'eelfisher'

Dear ALL The soft silicone tubing I place on my wire traces is for two reasons......the first is covered by Anthony and the second was to allow me to gauge where the hook position would be on landing the eel. The hook would be either visible or if the tubing was still visible the hook was somewhere inside the mouth area......depending on the amount outside the mouth. No tubing being visible meant I didn't even have to bother with the 'looking' for the hook before knowing if it was a 'cut the trace job'. I always retain any eels caught in a sack over my eel sessions. So on landing an eel, if the hook was visible I would unhook it there and then. If the hook wasn't visible, I would simply unclip the trace and pop the eel in the sack. At the end of the session I would then sort the situation out. Quite often, on opening up the sack, there would be a trace coughed up in the sack, thus saving me the decision of cutting the trace. I believe that a few deeply 'hooked' eels are not that at all......due to finding the traces in the sack after a few hours rest, I believe that some baits are just clamped in the throat area and the eel keeping its mouth closed tight prevents the bait being ejected. My opinion and nothing proven......either way, the decision to cut the trace is always made at the last minute within my eel fishing sessions just in case an ejection takes place. Given my thoughts above......when a trace is cut in these odd times of not being actually 'hooked', maybe the eel then swallows the bait once it is relaxed....or coughs it up out of our sight after it is released alive. ??????????? Thanks to Anthony for mentioning what I do. It might get others to consider wire when they are put of it by concern for them thinking that the eel will reject a bait presented on a wire trace. (Jeff, I missed that out in my reply to you via private mail.....sorry.) Thanks to Damian Wood for his brilliant drawings.....the man is awesome at both drawing and catching big canal eels. Jeff......hope all this helps you out. Yours With Resepct..... Steve. Chairman of the National Anguilla Club.

Dear Wag...... Thanks for that info....I have saved it for my records. Very interesting reading. Dear Severn Wolf...... I have no worries, you sound as though you are a thinking kind of guy.....here's to your good fortune with those big eels. Yours With Resepct..... Steve.

Dear Severn Wolf.... Read and understood.......correct approach with the two rod attack. No on the 'if worm' scenario and likewise the other way round.......keep using both baits......keep the deads small....4oz baits in half being about right......use tails and heads....for some strange reason, some lakes have eels that prefer one to the other...don't ask me why.....you could also try a 2-3oz whole deadbait as well....fish the deads with a feeder filled with cotton wool and inject some fish oil into it to act as an attractor.....eels have awesome smell senses....hook the baits either in the tail root or from eye to eye (not lips) and whole deads by the tail root, OK. Good luck in your fishing.......let me know how things go.....I hope you have a biggie....remember, 10 years for every pound and so anything over 5lb's is going to be a very old fish. Yours With Respect..... Steve. [ 26. August 2005, 01:55 PM: Message edited by: 'eelfisher' ]

Dear Severn Wolf..... Any type of free running rig will work.....from straight legers to patenoster set ups. Resistance.....this is quite simple really.....so long as the resistance doesn't change as the run develops, you'll be fine. So, don't use monkey climber set ups or heavy bobbins between the but and first ring. A standard pike dropback indicator will suffice so long as the bobbin is clipped tight and is already at the maximum height before unclipping. I have fished rivers with the line running through a foam butt ring plug to prevent the line being pulled off the spool by the river current and the runs were still blistering takes due to the resistance not changing. Here's a trick to help the initial run to come off the spool in an easy motion.....cast the bait out and then tighten up to the leger....then open up the bail arm and peel off a few yards of line and then carefully wind it back on loosely before clipping up......this will ensure that the first few yards of line just drops off the spool without the potential problem of the line snagging on the spool due to a tightline lay on the spool. I'd employ three rods......one with a legered roach/rudd head section, one with an off bottom lobworm rig set up and one with a small livebait on a running Vic Bellars patenoster/Dyson rig. (These rigs are in any good pike book)...fish the livebait about a foot off bottom...margins are a good spot if you have a shelf dropping to about three feet. If you have some idea of the type of eels that are in your targetted water, either fish feeders or worm feeders, then this'll already be a great help to you. I would still use three rods, if I could, two with the known bait source and the other with the opposite bait source, just incase the monster in there was different to the majority. You can PM me if you need any other advice. Yours With Respect..... Steve. [ 25. August 2005, 05:11 PM: Message edited by: 'eelfisher' ]

Dear Tigger..... Everyone has to learn somewhere...so no problems there, OK. Yes I agree, the smaller eels of around 6oz to 1.5lb's do tend to be afflicted with a suicidal tendency to wrap themselves up so tight around the line that they almost seek to damage themselves......I'm pleased you took the time to seek to unwrap the whole slimey mess and return the eel back whence it came. Dear Severn Wolf..... The mysteries of the freshwater eel, Anguilla anguilla...... Dear Wag..... Yours With Respect..... Steve.

Dear ALL Newspaper as a tool for holding eels to unhook them......thats a big no-no...it removes all the protective slime....you need a damp unhooking mate and then you need to place the eel on its back and stroke it gently from head to tail....the eel will calm down reasonably quickly and then you can remove the hook. Hooks that cannot be seen after capture equals cutting the wire trace as near to the mouth as possible WITHOUT pulling on the trace first to see where the hook is......all the eels vital organs are within the deep throat area and are vunerable to life threatening damaged. If an eel is deep hooked and bleeding from the mouth, ensure that you don't get the eels blood into any cuts on your hand as, whilst the eel is alive, their blood is toxic. After unhooking, if you require a photo, then now is a good time to take one, whilst the eel is in a state of calm....simply hold with cupped hands just behind the pectoral fins and about two thirds down the eels body and you should have a nicely behaved fish to hold, which will result in you having a nice memory of your catch. Never hold an eel by the throat and hang it by one hand......this action needs massive grip strength and creates huge pressure in the one area that contains all the eels vital organs, holding eels this way will lead to severe damage being inflicted on the eel. Please return your catch back to the water alive......it still has a long time left in its life cycle and deserves your respect. The parasite Anguillacoli Crassus attacks the swim bladder and eventually destroys it.....the major concern is that this is having massive destuctive impacts on to the eels life cycle being completed and reproduction being hugely affected. Using eel sections for bait is frowned upon by most understanding and concerned anglers nowadays, due to the massive decline in eel stocks attempting to make their entrance back into our water systems.....lamprey is a superb alternative zander, catfish and pike bait and oozes more blood and is as tough as old boots. Good and sound advice from Leon about handling and unhooking eels.....thanks Leon. (again) GlennB, zedhead and Pete Mccue.....sound info.....nice to see some out there are aware of the eels plight and issues. (I salute you.) Yours With Respect...... Steve Chairman of The National Anguilla Club. [ 25. August 2005, 02:44 PM: Message edited by: 'eelfisher' ]

Dear MikeyP....and others out there. Here's a good tip for the continued conservation of eel stocks within our water systems..... Do not...NOT....mention by name or location any lakes, ponds, meres, reservoirs ect ect on here or any other fishing website. Why? Simple really......If I were an eel netsman, forums like these would be my first port of call. Information is really far too easy to obtain via reading and asking a few cleverly worded questions. The Internet is an awesome font of information. Fishing forums are an even better source of information for anyone wanting 'short cuts'. If eel netsmen get onto your favourite water, they'll take whatever they get in their nets, eels and all. We, in the National Anguilla Club, get strange enquiries each year from dubious persons.....some with accents and some without.....our motto is 'always remain vigilant'. Like the man in the 'fast show', it's best to adopt the line...."You ain't sen me, roite" Continued eel stock protection rule 1 announcement over......thanks for listening. Yours With Respect.... Steve.

Dear Peter It is certainly good news to see respected anglers changing their views about the species and returning eels of this quality back to their domain alive. She would certainly be well over forty years old......and may have as long again to live within our waterways if she doesn't return back to sea......and a fish of that age is probably past her 'going back urge'....but lets hope not eh! Thanks for your consideration in putting her back alive.....as they say, it's one step at a time in the changing of minds and trends. Apologies for the time factor in replying to you Peter.....my broken leg confined me to the settee for a few days, after me pushing too hard up and down the stairs with impatience at it mending. Dear Anthony.... Keep pushing the info and carrying the cause.....the tide is turning as you can see. I'll sign off proper now for the time being. Yours With Respect..... Steve Chairman of the National Anguilla Club.

Dear Peter Splendid news on the bootlace front.....thanks for the info....and to the other news of bootlaces up in the northern end of the British Isles. Congratulations on the new PB.....best side of 40 years old.....both of you. Yours With Respect..... Steve.

Dear David...... How refreshing....thanks for that small but very FACTual and sensible post. Yours With Respect..... Steve.

Dear Cyrano If what you say is correct, and I have no need to doubt your claims, then you are the most successful eel angler in history. Interestingly, if you would like to drop me a line...privately.....then maybe I can persuade you to write an account of it to be added into the contents of the book on eels that is to be produced by The National Anguilla Club in the future. I shall respect your confidentiality and your water will not be threatened by others invading it. Have you some photos to go along with your reported eels...that'd make the written article an awesome read for eel enthusiasts. Feel free to contact me on my e-mail address.....eelfisher-1@ntlworld.com. Yours With Respect..... Steve Richardson, Chairman, The National Anguilla Club. [ 24. April 2005, 07:13 PM: Message edited by: 'eelfisher' ]

Dear ALL I have to agree with you all.....these people think we are stupid. Peter......Great ad campaign that. What about things like 50% off all articles or stories...... "Once upon a time there was me, Fred, Bob and the rest of the gang. Early one morning we gathered in the gloom of an autumn dawn and commenced to put into practice our planned trip to a destination unknown, other than to carrot crunchers and tater pickers........" When Stephen King wrote a six part series edition of 'The Green Mile' at least the readership got all six parts to the story....imagine him announcing that there was a 50% off that story and ended it at the 3rd part......outrageous. Yours With Respect..... Steve. [ 30. January 2005, 03:27 PM: Message edited by: 'eelfisher' ]

Dear ALL....... Quote.........Trent.barbeler "Dear Newt, Interesting little topic this one. Well, interesting from an English point of view. Most Americans sport fish with the aid of artificials do they not? Hard to imagine twitching one of those jelly wormy thingmies through that sea of mud you posted. But then again, you Americans do seem to come up with all types of wobbly contraptions that catch just about anything. The thing I find really quite odd are some of the traditional comments in books and stuff concerning fishing an English river in flood for barbel. Odd because where I fish, the River Trent, I almost always have vast lengths of the river to myself when the river is in flood. So where are all the intrepid Trent barbel anglers at such times? In the pub perhaps, or in the arms of a Paul Boote type female?? They are certainly not on the river at such times that’s for sure. Peter Waller said; "A good flood can dislodge food and that brings many fish onto the feed." True. But this is mostly appropriate from a Trent fish catching point of view when the flooded river returns back into its banks and the fish return back into the main body of the river to take advantage of the free food debris. For instance; When a Trent flood is in full rage, brown and full of mud bursting its banks, it is easily noticeable that all kinds of debris is floating down on its surface. But consider for a moment, the amount of sub-surface debris that is hurtling down? I can tell you absolutely that this amount is thousands of times more than what you see on the rivers surface. Then consider exactly what’s going off down on the river bed itself. Gravel, pebbles, stones and large boulders are constantly rolling over several times amid a storm of thick silt. Sunken logs are also on the move. Now consider the Trent barbel's mainstay diet and how this is being affected. As these stones, pebbles, boulders, logs are on the move they roll over crushing large amounts of snails, limpets etc. Not then so hard to imagine exactly what triggers a barbel feeding frenzy when the river becomes more suited for the barbel? Make no mistake, when the flooded river is in full rage as I have described, barbel get out the way but as conditions improve they move out to feed on what are already dead or dying invertebrates. And the length of time such a feeding frenzy continues after a flooded river returns to its banks relies solely on the amount of dead or dying invertebrates there are out there. Its not just barbel that are looking for this easy to obtain feast but all the other resident fish species as well. But what about the time window when the river is in full raging flood? Can the barbel be caught in such dreadful conditions? Yes they can, yes they are, but you have to know exactly where to find them. I would bet a pension that if I were to take say four barbel anglers for a walk along the Trent when it was in full raging flood, asking them all to list likely barbel holding areas along say a seven mile stretch, 90% of the areas listed would in fact be totally devoid of barbel in such conditions. Could this be the reason why no one appears to fish the Trent when it’s in full flood? Could a lot of these anglers have already tried to catch barbel in what they feel are likely places but have failed to such an extent they simply stay away? Any fool can catch Trent barbel in the summer and autumn. I expect the same could be said for any English river with a sizable head of barbel. But catching barbel consistently from raging flood conditions is another proposition entirely. Perhaps we should set up a "guiding" venture Peter? You down on the Broads with me up on the Trent eh? Nah. I like fishing for fun and I can't see the coracle floating level with all those tellies on board. But then again, there’s always the coal barge………………. Regards, Lee." Best bit of reading I have had on here for months and months and months and months...... Yours With Respect...... Steve.

Dear Peter (Martin) Pleased to hear your proposed New Year Resolution.... Quote "My new years resolution is to get more political on environmental and angling issues I look up to the likes of Peter Waller Leon Roskilly and others who are acting on a local level while keeping an eye on the bigger picture." Given that statement.....one which I applaude....don't worry about barks from puppies on the political edges of the arena. Your going to have to say what you think if you're going to get political....and stand by it. Your remark..... Quote "I wish now I had not gone public now." You don't have to name and shame.....just know how to play the game....you'll learn quick enough what to say and what to adapt to your text in future.....we all have walked that line. I am not a member of the ACA....a decision made due to concerns in the ACA camp in the past few years. However, I would think that the ACA would much prefer yearly membership subscription members than life ones, due to the amount of money coming in via that concept of membership. A 'life' membership sounds grand but cost very little over a ten year period compared to 'yearly' subscription. Maybe we should all consider the yearly option to fully support the ACA....if chosing to join them is our wont. Yours With Respect...... Steve.

Dear Saul Time to fish for eels with the best chances of catching them......Spring time, from when the other fish species present in the lake are spawning, onwards through the summer months right into October or the first few hard frosts. October through to March is hard, hard time and very near dead-zone eel fishing time. Hope this helps.....if you need more info or advice, then you can private mail me and I'll see if I can help you out. Dear Peter Quote "But for an eel to be big it has to be huge! Good luck." Not only huge Peter but also very old. Quote "At this time of the year an eel spear is excellent, but the eel police, understandably, get a tad miffed!" As you say, understandably miffed and also rightly so as well. Humour is cool but sometimes things are always best left un-said. The 'eel police' are nothing like the 'barbel police'......others reading those words 'might' not know the difference....you do Peter and that's good but it needs spelling out to others that the 'eel police' work with other objectives in mind......that being trying to ensure that we manage to make headway with other organisations to protect and preserve that there will be future eel stocks of the freshwater eel, Anguilla anguilla, in our water systems. Happy days.... I'll put it down to you getting a tad excited about Christmas coming.... santa Yours With Respect..... Steve.