Fishing for eels - any tips?

madeinuk · Dec 12, 2011

I love eating eels so I want to catch some.

Any tips appreciated - when I was a kid in England it was easy with chicken liver or even a woolen ball stuffed with blood and guts - their teeth would get stuck in the wool.

How is it done over here.

No need to burn spots publicly - PM me

wingshooter · Dec 12, 2011

I catch them with bloodworms and a flounder rig, usually in the summer months,,

chris n · Dec 12, 2011

i do this to catch them...but for bait.

get a spool of mono. 15lb or so. get some cheap hooks and weights. get some type of fatty tough meat that will stick to the hook long ( I use the silver skin off of deer)

place about 10-15 rigs tied off to a bridge/tree/whatever you can and leave them sit overnight in the river/lake. come back and youll have a few usually.

oneshotkill · Dec 12, 2011

During september /early oct I caught huge ones over 2 ft long in my crab traps and even had them follow the crab handlines to the boat. It actually got to where they were interfering w me boating crabs because they were interfering w the bait. This was in dividng creek, cumberland co. If I baited a small hook I prob coulda caught them all day long. I enjoy eating smoked eel and am gonna try bringing some home one of these days.

oneshotkill · Dec 12, 2011

trailwatcher · Dec 12, 2011

small gold hooks with anything that smells. I used to catch em in pots too for striper fishing when I was younger. caught em on bacon fat with hook and line. crushed crab in the pots.

SxSshooter · Dec 12, 2011

summer is the best time to catch them in the rivers around here. we do well in the hot summer months at night using small chunks of herring.

12pointfeva · Dec 12, 2011

chicken liver, hook line and sinker...toss it out and wait for the bite...usually an eel or a cat when night fishing...most ponds/rivers hold em

makosnax · Dec 13, 2011

stuff the chicken livers in a small piece of panty hose,the teeth get stuck and they can't get off.Use a long drop line with several rigs and leave it overnite in brackish tidal water.

NJBackwoods · Dec 13, 2011

Go on a bottom trip and you'll catch a ton of silver eels. Big ones. Most throw them back, you can come home with a cooler of them.

cuervo25_1 · Dec 13, 2011

dead crayfish or minnows, or live worms gobbed on a hook (I used a #8) on regular mono.

DakotaBear · Dec 14, 2011

flounder rigs and crab meat (the chunk of meat near the back legs stays on the hook good) always worked for me...try around bulkheads and structure like that...gl

X7_ · Dec 14, 2011

We used to do it the same way you did, Oliver. We'd use old wool socks stuffed with chicken livers and stones tied off to to a rope or line just off the bottom of the river.

We would also punch holes into a coffee can. Fill it with worms and nightcrawlers and put the plastic top back on Tied it to a rope and throw it over the side. Didn't need any hooks. The trick is to slowly bring up the can and then shake off the eels into a bucket in the boat. Same as the sock trick.

SPEARFISH · Dec 14, 2011

small hook, worm,fish, liver catch a lot at night

maximus · Dec 14, 2011

You want eels,go to round valley after dark and throw out a size 6 hook with a chicken liver on it. You'll catch eels as big as pythons,no joke

Stickythehunter · Dec 14, 2011

Not trying to be 'that guy' but set lines are illegal in NJ. Just a heads up to you guys that do it.

phillyfireman · Dec 14, 2011

Why dont you make up or buy half dozen eel traps.

The best bait for eel is horse shoe crab. check out the legalitty of the traps and horsh choe crab for bait.

Northernhunter · Dec 14, 2011

Might need a license but people have good luck trapping them in lagoons.

jerseyhunter · Dec 14, 2011

Just wade around at night with a gig and flashlight. Look in the clumps of sea weed. I used to scap with a net on one end and a gig on the other. I've had luck in Shark River Hills,Sandy Hook(bay side)and LBI up near Love Ladies. If you going to fish for them , Small pcs of Bloods or the ribbons of piss clams. Love eels dipped in flour and fried till the skin crisps or smoked.[tasty]
Oh low tide for scapping and they seem to bite more at night or cloudy days if fishing.

Billbow · Dec 14, 2011

Try chicken livers in a killie trap

Fishing for eels - any tips?

madeinuk

wingshooter

chris n

oneshotkill

oneshotkill

trailwatcher

SxSshooter

12pointfeva

makosnax

NJBackwoods

cuervo25_1

DakotaBear

X7_

SPEARFISH

maximus

Stickythehunter

phillyfireman

Northernhunter

jerseyhunter

Billbow

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