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Eel Societies


Guest Ian Cresswell

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Guest 'eelfisher'

Dear Scoobs 11

I shall e-mail you details on your private e-mail system, OK.

Yours With Respect.....

Steve.

PS...typical Tony, it would be you who was mis-leading the audience....!

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Guest tony jolley

Yeah!, I`ll see you on the other threads now.

Love!

 

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Tony B.T Jolley

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Guest Ian Cresswell

I can only add to what Steve (eelfisher) has said by pointing out that a fight or any embarrassment is the last thing that I intended by starting this thread.

 

Seems like a right 'ol can of worms has been opened though. Not my intention ... interesting though.

 

So can we move the discussion along a little perhaps ... ???

 

What do you eel boys actually do ???... how do you fish for these things, what makes a hot eel spot ... what tackle, bait and rigs do you use?

 

This is weird stuff for most anglers ... c'mon explain ... it's a total mystery to me.

 

I'm sure nobody would complain if you put your views and explained some of your concerns/campaigns as well ...

 

So let's go for it ... who is gonna tell us all about eel fishing and the concerns of eel anglers? G'wan Steve ...

 

Again ... just to reinforce what I've been saying ... this thread is not about political (in)fighting. It's not about questioning the roles of individuals (past,present or future) either...

 

This is about a novice 'wannatry' eel angler wanting to understand the scene and the target species.

 

Cheers,

 

Ian.

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Guest tony jolley

Ian will you please move youre question on to a "new" thread where i am sure your questions will be answered.

Thanks.

 

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Tony B.T Jolley

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Guest Ian Cresswell
Originally posted by tony jolley:

Ian will you please move youre question on to a "new" thread where i am sure your questions will be answered.

 

Erm no ... is there a good reason why I should?

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Guest 'eelfisher'

Dear Ian

Please do not move the posting to another thread......This will do nicely.

I shall post this evening OK.

Tony.....where you coming from?????

E-mail me privately and inform me which spaceship you're presently ensconced in!!!!

Yours With Respect....

Steve.

PS...Thanks for the post above Ian....We'll go all things eely from here, OK.

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Guest tony jolley

Sorry for that. I miss read an earlyier post, theres no problem or need to move or e,mail privetly.... heres fine!!

It will try to be on over the week end. so dont think I`ve gone, If you dont hear from me.....I`ve no time as I`m on the training thing all weekend and its on my mind.

Im out fishing tonight and then confined to quarters I`m afraid.......

Steve ... I am using the aj001a5249@blueyonder.co.uk from now on as the problems still going on. I will write to confirm it to you.......

 

 

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Tony B.T Jolley

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Guest Spac-e-man aka eelangler

Hi Ian,

 

You've asked a lot of questions and I'll try to deal with some of them for you. Hopefully Steve willbe able to fill in any gaps.

 

Most of us have come to eel angling after "moving on" from the pursuit of other species. I came to eel angling after a long time of fishing for carp and to a lesser extent, pike. I now very rarely fish for carp but do like to fish for pike in the winter months. The spur for me was when I was fortunate enough to see two big eels on the bank in the space of a week. The first one was 5lb 03oz and the second one was 4lb 14oz. Both were caught from a water that I was carp fishing at the time.

 

The tackle we use is carp and pike tackle and I would recommend rods of between 2.25lb and 3lb test curve. My rods at the moment are fast actioned 2.75lb test curve.

Line strengths should be no less than 12lb b.s and I would say 15lb is about right, but of course this would depend on the water you were fishing and the amount of snags etc. Hooklengths should be wire and 20lb.bs is what I would recommend although at the moment I am using 28lb Drennan Soft Strand.

Hooks should be strong and sizes 2 to 8 should do depending on what bait and size of bait you are using.

 

How to fish for eels is actually quite an indepth question as eel fishing lends itself to a multitude of different aproaches.

The concensus of opinion is that eels are predators and as a result methods and tactics come from the pike, zander, catfish and perch angling, albeit with some modifications, but there are times when the methods and tactics used by carp anglers come into there own. In fact the first eel I ever caught intentionally was on a semi-fixed bolt rig. As I have gained more experience, my methods are now very much based upon rigs used by predator anglers. So little is known about eels that I suppose that there isn't a definitive way to fish for them. If you can get a copy of John Sidley's book "Eels" it will show most of the rigs that are suitable for eel fishing. This book will give you a starting point. My personal favourite is the "John Sidley eel rig". A rig that isn't too complicated.

 

Eels feeding habits can, and some would say, are, different from water to water and some eel anglers would argue that an eels feeding habits can change on any given water from season to season. It always seems that the eels are one step ahead of us and we are always playing catch up!

 

As for baits, lobworms, deadbaits and small livebaits are the main choices.

 

Indication is an area where eel anglers have differing opinions, but the one thing we do agree on is that alarms are essential.

As eel fishing tends to be done with open bail arms on the reels, drop off indicators as used by pike anglers are used by a lot of eel anglers. Strange as it may seem there are a number of eel anglers who use monkey climbers as their chosen method of indication and some anglers like to use bobbins. It all comes down to personal choice and of course suitability to the method/rig you are using at the time.

 

Hot eel spots? I wish I knew! The one thing about fishing for eels is that unlike most other fish very little is known about them. Unlike carp and many other species we get no opportunities to watch them feed. They rarely if ever show themselves and even if they did, as most of our fishing is done in darkness we are unlikely to see them anyway. To a large extent eel fishing is a voyage into the unknown, and all the more interesting and exciting because of it.

 

You may have realised that I am a member of the NAC from my previous postings andsome of the issues that concerns us both as eel anglers and a club is the decline the stocks of eels in this country. I/we believe that the issues that are bringing about this decline in stocks, should also be issues with all anglers.

The quality of the water in our river systems which inhibits the recruitment of elvers and migration of mature/breeding eels. Another inhibitor to the recruitment of elvers is obsticles/obstructions, often man-made in our rivers.

A major concern is the commercial eel netting that is allowed, the lack of regulation of this practice and the enforcement of laws relating to the nets and netting of eels. It is actually cheaper to purchase a licence for a net than it is to buy a rod licence. Fish to make money and a licence can cost as little as £5:00 but if you fish for sport a licence costs £20:00. I don't care what anyone says it doesn't seem right!

Another concern for me personally is what I see as a gradual move towards the banning of Livebaiting. A thing that is close to my heart as most of my eel fishing is done with livebaits.

 

Hope this helps

 

TTFN

 

Spac-e-man

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Guest 'eelfisher'

Dear all

I can't better this posting...this is why the man we call Spac-e-man is 'the man'.

Top posting Stu.....now you know why I say where you'll end up within the NAC.

To everyone reading this thread...I have just posted a very poor version of 'why do eel anglers do it?' on the thread eel uerk...or whatever the title is. If I could place it under this posting I would but I don't know if it is possible.....anyone who can would they please do it for me????

I am off to work very early tomorrow morning...I am not sleeping at all tomorrow night due to fishing with Spike and Spac-e-man...and then I am going to try to put two or three words together at the NASA/SACG/SAA meeting on Sunday.....I will have to retire to my bed, me thinks...

I will be back...

Yours With Respect.....

Steve.

 

[This message has been edited by 'eelfisher' (edited 11 May 2001).]

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Guest Ian Cresswell

Great stuff guys thanks.

 

I can fully understand the motivation for eel fishing now.

 

I can also understand the reason for the hybrid techniques that you guys use. Anything to give you an edge right? I'd call that 'thinking angling'.

 

As for 'hot spot' selection ... OK maybe the question was too broad ... how about 'hot conditions'? When does it 'feel right'?

 

One thing that does strike me is that you seem to use very heavy gear in comparison to the weight of the fish that you're targetting. There has to be a reason for that ... anyone care to help me out here? Is that just because of the likelihood of an accidental pike capture?

 

Another thing is that you advocate the use of wire traces. This is a big 'nono' in catfishing circles ... remember I've never seen a BIG eel ... do its teeth warrant this? Possible pike capture (or not) problem again?

 

I'm probably unfairly comparing cats and eels here. Is there any reason why you couldn't use something like Quicksilver as a hooklength when fishing for eels?

 

What hook patterns do you guys advocate and typically what size of hook? I take it that this is singles only ... or is it?

 

Another difficult one I know ... but imagine a virgin venue with possible big eels ... 2 rods allowed (any legal technique) ... what would you try over a 24 hour session?

 

And as one final question for now ... what about lure fishing for eels? Has anyone ever tried that seriously?

 

Obviously from what you've been saying that's difficult on a being in the right place at the right time basis ... Thinking about that what about catching an eel on a fly set up ... has anyone ever done that?

 

There are a bunch more of these stupid questions to come ... but hey if you don't ask ... smile.gif

 

Ian.

 

[This message has been edited by Ian Cresswell (edited 12 May 2001).]

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