Eel Skins

[Saltheart]

people pay $8 for a skin! You got to be kidding. That is amazing. I would never pay more than the cost of the hwole eel for just the skin. I guess todays fisherman don't liek to get their hands dirty or get grossed out skinning them themsleves. $8 each!!!! Unbelieveable!

[Thumper]

Originally Posted by Saltheart

people pay $8 for a skin! You got to be kidding. That is amazing. I would never pay more than the cost of the hwole eel for just the skin. I guess todays fisherman don't liek to get their hands dirty or get grossed out skinning them themsleves. $8 each!!!! Unbelieveable!

i agree that is a crazy price for an eel skin considering some shops practically give away dead eels. it takes all of 3min to tack on the the tree, cut, pull the skin off, cut behind the anal vent and toss in the brine. the problem is finding the bigger eels for the bigger plugs.

[chefchris401]

Originally Posted by Saltheart

people pay $8 for a skin! You got to be kidding. That is amazing. I would never pay more than the cost of the hwole eel for just the skin. I guess todays fisherman don't liek to get their hands dirty or get grossed out skinning them themsleves. $8 each!!!! Unbelieveable!

yeah last year in montauk i had about 10 skins left and a few guys found out while we where out there, they offered to pay $8 each for them, im not dumb so i agreed. paid for my gas on the way home. these were all big skins that I used for the lordship 40s.

The BIG eels usually cost me at wholesale about $3 to 4 each, thats direct from a seafood supplier we use at work.

i would think that $5 each is fair, but i just buy the whole eel and do them myself.

if you guys want i get the whole eels for you if you want to it your self. PM me and I can get them to you asap. Im not sure of the edges eta.

[piemma]

Well, I start a new job on Monday so I will not have a lot of time for awhile. I think I will wait for the Edge.

[Nebe]

Originally Posted by piemma

Well, I start a new job on Monday so I will not have a lot of time for awhile. I think I will wait for the Edge.

WTF Paul. Your retired remember?
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[Green Light]

Originally Posted by luds

I've heard that when guys are picking skins out at Maco's that they blow in them to see if air flows through....

Wow. That's hardcore.

[JFigliuolo]

Originally Posted by Nebe

WTF Paul. Your retired remember?
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Yeah WTF??? Only thing that would bring me out of retirement is being a pron star, or a fishing guide. And no one in their right mind would pay me to do either!

[DZ]

Originally Posted by luds

I've heard that when guys are picking skins out at Maco's that they blow in them to see if air flows through.

They were just being responsible - avoiding unwanted pregnancies.

DZ

[piemma]

Originally Posted by Nebe

WTF Paul. Your retired remember?
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

If I stayed retired I would have gotten divorced. My wife just doesn't like me around all that much and for the last 6 months and 1 week it has been 7X24.
I am going back to selling banking software and on the road again. First trip is Tuesday off to San Fran and LA.

[RIJIMMY]

Originally Posted by piemma

If I stayed retired I would have gotten divorced. My wife just doesn't like me around all that much and for the last 6 months and 1 week it has been 7X24.
I am going back to selling banking software and on the road again. First trip is Tuesday off to San Fran and LA.

you should take up something called "fishing", it might get you out of the house a little.......

[piemma]

Then the other problem is like eating lobster and steak everyday. If you do, eventually you get sick of lobster and steak. I just wasn't ready to do nothing but fish and golf. I still have the need for the "rush" from selling and closing big deals. I still need to be on a plane every week, so off I go.

It's not like I have to work. I now know that, financially, we can make it without an income from me. Everything is paid for so it has been just the normal monthly bills, electric, tele, insurance and taxes. So if I get fed up with the job, I'll quit. It is actually a great position to be in.

[Notaro]

Originally Posted by Saltheart

I'm just amazed that people don't know what the hey about eel skins. signs of a dying art in fishing.

When you skin them , you have to pull the skin down to just before the anal vent and stop. You then snip the little intestine attached at the inside of the skin. then you pull the rest of the skin off. If you pull the whole skin off without snipping the anal vent thingy , the skins rip from there down to the tail end or to whatever point the anal intestine string breaks.


You don't want the big rip in skins to be used on skin jigs with the hole in them or the style with the raised cowell that the skin is tied to. The water is supposed to flow throw the hole and puff up the skin. Some people do put a very small hole in the skins for the skin jigs cause they say a little draining out the tail causes it to be less filled out and the more slack skin wiggles better and that the water flows through it better. I think no hole or small hole is ok but a long rip do to not snipping the anal intestine when pulling the skin off is too much of a vent and the skin won't puff up on the skin jig.

Skin plugs usually need the much bigger diameter skins and they do not have water flowing through them and puffing up the skin. Therefore a tear or hole in the skin makes no difference when you use them on skin plugs.

When used on skin jigs , the intent is often to make them look like a bate fish with a side profile , that's why you want them to puff up. Skin jigs work well when the bass are feeding on herring because if you know how to tie them on right they look like a herring. The way to tie them on is to have the whole thing only about 5 to 7 inches long , like the baitfish. very few people know this and do it correctly. They all want it as long as possible. You want it very long on a skin plug cause its supposed to slither along like an eel or snake , etc. thats why the skin plugs usually have a metal lip like a danny swimmer , they need to wiggle. you want to retrieve them slow so its slow slithering wiggle , not fast like when the metal lip plug is swimming without the skin.On the jigs its can can be used like that but this time of year when the herring are around you want to rig skin jigs short and you want them puffed up with water.

So you are saying that I should used a skin that has a tear on the rear end and jigged it?

[Saltheart]

No Joe!!

For jigging , no hole or just a tiny hole.

If it has a tear in it its OK for Skin Plugs , not skin jigs.

[Saltheart]

Joe, Did you see the part about the skin jigs have a hole in them so water flows through the jig and into the skin that is tied on it around the hole? That's important.

[Notaro]

Originally Posted by Saltheart

Joe, Did you see the part about the skin jigs have a hole in them so water flows through the jig and into the skin that is tied on it around the hole? That's important.

Yes, I have, but every time I skin a eel, it's always torn on the rear end and becomes useless. That's why I don't bother doing it anymore.

[Big Dave]

Originally Posted by Notaro

Yes, I have, but every time I skin a eel, it's always torn on the rear end and becomes useless. That's why I don't bother doing it anymore.

Having a hole in the tail section of the skin is the main reason why skins work. It allows water to flow through them, thereby giving them the action they have. It should not be the reason you stop doing it.

[Notaro]

Originally Posted by Big Dave

Having a hole in the tail section of the skin is the main reason why skins work. It allows water to flow through them, thereby giving them the action they have. It should not be the reason you stop doing it.

alright, i will give it a shot.

[Saltheart]

Joe , the reason they rip down the tail is because you are not stopping to snip the intestine (looks like a string) at the anal vent. You may want a small hole but you don't want a slit 6 inches long from the anal vent to the tail.

[Notaro]

Originally Posted by Saltheart

Joe , the reason they rip down the tail is because you are not stopping to snip the intestine (looks like a string) at the anal vent. You may want a small hole but you don't want a slit 6 inches long from the anal vent to the tail.

Okay gotcha. Thanks, Mike

[Mike P]

Originally Posted by piemma

Eel Skins have become impossible to buy. I was talking to the guys at Red Top this AM and they told me Maco has them. Well, I spoke to the guy at Maco and he sang me a song of sorrow about how everyone wants to buy eel skins but no one buys his other stuff so his now going to punish everyone and will no longer carry eel skins.

So here's the question. Short of me skinning my own eels, (which I have done in the past) does anyone know where I can buy a bunch of eel skins?

Could be because Maco's has nothing else worth buying--talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face

Paul, I've heard that if you go to seafood markets in Italian neighborhoods around Christmas time, you can find skins, and they may even give them to ya.

'Course, that doesn't help you now.

But, you know what? I rarely see anyone throwing skins nowadays. Today's plastics are equally effective MOST of the time, and much easier to rig and keep. Even my regular fishing partner, who was as big a skinner as they came not too long ago, has switched over entirely to his own hand poured plastics.

[piemma]

You know what Mike? You are probably right. I have been waxing nostalgic for the old days. Can't see putting a plastic eel on a plug.

I know you didn't mean that but I just like the way a "skin plug" moves.

[Saltheart]

I think there are times when the smell of the skins may get you a bite when other lures or plastic won't. The question is how often and is it worth it if its only rare when a plastic tail won't do the trick. I think when the bass are really keyed into a vertain bait , like herring , you may get them to hit a skin jig if its set up right. Skins are a big pain. Some people use Condoms.

I think rigged eels are worth the effort. They catch well , they are tough to all things except blue fish , and again you get them free when your live one dies.

[Mike P]

Originally Posted by piemma

You know what Mike? You are probably right. I have been waxing nostalgic for the old days. Can't see putting a plastic eel on a plug.

I know you didn't mean that but I just like the way a "skin plug" moves.

Plug sized skins are even harder to come by, which is where the seafood joints in old Italian neighborhoods come into their own. There have to be one or two left on the Hill, you'd think?

I'm actually shocked that no one has a synthetic skin on the market. The guy who made the old Dri-Core surf tops had some for while.

[Saltheart]

Originally Posted by Mike P

I'm actually shocked that no one has a synthetic skin on the market. The guy who made the old Dri-Core surf tops had some for while.

Well...there is one famous manufacturer that comes to mind....Trojan People do use them on skin jigs

[JohnnyD]

Originally Posted by Saltheart

Well...there is one famous manufacturer that comes to mind....Trojan People do use them on skin jigs

$.10/piece from the health center at my girlfriend's college.

Do you think the bass would like strawberry or banana flavored more?

[Pete F.]

Might be better off with Natural lamb

[Vogt]

It sounds like you guys need to make friends with some commercial eelers. Like I did...

[luds]

Struck out at all the local chinese seafood markets.