Eel Bait

[ProfessorM]

crushed mussels is what I always used when I did it but I usually got eels of 3 foot length all the time. Usually got plenty but only a few were castable. But you may be able to hook a great white with them on your little rock.

[JamesJet]

Originally Posted by ProfessorM

crushed mussels is what I always used when I did it but I usually got eels of 3 foot length all the time. Usually got plenty but only a few were castable.

Funny you say that - same thing for me - we get some huge ones on crushed mussels. If I was into the eel skin thing, they would be great for any plug but too big to cast.

My father was a eel fisherman in the CT river and sold them commercially back in the 50s and always swore by stale bread.

[hyefisherman2]

Originally Posted by ProfessorM

crushed mussels is what I always used when I did it but I usually got eels of 3 foot length all the time. Usually got plenty but only a few were castable. But you may be able to hook a great white with them on your little rock.

i second the crushed mussels...thats what a friend and i use in our traps...works good.

[ivanputski]

as far as setting the trap, can you just throw he trap in any salt pond with any old buoy attached to your line, as long as its out of the way of boat traffic? I am also sick and tired of paying close to 2$ an eel, especially when at certain times certain people dont want you selecting your own, and you end up with skimpy eels that wont cast 20 feet... I could tie to a dock over night, but I have a much better spot with lots of eel grass in a salt pond... kayak right out to it... I was thinking of just throwing a striper carcass in the pot... i used Bunker in the past and it worked great... had 8 eels in one hour... But that was another place

[joe the plumber]

Originally Posted by ProfessorM

crushed mussels is what I always used when I did it but I usually got eels of 3 foot length all the time. Usually got plenty but only a few were castable. But you may be able to hook a great white with them on your little rock.

Man,
I grew up eating eels.Those 3 footers were the best!!!

[5/0]

The best thing I found for bait was my wallet

[RoyL]

I have always done the best with female horseshoe crabs, but I too think you might need a permit now a days. Back when I use to use them alot I would freeze my horseshoe crabs for when I needed them, since they are easyer to find in the eary spring....Last year since I wasn't sure about needing to use a permit I used bacon in my traps and it worked well. I use bacon to fish for white cats and usually catch about a dozen to two dozen eels in a given night on hook & line so it works well just a little pricy, but then again so are eels.

[numbskull]

Yikes! English muffins and bacon? Someone delete this thread.....if NIB reads it there won't be an eel pot safe on the East coast.

[NIB]

Originally Posted by numbskull

Yikes! English muffins and bacon? Someone delete this thread.....if NIB reads it there won't be an eel pot safe on the East coast.

[mikecc]

From the DMF website

Massachusetts requires any person harvesting more than six crabs per day to have a regulated
fishery permit and to report landings monthly. New monthly catch reports were developed to
more closely fit forms for other fisheries that are entered in to an Oracle database. New reports
must include the date of harvest, trip start time and duration, port, gear type, disposition, the
gender of the crabs, harvest location, and harvest method. If the crabs are sold, the harvester
must identify the dealer or person purchasing the crabs. All scientific and research institutes and
the single biomedical company must file monthly catch reports listing the names of individuals
they purchased crabs from, in-state and out-of-state, the number of crabs purchased and how the
crabs were used. Bait dealers are required to file electronic reports weekly under the SAFIS
(Standard Atlantic Fisheries Information System) system. The biomedical company, Associates
of Cape Cod (ACC), must also report the number of crabs received dead or rejected and the
number of dead crabs returned to the biomedical vendor. (The vendor is a fisherman who
delivers crabs he, his brother, and one other fisherman harvested, all with biomedical permits, to
ACC). The biomedical vendor must report monthly the number of dead crabs from the time of
harvest to the time the crabs were returned to the water.