Slippery

One thing worth noting is that eels can often be found in very silty areas where they bury themselves out of the way when not feeding. A bait cast to these areas can sometimes produce when they are not actively feeding. These areas are not your classic snaggy swims but can be just as good if not better. I rarely fish close to snags myself as I think the odds of loosing the eel is much higher. You need to be on top of your rods when fishing close to snags as the eel only has to poke its nose out to grab your bait with its tail still in the snag. Much better to put your bait a few yards away and wait until they come out after dark.

Hi Everyone please find below my ahem "catch return" for the weekend. Despite my poor return I really enjoyed the weekend and would like to echo everyone's comments in thanking Steve, Peggy and all the bailiffs. I was fishing on Tims point, I am not sure if I could have done better, though fishing out into the far right hand corner of the "weedy trench" in front of me, from the start, would probably have helped. However it's got have been the swim with the most complex underwater features I have ever fished. Way different from most waters I fish where you usually just get a couple of dropoffs and maybe an island - thats my excuse anyway! Catch return as follows: Sat evening approx 21:00 pike caught on lobworm while retrieving rig approx 9lb (not weighed). Between 22:30 and 3:30 Sunday miss 5 twitchy bites all on worm & 4 liners. In my experience twitchy bites like this on my fairly crude eel gear are usually from small narrow mouthed eels or silvers. 10:30 Sunday morning liner - Tench moving over line very close in and probably fish like this the source of overnight liners. I fished a block end maggot feeder rig in this area for the remainder of my stay but no luck. Sunday evening 21:30 pike weighed at 8lb 14oz on dendrabena worm. - this looked similar to the first pike caught but fought much harder. Between 23:10 and 00:20 3 missed twitchy bites to worm baits. Also at around 00:30 I spook a large fish close in when recasting - tench sized I think. Soon after at 00:45 a fair sized silver fish took a moth? off the surface approx 12 foot out. At dawn I had a small lift on a worm rig on retrieving the rig a big swirl as that pesky pike tried to grab the bait again! Difference between Sat & Sunday evening, much fewer bites, probably the cooler conditions? and also no liners (one of my rigs Sat evening was fished over the first bar to my left so fish moving along the bar may have been the source of some of the liners). Tightlines. Stephen

Hi All! Recently joined the forum after meeting Steve Burke at the Wingham NAC fishin. I don't just fish for eels but have fished for most coarse fish and the odd trout over the years. Happy to be on the bank and away from the stresses of life. Tightlines Stephen.