth that allows your slithery one to seek bottom. lastly, until i make contact i pop the rod lightly so as to "feel" the where and the when my eel is, in relation to where i "think" i casted it. just gives me bearing on the darker, foggier, surfier nights.
on the hookset~~~ DEFINITELY, bow to the cow for at least 3 seconds!! then, if using braid and circle hooks just "roll" the hook into her maw. with mono and any other hook, ya need to "cross her eyeballs" with the set. and then? let her ruuuuun,,,,,,,,, i also like to rig eeeeels and they can be MOST effective and are an excellent bang for yer dead eeeels buck! ah but that is another post entirely.
another school of thought is to let them swim in the strike zone with the Cap't Morgan's pose for 3-5 mins. and then begin the retrieve, which is what worked for me acoupla weeks ago. just be sure to do this after the eel has come back "clean" several times, or i'll do it as the eel approaches the last half of it's liveliness.
the key to fishing with eeeeeels is this, to keep at it until you find your groove and what instills the most confidence for you and what helps you to be the most effective once you've mastered the fundamentals. you will miss fish, you will get ghost bumps, you will have monster takes by schoolies, you will have double/triple takes by the same fish or many fish, you will have tiny takes by biggs, and everything inbetween; yet, thankfully, the eels do most of the work. IF there are feesh there, then they WILL find them!!
hope this helps, and WELCOME to the dark side!! for you will go LAHHHHHGE
and it will happen more often with the slippery, slimy, ones
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