Eel rigs...info...etc

[Leon Roskilly]

Oh good Leon. Thanks for that. If you speak to Tony any time soon, can you tell I was asking after him....cheers.

 

Tony says

 

"Its nice to know I was missed, even just a little."

 

Edited March 3, 2009 by Leon Roskilly

[joso]

Hi,

 

I'm no expert but I looked at eel fishing quite in depth after catching one just under 7lb from llandegfedd while trout fishing on worms. I tried for a season or two to better it but to no avail.

 

Anyhow I found a few good articles stating the two different types of Eel (Round and Narrow Head I think?), can't remember which way round it is but one prefers lobs and the other prefers dead baits. Best baits are a nice big bunch of lob or a freshly caught head section of roach or rudd. I'm pretty sure the best rig I found to prevent deep hooking was a rig based on the withy pool carp rig concept, with a size 2 barbless hook and a hair with the korda maggot klip for worms or a hairless rig for the dead baits just hooking it straight through the eye socket. The best hooklink material is something like quiksilver although that depends on what other fish are present to some extent. Just attach that to a simple running rig, theres no need to over complicate things. Location is key in the day as they don't feed that frequently so it goes without saying that night fishing is usually far more productive as they become active searching for food, best time of year is around August to early October with quite humid conditions through the night. I also had a bit of success with getting a tub with a securely fitting lid, piercing lots of holes around it and filling it with the guts of an oily fish such as mackeral or sardines, although these could be harder for most people to get hold of than it was for me (I'm a Fishmonger ). Once you've got it filled, attach a length of string or something similar and then throw it out to the area you intend to fish and leave it for a good while. This is only really practical on a canal or similar type venue. Also works on a nice little margin spot though.

 

As I said I'm no expert but hope that is of some use!

 

Cheers,

Jeff

Edited March 3, 2009 by joso

[Neil G]

An eel close to 7lb has to be a fish of a lifetime...very impressive

 

I've caught two eels worth mentioning both at 4lb a piece out of an estate lake/commercial. Wierd thing is these fish both took float fished sprats (was piking at the time) in the middle of a hot, sunny day right out in the middle of the lake, I con only assume there was a big snag out there they were hiding in.

 

Always have some wire cutters to hand, they tend to roll a lot in the net and often hooks get snagged up in the mesh as I found out

[Andy Macfarlane]

Thank you Leon....

 

...Andy...