A horseshoe crab, are they illegal??? We used to pick them up to sell to a farmer to feed to his pigs, I think. There used to be a LOT of them. And eels are delicious, ate them here as a kid and overseas in Asia when I was in service......jk

The more I read about eels, the more I want to catch some. Those things are interesting. I've never seen a horseshoe crab around here, but there are eels. I called my cousin today, and he said he catches scores of them at times in his shrimp trawl, but he said they're small. He said times that's he's caught them in freshwater, they were large. He also said that when he's caught them while catfishing, they'll wrap their tail around things and hold on. He said it's an interesting fight on a rod and reel. Ever heard anything like that?

Here's what my first eel pot looks like. I started it last night. I didn't have any coated 1/2"X1/2" to wrap around the body of the pot, so I wrapped the whole thing with 1/2" knot less netting like I made my throat out of.



It's 4 feet long and 8" diameter.

we use to fish for them with rod and reel, when the rivers are up and muddy after a rain, use fish for bait, we'd catch them to about 3' long, also use to gig them in the spring when the suckers run.
RR

What was a good eel fishing trip with rod n reel?

A 3' eel in a 4 foot pot....if I caught one of them I'd say the trap would be full. What do they taste like?

we would catch 2-5 a night, the meat is very white, boil it first to remove some oil, then fry, its pretty good actually, has its own distinct flavor, a cross between fish and frog legs.
it is an interesting fight on rod and reel, not sure about tail wrapping, but they run in, under, or around anything they can, my bro. caught a small one once that ran in a beer can laying on the bottom, that was in the santee cooper, eels are born in the ocean and then migrate to fresh water to live, that's why the big ones are caught in rivers.
RR

Eels are delicious, when caught on fishing gear, once on the dock they will wrap right around your arm and slime you up real good....j.k

I caught one once on a set line in north east Ks on the big blue river. It was just over 36 inches long, and when I pulled him up into the boat, he wraped around the oar and it was headed for the water! The guy with me was just about to jump out the other side of the boat. He thought it was a snake. I pickled it and wasn't too impressed with the fare!

Charles, I just saw that you asked if I commercially fished. No, I don't. I think it'd be an adventure if I did, but at this point I don't. I'm just interested in catching some to be able to say I did and to try eating eel and use them for bait.

Barry d, thanks for the in depth information. For whatever reason, grass beds don't seem to be common here where the water is salty. There are some grass beds that are out there, maybe those are where I should try to set. Right now I have a few places in mind...some of them are in brackish/saline areas with lots of junk to hide in and tide, and some of the other places are in bayous far from the coast. I just found out a friend of mine caught them on turtle lines fairly often a few years back.

What size opening do you want the throat to be? Very small?



When there’s a cloth throat in say an 8” diameter trap, will the throat (that’s held closed) open the entire width of the throat (6” throat, opens 6” wide) or does it only have a partial slit? (6” wide throat, opens 2” rest is sewn closed) ?

I've had it too. Tasty but very rich. Its something I couldn't sit down and eat alot of.

Brad

This is how we catch Lamprey eels

In NJ, folks shoot at each other over elvers (little eels.)

Lots of people eat them, but not me! I've seen what they eat! Have caught them on hook and line. Extremely slimey. Great striped Bass bait. Commonly trapped in Maine. Chunked up eels used as trapping bait. A man on the Delaware traps them and smokes them for sale.

Fisherman, do you eat channel cats? Do you know what they eat? No cats for me. Better eating fish then those!

Brad

Going by how they’re ranked so high as bait for just about every meat eating animal, just about everything seems to love eel.


I know it has to be cooked right, but that’s almost anything.


I just want to catch some to say I’ve done it, and if I can get enough of them, use em for bait.


As for not eating them due to their diet, do you eat catfish, chicken, or pork? Just curious. They sure taste good, and they’ll eat stuff that wouldn’t be allowed on Fear Factor

Check out catfish and carp on YouTube.
Guy gets really in depth in making good eating outta "trash fish "

fresh herring is the best bait around here for them. I have trapped many eels. I had a licence to trap them. 25 pots. They are good eating not the easiest to clean. put them in a bucket add salt and put cover on them and they die easy. cut the skin around there neck and cut there belly down and use a pair of needle nose to remove there skin. cut the eel in 2 inch long pieces roll in flour and pain fry.

when cut around the neck only cut the skin you hold on the head when pull the skin off

Imissed,

I know that Channel Cats and Bullheads are bottom feeders. Yes I eat them, however as a Coast Guard veteran, more than once we recovered bodies that had been in the water for sometime. They always had eels around them. I refuse to eat Tilapia also.

I agree tilapia nasty!!