Me and my mate want to catch some eels as heard they fight well, and it would be a new species for me. Have a lot of respec for them but have never seen 1 in the flesh.

Does anyone know a fishery/river where it's likely we'd get a few in a session. (Near Norwich)

Dan

Theres always been a good head of big eels in the Thurne system and I'm assuming there still is.
Small(2inch)fresh dead roach or worms work well, maggots tend to catch bootlaces

Excellent. Eels rock!

I'm sure others will point you to good locations.

Legering a lob has to be the way to go. But bear in mind eels are very prone to deep-hooking, so strike sooner rather than later. And unlike perch they have tight little mouths and can be very difficult to unhook when the hook is only just out of sight. Think in terms of barbless hooks and snipping the line if in doubt, rather than trying to extricate a hook from down the eel's dark throat.

Eels have surprisingly sharp teeth and can rip light mono to shreds, especially with all that wild thrashing and squirming they do. Use a light wire trace. If you opt for deadbaits then the wire is essential as you might get the attention of pike too.

Have fun!

my mate had a four pound eel on a massive sardine which was well over 7 inches (we were piking) cant believe it took it! greedy b**ch. i have to say i have respect for eels and would never hurt one but they are rather discusting slimy fish! and very differcult to handle! pumpkin

put them to sleep, it may help with the unhooking.In my experience of good eels I don't find them slimy at all at least no worse than other fish, bream are worse for slime than big eels are.

id recommend the wensum that runs through norwich, which does have a reasonable run of eels. Use strong gear to avoid leaving eels hooked/teathered in snags. for unhooking purposes strike runs immediatley to avoid deep hooking as the eels vital organs are just below the throat. most importantly return all of your eels alive and unharmed as the creatures are declining (well done cockneys!) and deserve equal respect.
good luck

Not so much the Cockneys, as our European brothers who net glass Eels (v.young Eels) on their migratory route, a sure recipe for disaster if ever there was one :mad:

they have declined for a number of reasons including a fungal desease from china but probably more significantley over harvesting, which does include cockneys im afraid and cockneys do harvest the elvers (v.young eels)on their migratory route.

A good way to hold an eel when unhooking it is to wrap it in newspaper it sticks to the paper and doesnt slip about as much.I've never found it damage the eel in any way.You can get your hook out quicker and let it go quicker.
Eel sections are good pike bait.
Tigger.

Some good information on fishing for eels at:

http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/saa/esg/

Tight Lines - leon