Crayfish pools....Eels!

[Dick Dastardly]

Crayfish = monster eels. Baits Dysoned 18" of bottom are crayfish proof.

 

 

But how many times have you heard these stories Mark? I really take them all with a pinch of salt these days to be honest. Just seen what I posted so so many times. Ive wasted a lot of time in my fishing chasing ghosts of many species. Eels it seems are prone to miss weighing/exaggeration/down right lies than any other though!

 

BTW now hopefully you've realised I'm not a monster that offer of an eel session for you and a few of your mates still stands.

[barry luxton]

But how many times have you heard these stories Mark? I really take them all with a pinch of salt these days to be honest. Just seen what I posted so so many times. Ive wasted a lot of time in my fishing chasing ghosts of many species. Eels it seems are prone to miss weighing/exaggeration/down right lies than any other though!

 

BTW now hopefully you've realised I'm not a monster that offer of an eel session for you and a few of your mates still stands.

Off topic, bothered. full report tommorow Budgie, just got in, the reels were fab, fillets?

Edited February 26, 2012 by barry luxton

[cupra]

Crayfish = monster eels. Baits Dysoned 18" of bottom are crayfish proof.

 

what does that mean?

[jedibond]

What is a ells?

 

It's a type of South African golfer I believe :P

[dant]

what does that mean?

 

I for one have no idea!

 

I have been thinking about something for quite a while now and this thread has reminded me of it. I have a feeling that the rise of the crayfish may mirror the decline of the Eel.

The lacl of the extremly effective predatory threat of the Eel in a vast majority of our rivers over the last 10-15 years may of been the break the Crayfish needed to get ahead in many cases.

Crayfish larvae buried up in the mud would be rich pickings for an Eel and may of formed a bulk of their diets in certain circumstances. I think the Eels might of been the greatest of threats to the Signal Crayfish???

 

Food for thought perhaps??

[Dick Dastardly]

what does that mean?

 

 

Mark is saying that where eels have a good supply of crayfish they grow extremely big. To fish for eels in such waters and to be able to avoid the crayfish use a CD (Colin Dyson the "inventor" of the rig) riset to fish the bait 18"above the bottom.

[Phone]

All,

 

I had to look at this site to see a "CD" rig like BUDGIE was talking about.

 

http://www.taunton-angling.co.uk/fishing/eels.htm#eels

 

Phone

[cupra]

thanks very much, very informative

[Steve D]

Most important thing Ive learned about eels is that 8lb eels are both truely enourmous and very very rare! Second is that nearly all 6lb+ eels claimed by carp anglers are more like 3! Very rarely weigh them and even if they do its in a gert big heavy landing net or monster carp mat/sling........which is never deducted!

 

Not sour grapes just what I have seen umpteen times on umpteen waters.

 

A good example is how all the eels caught out of the carp lake at Wingham by carpers are 6lb and all the ones by eel anglers are 3lb!

 

 

I agree with Budg'...

 

I've fished a water infested with crays, and a lot of eels. Now 4 years ago there were the eels but no crays, the eels avearged 2/4lb, 5 tops. 4 years on, still the same. This water holds mASSIVE bream, tench and carp, similar with the RARE rudd, perch and roach, but the eels, still avearge... They are thin claw turkish, which I would love to think between the eels, carp, cormarants etc would munch their way through the bloody things. Some local put them in for a laugh to annoy the one or two anglers, (wonker)... I mean really, have you seen these thin claws, ffs, like 12 inches long, pull done zigs and chods from a foot up, eat platics. anyway, no 8lb eels... hey maybe the crays have eaten the eels!!!!

[Mark7]

I agree with Budg'...

 

I've fished a water infested with crays, and a lot of eels. Now 4 years ago there were the eels but no crays, the eels avearged 2/4lb, 5 tops. 4 years on, still the same. This water holds mASSIVE bream, tench and carp, similar with the RARE rudd, perch and roach, but the eels, still avearge... They are thin claw turkish, which I would love to think between the eels, carp, cormarants etc would munch their way through the bloody things. Some local put them in for a laugh to annoy the one or two anglers, (wonker)... I mean really, have you seen these thin claws, ffs, like 12 inches long, pull done zigs and chods from a foot up, eat platics. anyway, no 8lb eels... hey maybe the crays have eaten the eels!!!!

I agree, as Budgie states, that the majority of eels caught by accident are either mis-weighed or poorly estimated. I became so fed up with this last year that I wrote a piece for one of the comics on weighing and measuring eels just after a so called 13 was publicised. I don’t suppose it’s made much difference, but it made me feel better!

However, there are a few waters that have repeatedly produced genuine eels of over 8lbs, sometimes even over 9lbs. Of the four seemingly genuine 9s publicized over the last 2 years, 3 have been from crayfish rich pits. The EA were interested in the relationship between eels and crayfish, as well stocked eel waters often remain crayfish free when others nearby are full of them. The eel is certainly well equipped to eat them. It can access their burrows and has a strong jaw muscles. There was a plan to stock a crayfish infested commercial water with eels and see what happened, but I believe that the owner chickened out when his match customers found out, and rebelled!

I also believe that there are more big eels out there than is indicated by the catch rates. I know of 2 nines that were caught from small pits (around 2 acres) after intensive campaigns by competent anglers-one came after 67 nights, and another after 60 nights, together with an 8 (not consecutive nights, obviously). My own PB came after around 80 nights on a water, and a string of 5s and 6s. You would expect a small water to give up its eels relatively quickly, but it would seem that the slow metabolism, sporadic feeding periods and cautious feeding habits of larger eels make them very difficult to catch. We no longer believe that the biggest eels in a water are caught in the first few sessions. The water you mention above probably contains mostly male eels, as sex is determined by stock density. That doesn’t mean that there might not be the odd big female in there, but having to wade through the smaller ones, and the factors mentioned above, will make the bigger fish very hard to catch. Normally, male eels do not reach 4 or 5lbs in weight, as they return to the Sargasso when they reach maturity at a smaller weight, but if they are unable to return then I would guess that they would grow, but maybe not reach the weights attained by landlocked females in lower stock densities. Not sure about this, though. However, I would put money on finding big eels in a crayfish rich lake with only a few eels. Mind you, odds are I’d lose it, the eel being an unpredicatable beast.

It seems to be generally accepted that the increase in barbel and chub weights is, in part, due to a crayfish diet, especially when there is a low fish stock level. The Old Lea is a good example of this.