how do you fish eels in the canal.

[hardbait]

i fish eels from the beach, rocks and tidal rivers. but i never fished eels in the canal.was wondering for some advice. i usually cast and reel really slow. no weight nothing just a hook.wanna try this fall.

[Mike P]

Most guys free drift their eels unweighted. Some add a 1 oz egg sinker or Rubbercore to the leader above the swivel. You want to cast slightly upcurrent and "plug" them slightly while they're drifting, to keep them off the bottom. Gentle raises of the rod. Keep tension on the eel to keep it from committing eelicide around the leader. On nights like tonight, with a smoking current that's around 5 kts at peak flow, IMO you're better off throwing them in the last 2 hours of a tide.

At slack--fish them the same way you would from the beach--slooooooow retrieve. Just enough forward movement to keep them off the bottom.

I've always had better luck dropping back a 3-5 count before setting the hook. Other guys swear by hitting them right away. YMMV.

[stiff tip]

pick a tide thats goes slack at say 9pm.. pick your spot ,there,s 7mi and 2 sides start 2 hrs before slack, start tossing eels. first w/ a 1/4 or1/2 oz rubber core sinker..cast up tide , and let eel swim twards the bottom . work rod tip up and dwm and reel in slow , as current slows take off sinker, let eel swim natural ,and walk the dog ..when u get a hit dip the tip and set up... fish on bike and move , if u get nothing after 20min. spinning rod 20 pound power pro 40 lb leader 5/0 bronze hook.. fish alots of night time late tides........

[5/0]

Put-em on a hook like a 5/0 and drift it,some times you gotta add some rubbah core weight to find out what collum of water there lurking in.


5/0

[hardbait]

thanks guys will be tryingthis weekend.how many eels do you usually go through a night?