What are you paying for eels?

[eelman]

Originally Posted by Mr. Sandman

That OTW sluggo article was very timely I thought. I rigged up a few and gave them a test cast...pretty decent I thought. I will give them a try next outting. I was surprised to hear how you fish them but I will give it a go.
I was wondering how they stand up compared to a live eel and how many should one take to the beach for a nights fishing?

Steve and I fish together every night, He always brings a dozen sluggos with him, bluefish wreck havoc on them. Also they are good for a few fish and then you need to change, the bait gets tore up good especially on teen size fish. When the sluggo is no good to use anymore, he takes out the hooks and weights and saves them.

Are they as good as eels? sometimes, From fishing side by side with him and me using eels, It is just about even in the numbers department however, I give the edge ( overall) for bigger fish to the live eel.

To work the sluggo right you have to reel in at a good clip while twitching the rod tip, I have noticed that sometimes the bass prefer the slower eel but, they are the next best thing to a live eel and I like them.

The reason I dont fish them more is that I use conventional gear and cant get the speed I need. One of these days I will buy a "sluggo setup" of about an 8 foot rod and spinning reel.