The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

Hello everyone and a good day to you all, despite the decrease in the Eel population only last week a friend and I had a great day fishing the Great Ouse for Roach and fishing in general, while we were enjoying our day I caught two 24inch Eels of about 1Lb 8oz and probably lost another head shaker which had bitten through my line, the Perch were on the feed too.

Although by accident I was so happy to have caught them as I had not caught any eels since the 1970's but have seen some very large dead and alive specimens from time to time.

As a 12 year old lad walking about the Bucks countryside I once bumped into the club secretary of the Northants specimen Eel catchers group on the Grand union Canals towpath at Tinkers Bridge. He was carrying an old bucket containing an onion bag that had chopped fish, chopped and liquidized pigs liver with a rope neatly tied at the top, after he tied the bag to the side of the canal and while throwing it in, he went on to tell me that it would attract the eels and he would come back and fish the swim in two or three days time.

so I thought I would do the same and fished the swim after he had left, with good results as I will always remember that day as the day I caught my first Eels. Hard fighting and so much fun for their size I shall have another go for them in a week or two, best baits are Lob worms tipped with a maggot plain chopped prawns and chopped Mussels soaked in predator plus got them on the feed. Best regards Trefor

Happy days,I would be happy to catch them all day long.

Well done Trefor.

Well done, Trefor. Hard fighting and always welcome on the end of my line.

Love a nice eel...we'll done

I have mixed feelings with eels. I like to catch them but I really hate to deal with them after landing. I can only fish for eels together with the father in law of my sister, he is the boss over the eel.
It is very sad that eels are so endangered now. I think it will be very difficult to improve the situation because we do not know a lot about them and also because they have no lobby ( other than salmon). That's why I voted for eel as fish of the year. I am the only one I'm afraid. Today in a brackish water wsrer in Zeeland I saw a dead eel of perhaps 25". A seagull was busy to enjoy it...
Bobby

endangered here on the other side of the pond. but in places on the island a few older guys have liecences to fish commercially for them! I say fish but use eel spears

Thank you and yes they are rather special, PM me if you would like to know where they are all fish returned unharmed.

Best regards Trefor

Eel is suffering here in the US too. There is a fishery in Maine that allows the taking of tens of thousands of elvers a year. The small eels are sold in turn to the Japanese who pay serious money for them.
Locally, with an influx of non-native peoples, I’ve seen a practice that sickens me each time I have encountered it. These folks take a square of burlap cloth sack and put an open can of cat food into it tie the opening and toss the whole mess into the water tied off to shore with a thin line. They will let it soak for a few hours, usually starting from dusk; when pulled back to shore the sack is usually a squirming mass of eels that caught their teeth in the burlap fibers while attempting to get at the cat meat. Not a one of the eels go back into the water, as you can assume.

Can't say what I would like to do to them,non-native peoples,as you put it incase I get banned.