The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

Haven't done it for years but we used to use sheep's wool for babbing...our eels are not that big in Norfolk so it was taken off the sheep first or more easily just gathered off barbed wire fencing.

Loop Erimder wrote:Got stung by a bee once

Me too..... 4 quid for a jar of honey.....

When I was quite young my brother was preparing some eels to eat. He pointed to one of the severed heads of the eels saying that there was a hook in it and I could have it if I could get it out. I put my finger down its mouth to feel for the hook and was shocked when the the eel head bit me. I was later to have the same experience with a flounder heads.

You get an idea of how resilient eels are when you cut their heads off, skin them and chop them into short sections and see the sections wriggle in the frying pan when being cooked.

I once prepared a thornback ray by cutting off the wings and skinning them. I put them into the fridge overnight and when washing them to cook the following night was amazed to see the wing muscles rippling.

I got bitten by a big 'un in New Zealand; I reached into the lake margins to pull out a branch and one grabbed my index finger. It must have been lurking and liked the look of my digits. It felt like a pair of pliers had a firm grip and I pulled the brute out and waggled it off-not without a bit of skin shredding either I add. About 7 pounds I guesstimated.

The old timers used to say that the way to deal with an eel was to stun it first by hitting it close to the end of the tail which, according to them, is where the heart of the beast is. It would then stop struggling long enough for it to be dealt with.

I like my eel the Chinese way, cut into chunks, steamed, then sauced with hot oil in which you've fried garlic, ginger and a little fresh chili. You can add mashed black beans as well.

Stathamender wrote:The old timers used to say that the way to deal with an eel was to stun it first by hitting it close to the end of the tail which, according to them, is where the heart of the beast is. It would then stop struggling long enough for it to be dealt with.

I like my eel the Chinese way, cut into chunks, steamed, then sauced with hot oil in which you've fried garlic, ginger and a little fresh chili. You can add mashed black beans as well.

Not sure how politically correct it is but eel cooked fresh in a quality Chinese is arguably my favourite foot in the world. Smoked eel is good too.

Not sure how politically correct it is

I've always assumed any eel served in restaurants is farmed eel. So, no different to most of the salmon, trout or carp you may be offered.

I have Spinal Tap going through my head at the moment 'Working on a fish farm...' See https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=p ... NQNF6rKnDk

It would be one hell of a fish farm stretching from the Sargasso sea all the way here to the U.K. for anyone bringing them on from where they start life.

Sad to read some of the posts above on Britain's most endangered species of fish and by far the slowest growing.

Stathamender wrote:

Not sure how politically correct it is

I've always assumed any eel served in restaurants is farmed eel. So, no different to most of the salmon, trout or carp you may be offered.

I have Spinal Tap going through my head at the moment 'Working on a fish farm...' See https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=p ... NQNF6rKnDk

I think some are netted from the Irish lochs, particularly the ones which get smoked.

The Chinese and pie and mash markets, I think they may catch and grow on elvers, then sell them live. I may be wrong about this but I have seen big eels in tanks for sale in Chinatown...

Phil Arnott wrote:When I was quite young my brother was preparing some eels to eat. He pointed to one of the severed heads of the eels saying that there was a hook in it and I could have it if I could get it out. I put my finger down its mouth to feel for the hook and was shocked when the the eel head bit me. I was later to have the same experience with a flounder heads.

You get an idea of how resilient eels are when you cut their heads off, skin them and chop them into short sections and see the sections wriggle in the frying pan when being cooked.

I once prepared a thornback ray by cutting off the wings and skinning them. I put them into the fridge overnight and when washing them to cook the following night was amazed to see the wing muscles rippling.

I used to catch those rays off Hemsby Holes in Norfolk although we used to call them Roker...have you heard that name before?