Eels - Cutting the line

[Phone]

Addicted,

 

You should not post that. It gives me a chance to get on my "high-horse" once again about hooks. Euros (UK) tend to use rigs with NON FERROUS terminal tackle so they don't have to change it often. I'm not certain about eels but other fishes can dissolve ferrous hooks. But ferrous hooks have to be replaced MUCH more frequently - a pain in the arce for the angler. Carp, for example, can dissolve a ferrous hook in 4 to 7 day depending on temperature. Most every fish can survive 4 to 7 days without eating.

 

Phone

[Poleaxe]

Phone,

 

 

 

Carp, for example, can dissolve a ferrous hook in 4 to 7 day depending on temperature.

 

Where would said ferrous hook be located within the fish if it were to be dissolved? I always thought if it was in a fishes stomach perhaps but are we talking just in a fishes lips or throat? As in the part of the hook that is 'in' the fish gets dissolved by the flesh? Just wondering, I've always wondered about it.

 

 

Also, to the thread:

 

I've caught a fair few eels in my short time coarse fishing (although none for 12 months as I haven't really been to the 'eely' venues for a while) and have only had one swallow the hook. I personally have always tried my best to retrieve the hook with a disgorger or forceps and have only once had one deeply hooked where I regrettably had to cut the line. I thought that would be standard practice to anglers as a whole? The more I read on the matter, the less informed I feel. Whether I do the right thing or the wrong thing. I know a venue that is rather deep, rarely fished by anyone and has a big head of eels, I have always wanted to see how big the eels go to but keep reading about the "98% depletion" and don't know whether I should even fish for them.

 

As I said I'd love to fish for them properly but don't know how ethical that may be?

[Phone]

Poleaxe,

 

First - my disclaimer. I only know common carp for sure. I know nothing about eel or for that matter most predators.

 

Carp have enough acid in the circulatory system to dissolve ferrous metal hooks. In the case of carp at the point of flesh penetration the hookpoint and the contact point in the "j" of the hook "rust" through. Once in the gut the remaining two pieces are usually passed. I'm not sure if there is enough acid in the gut to dissolve the remaining two pieces. If a vital organ isn't compromised carp can live for as long as 7 months without eating.

 

In the case of carp the most "likely" scenario is that the wound festers and the hook falls out via the mouth in tact (IMO 80%).

 

BTW - carp don't have a stomach, just a long gut (about 3 times the lenght of the fish).

 

Phone

 

Ferrous hooks should be "required" as they would be a safety measure although they are a serious pain in the butt for anglers.

[barry luxton]

ohh eels, my favourite subject at the mo. surly the nac don't advocate cutting the line do they? No one has thought about sending an eel back bleeding from the gills or dying with the said hook attached to be picked up and eaten by other fish, (they are good bait, you have said so yourselfs) or on the sea board side washed ashore to be picked up and eaten by other wildlife, dogs etc. shocking bit of advice. Ohh and them kamazan hooks used by carpos etc because they don't wish for a fish to bend out a cheap one etc, they don't rust so good.

 

It might just be better to cut the head off.

 

As advised by trust reps during this time of eel famine, every one counts.

[Poleaxe]

Thank you, Phone. Very informative.

[philocalist]

Direct copy-and-paste from the NAC site - guess it would be at least prudent to assume that they know what they are talking about?

 

 

"Once the eel has been calmed down by gentle handling the capture should assess the location of the hook. If it is visible in the lip or at the front of the mouth, strong forceps can be used to remove the hook. If the hook is out of sight we strongly advise against the use of a disgorger, as these have the potential to puncture vital organs that are situated just behind the eels head. We advise if the hook is not visible or easily removed then the line or trace should be cut as close to the hook or eels mouth as possible, leaving the hook in place. The eel’s digestive acids are capable of disintrigating hooks in time, or as has happened many time the eel regurgitates the hook and trace overnight in the retention sack".

 

and

 

"If you catch an eel by accident or design, always put it back, even if you cannot remove the hook. They do survive, and have a remarkable ability to shed hooks".

[Tigger]

Direct copy-and-paste from the NAC site - guess it would be at least prudent to assume that they know what they are talking about?

 

A friend of mine once retained an eel in a livebait container with aeriation and fresh water. In the morning the hook was there on the bottom of the container but the eel was as dead as a Dodo.

[Phone]

All,

 

Returning from coffee (8am here) eels became the subject. First, let me say we know VERY little about eels in the Midwestern US. All sorts of "wives taies" were discussed. The one thing one of the guys said is that eels have a really unique air bladder that develops when they become silver eels to handle the ocean trip home.

 

Do you have silver eels? (A silver eel, according to him, is an eel ready to journey home).

 

Phone

[Leon Roskilly]

Do you have silver eels? (A silver eel, according to him, is an eel ready to journey home).

 

Some eels stay in estuaries or coastal waters to be caught by sea-anglers as 'green' eels.

 

Others make their way up river systems to be caught by freshwater anglers as 'yellow' eels.

 

Those that stay near the sea will head back to breed in around 5 years, those that head a long way inland will stay for 20 years or more (and some that become land-locked will remain up to around 50-70 years, never returning to the sea and become really big eels pursued by specialist eel anglers (as they aren't going back any mortality associated with catch and release angling won't make a difference!)).

 

Some eels will become insectivorous, with small pointy heads, others become fish predators with large flat heads.

 

 

 

On getting the urge to return to the sea, they will undergo physical changes that suit them better for the journey to be made.

 

Enlarged eyes to see with in the deep ocean, the skin becomes silvery

 

Done feeding, their digestive organs/tract are reabsorbed, and their reproductive organs develop.

 

(If they don't carry enough fat, and the journey turns out further than expected due to changed ocean currents etc, they won't make it all the way back to breed. That may be a factor in the collapse of elver numbers in recent years).

[barry luxton]

never returns, ehh, whats the record eel caught seaboard? did it stay in the sea for up to 50 plus years.

 

The amount of eel taken by rsa was insignificant, then the trust poked it's nose in. The above post attempts to give licence to specialist eel club to have exclusive rights to their eels that no one else should. and it don't matter if they loose a few deep hooked one's that are going to die, nice one.

 

so based on the above post carry one abusing the larger eel as it don't matter in any event.

Edited May 18, 2013 by barry luxton