Dare to Compare: Eels v. Plugs

[fcap60]

It's winter, I'm home sick, my team is not in the playoffs-so I figured that I would ramble on about a few thoughts and see what others think.

I wanted to know what others really thing about fishing eels vs. plugs. Much has been written on the topic, but it's always interesting to see what others are thinking. I figured, if we keep the debate limited to a few areas (effectiveness, skill level, fun, catch and release, and cost) - we could better keep things in perspective. Here's my .02

1. Effectiveness:
There is no comparison. Typically, fisherman will catch bass of better quality (size) and qualtiy (numbers on eels). Of course, big fish will fall to plugs, but I'm willing to bet that if you fished eels and plugs equally throughout the season, there would be no comparison and eels would reign supreme at the end.

2. Skill Level
I give this one to the plug fisherman. In both cases you need to read the water, but to actually "fool" the fish, it takes more skill to do it with plugs than with eels. Generally, if you fish an eel in or near the strike zone, you'll likely have sucess. I think it takes a little more skill to hook up with plugs though.

3. Fun

Everything being equal, I give this category to the plug fisherman as well. By being equal, I mean, if you catch 100 bass on eels and 100 bass on plugs, the plug fishing is just more fun. Now, let's look at the facts. when the extreme heat of July and early August is around, my confidence level in plugs is WAY DOWN. So, I guess everything is not equal in the reel world. If fact, you may go several nights with no fish or a few rats with plugs when you could be hooking up with LARGE on those same nights if you were using live eels. So, to sum this up,
catching (especially LARGE) is more fun than not catching, so on one hand eels are more fun. On the other hand, if you were catching near equally, plugs are more fun. NOW I'M REALLY CONFUSED.

4. Catch and Release

This is tough, and I give this category to the plugs even though many may think there are ways to catch bass without letting them take the hook deep. There may be, but over time, I think plugs are better for catch and release.

5. Cost

I actually belive that eels are more affordable than plugs. You'll need to do the math and decide for yourself.

Feel free to add your thoughts. After all, it's winter....according to the calendar.

[striprman]

If the fish are jumping, plug.

[likwid]

Why compare live bait and artificial?

Why not Eels vs Live bunker?

Howabout live lobster vs eels?

[snake slinger]

i will take eels over plugs every time.i set the hook with eels fairly quick and i dont deep hook many when it does happen i cut the leader.one hook or 2-3 trebles i think 1 hook is easyer on the fish.

[ChiefLinesider]

1. Effectiveness:
eels

2. Skill Level
plugs- I like the idea of not using the fishes natural food. Then your just feeding them. Of course they are going to eat a juicy eel. But tricking them into thinking your lure shaped like some driftwood is food takes skill.

3. Fun
plugs

4. Catch and Release
Id say its a close call. Plugs can certainly do a lot of damage. Especially when you have 3 4/0 trebles dangling around. And eels can easily slide down into the throat or belly, get lodged in there, and that fish is as good as dead.

5. Cost
Eels, are more expensive. If I took all the bluefish I caught on plugs, it would be alot of money down the drain. When I can reuse a plug for life.

6.Which is closer to being wiped out completely?

[Pete_G]

1. Effectiveness:

I look at it as using the right tool for the job as anything else.

Sometimes you just can't get where you need to go with an eel.

If the wind is 20 knots in your face and the structure the fish hold on is too far away to put the eel where it needs to be, the eel isn't going to have a chance to even compete with a plug.

Whatever gets the job done is what I use. Where you fish obviously effects how far you need to cast. This is part of the reason I haven't used eels much in recent years.

2. Skill level:

Eels are bait and bass love them. It's basically feeding the fish (most of the time). Not that I don't respect an eel, bunker, or herring caught fish, and not that there isn't some skill to fishing eels well, but it's different. A live, wriggling eel, or a hunk of hard plastic or wood. If you're a fish, which do you choose? Nuff said.

3. Fun:

I love that "thump" of a well hit eel. But a giant bass having it's way with a topwater offering is awfully tough to beat.

4. Catch and release:

Real tough one to analyze. Fish rarely swallow a plug into their stomach, but plugs sometimes do some serious damage too.

5. Cost:

If you don't lose a lot of plugs, eels almost have to be more expensive. I haven't fished eels as much as I have in the past because the bluefish have been so miserable in the spots I fish, and they definitely increase the cost of eel fishing.

[Finaddict]

IN almost all of these questions/scenarios - there is never one right answer, although percentages are higher on each one ...

1) effectiveness - bait is always more effective than plastic and or wood -- but Pete has a very strong point in that there are times when a plug will outdoo bait depending upon the conditions.

2) Skill - bait fishing sounds easy, but if you really want to score consistently on bigger fish, even bait fishing takes skill - don't overestimate the skill needed to score big and frequently ... that aside, yes there is more skill involved with using an artificial product and enticing a fish to eat ... especially a big fish - fish up to 20 pounds are much easier to catch than larger fish on plugs, and anyone who scores consistently with that method has a lot of skill, I tip my hat to them ...

3) Fun - They both have thier advantages, but what's more memorable than a big fish exploding on a plug in the pre-dawn hours ... and fishing plugs period is fun in and of itself ...so I'd have to give thumbs up to the plugs.

4) Don't remember what this is about, but let's say plugs ... just for the fun of it ...

5) Cost - again, no straight answer - say you buy a dozen snakes for $2 each, you tote them around, fish one or two in the evening but never get a hit -- that's $24 wasted ... but a lot of these custom plugs are $20+ each, so if you have a bag of 20 on you, that's $400 bucks ... can you fish them for years, yes ... but there have been days over the years when I've lost two or three $20 plugs during a fishing trip for one reason or another ... fish takes me down around a rock and cuts the line on barnacles, god forbid a knot gives out (yes it happens), or you snag on a rock in the dark and cannot work it out ... So that's a lot of dough as well.

Ultimately, I will try to use the best bait/lure at any given time for the particular situation that I am fishing ... happy to use both, just have much more in the way of plugs right now ... but grew up fishing live bunker/pogies and mackerel as the primary means for scoring a lot of fish and some good sized ones at that.

[numbskull]

Sort of a worm vs dryfly argument, or shiner vs spinnerbait debate, everything is relative. Catching equivalent numbers and size of fish with artificals is more difficult than using bait. So what? Catching big fish with bait isn't easy either, and obviously the guys who do it regularly have developed a specialized body of knowledge that is every bit as admirable as that of a guy who is successful with plugs.

[Flaptail]

Originally Posted by numbskull

Sort of a worm vs dryfly argument, or shiner vs spinnerbait debate, everything is relative. Catching equivalent numbers and size of fish with artificals is more difficult than using bait. So what? Catching big fish with bait isn't easy either, and obviously the guys who do it regularly have developed a specialized body of knowledge that is every bit as admirable as that of a guy who is successful with plugs.

You should be a politician instead of a physician hahahahahaha . Talk about can't we all just get along .....ick....., Eels are hard plugs are hard, but plugs that look like and swim like eels, now that's something!

[shadow]

I love both yet I'd take a plug off to put an eel on yet almost never take an eel off for a plug.a few times they ignored eels and took plugs. 90% of the time it is an eel that I'am throwing.cost- eels cost me more cuase I buy more.c&r about the some damage sometimes if the hook is deep on a large bass I can cut the leader and pull the hook out the same way it went in not damaging the fish.eels are fun but I love raising a good fish with surface plugs.I guess they booth win.

[Raven]

well you don't spend the winter growing Eels in the basement

so the fun of making ,creating ,sanding,painting ect is something to consider
not to mention the trading aspect with plugs.

it's not like you'd say...here try one of my Eels ...they work
much better than the kind your using.

unless it was say an artificial Eel.....from Surf Asylum or Surfhog.

[t.orlando]

Plugs........for when you cant reach the fish with an eel

[Rockport24]

Originally Posted by Raven

well you don't spend the winter growing Eels in the basement

so the fun of making ,creating ,sanding,painting ect is something to consider
not to mention the trading aspect with plugs.

it's not like you'd say...here try one of my Eels ...they work
much better than the kind your using.

unless it was say an artificial Eel.....from Surf Asylum or Surfhog.

ya know Raven, I was just having a conversation about breeding eels with a friend this weekend, is it possible?? I know there are sea worm farms, what about eel farms? I know I know. off topic sorry...

[ChiefLinesider]

Originally Posted by Pete_G

1. Effectiveness:

I look at it as using the right tool for the job as anything else.

Sometimes you just can't get where you need to go with an eel.

If the wind is 20 knots in your face and the structure the fish hold on is too far away to put the eel where it needs to be, the eel isn't going to have a chance to even compete with a plug.

good point, didnt think of that side of it.

[cheferson]

Originally Posted by Rockport24

ya know Raven, I was just having a conversation about breeding eels with a friend this weekend, is it possible?? I know there are sea worm farms, what about eel farms? I know I know. off topic sorry...

Don't think eels have been successfully bred in captivity. The Japanese raise them , but they start with elvers that are collected in the wild.

[Raven]

i'd say that you'd have to have current to raise
eels...artificially.... similar to trout...
i used to always catch eels where a lake would dump into a river
and there was bottleneck there (man made) and thats where the eels
would be.

[2na]

1. Effectiveness:
There is no comparison. (I concur).

2. Skill Level
I give this one to the plug fisherman. (I get great satisfaction fooling a fish with a piece of wood or metal – anyone can throw live bait out and catch a fish.)

3. Fun

Plug fishing is more exciting.

4. Catch and Release

Learn to stick your hand down into a bass stomach to get that hook back. I learned long ago to look for cuts on fellow fisherman’s forearms to see who had been doing this (pay attention to the guy wearing long sleeves in summer).

5. Cost

I lose so many GD plugs that eels have to be cheaper.


And the last thought:

As a dedicated plugger, as much as I love a bass crushing something presented on top I believe that the most exciting moment in fishing is that wait before you set after a bass has smashed the eel. The anticipation of what’s to come is overwhelming. Unfortunately, at my end of the pond eels have not been as productive in the last few years as they had been (and the seals have started to take them), so I’ve become more and more of a plugger. But I cut my teeth flipping eels and learned a lot about fishing from the experience – it made me a much better plugger.

[Back Beach]

Eels For people who like results

Plugs For peole who have fragile egos and need the reassurance that they can actually fool a fish.

[NIB]

My ego must be eggshell thin..

[UserRemoved1]

How do you get an eeel to fit in your lathe?

[RoyL]

I like to just mix them both....Eel skin plugs..lol No, but I use what ever is going to get me into the money. I do like the plugs for the visial effects.

[Clogston29]

I like both and fish both. I get more of a sense of satisfaction out of getting fish on plugs in general but I really enjoy fishing eels alot. I guess I just love to fish.

[Slipknot]

I just go right to livelining stripers for seals
my ego is less than eggshell thin, I need reassurance from the NIB

[fcap60]

great responses.

thanks

[ThrowingTimber]

I dont really see it as a this takes more skill than that sort of deal. As mentioned they each have their individual skill sets. Personally for me I like fishing my plugs, because I kinda think about it being a block of wood as I'm hooking up. Kinda like haha gotcha but I'm not into this over that, I like catchin' just about as much as I like fishing.

[chuckg]

With sluggos and other rubbeer resembling eels I've stuck with the rubber, eels will soon be on the endangered lists and we should give them a break...