For avid lure fisherman, the idea of using a fish to catch a fish rubs them the wrong way... it can feel a little like cheating or a beginners tactic....somehow less refined , intentional and skillful. And, to be honest, fishing bait still on the bottom actually can be kind of boring for long stretches.
However, there is a bait that can be used that can be actively fished like a plug and has proven itself over the last 100 years or so to be a certified big bass killer.. in fact, almost all of the world record striped bass have been caught on it (as well as countless other giant stripers). And it can be cast, drifted or trolled alot like how you would use your favorite swimbait.
The Live Eel.
If I am going to be fishing the Cape's famed outer beaches at dawn , dusk or the middle of the night, I am bringing at least a half dozen live eels with me. If my favorite swimming plugs aren't getting hit and the water looks otherwise fishy, I immediately switch over to casting a live eel. If there are indeed any big striped bass in the area I am fishing, 9.9 times out of 10, they will hit a live eel when they won't give my 30 dollar a pop lures a second glance.
Here's the Con:
Without knowing how to handle, care for, use and rig, fishing with live eels can be an absolute nightmare. Eels , in my experience, really don't seem to enjoy being hooked up and offered to a large predator like a king sized striper. An eel mishandled and not effectively prepped, will, immediately after being hooked, spin up your line and create a Gordian knot of itself that can take you half the night to fix.-negating all the benefits of their natural super effectiveness.
Here's what you need to know:
If you are going to fish live eels , here is what you need at minimum:
Reasonably sized bait pail
Ice/ Ice packs
An old hand towel or textured gloves
Appropriately sized mono or fluro leader with a high quality swivel
Ice will be your best friend. Live eels sitting in the warm water of a tackle shop bait tank will go into your bait bucket super charged. When eels are in this state they can be hard or impossible to hook. Putting them on ice will dramatically reduce their metabolism and make them much easier to handle.
On the bottom of your bucket put your ice pack or raw ice in a fully zipped up, zip lock bag, then add your hand towel or generous clumps of seaweed over the top. Now you can add your eels.
The issue with just putting your eels over a bed of raw ice is two fold: 1. Direct contact with the ice will, of course, freeze them at points of contact. 2. Ice melts. If the ice melts to the point where it covers the eels, they will attempt to breathe in that water. They will quickly use up whatever dissolved oxygen is in that water , then die. Eels held at the right temps can last surprisingly long out of water ... sometimes days. Though fresh eels can be fished effectively dead if fresh, they do seem to work better live and imparting their own natural action on the retrieve.
Swivel and leader- eels spin....and spin and spin and spin. If you aren't rigged up correctly, the first 10 yards of your leader and line will be spun up like a fully wound spring . This creates real problems when fishing in the low light conditions when using eels is most effective.
Tackle Shop Eel Etiquette-
If you think you might be fishing eels at any point this season, buy one of the cheap ,plastic bait buckets with the ported, snap on tops now. Then, keep it always in your car or truck. If you forget it and demand the friendly tackle shop guy to " just throw a dozen eels in a little plastic bag...I will put them in my bucket when I get home", you are going to run into resistance....
Putting eels in a well designed bait bucket can be a dismal, thankless chore... putting them into a bag with a floppy opening is a punishment from hell. If you forget your bucket, bite the bullet and just buy another one.
The Retrieve:
Keep the eel moving.
If you allow the eel to be still and take tension off during the retrieve, you will likely be rewarded with a tangled mess as described above. You can reel it in very slowly, retrieve at a moderate pace or fairly quickly depending on how the bass are behaving, but always keep it moving.
Depending on the strength of the current and liveliness of the eels I have purchased, I typically start with a slow retrieve and impart a slight jerk of the rod tip every few cranks of the reel handle. Like all things bass, you will find a decided preference for bass to strike on the pause...just as the eel is beginning to be retrieved again. Be ready for most of your strikes to occur at this point.
There is a method for using an eel(or parts of it) just like a plug- the “rigged eel" . Exactly how to 'rig" an eel and fish it effectively is a bit more complicated and will be the subject of a future article. It simply bears mentioning that there are alternative ways to fish eels with out all of the attendant problems of fishing them live.
Ophidiophobia ( fear of snakes)
Not every one is built to enjoy handling and fishing with eels. My fear of snakes was so profound when I was a younger fisherman, that it took alot of exposure and conditioning to be able to deal with them as a bait...however, watching my fellow beach fisherman landing 40 incher after 40 incher night after night, certainly helped push me to address and conquer my innate discomfort with anything snake.
If you chill off the eels as described above and slow their metabolism and actions down, you can really limit the amount of snake like behaviors that might send you over the edge- like wrapping your arm and giving you a good slime coating. Speaking of which....
Bring a rag
If you are fishing a dry, sandy beach, a good roll around in the sand will apply a temporary gritty coating that might allow you enough grip and time to hook the eel up decently. Absent that, you need a rag. On a boat, on a jetty or even a pebble strewn beach, you aren't going to be able to reach in a live well or bait bucket with a already wet hand from fishing and be able to grip them enough for hooking. It doesn't need to be a full towel, just an old hand cloth or rag will do. Just make sure it is clean from oils and other chemicals. One possible reason eels are so effective is the natural odor they emit. Handling them with a rag with chemical remnants is likey to impart an odor and a taste stripers will find foreign and unappealing.
How to rig
The standard beach casting/ boat drifting/ trolling rig is essentially the same with some slight tweaks for the boat rig.
Most good fisherman I know rig up this way:
50 lb mono or flouro leader. 5-6 feet long depending on length of the rod
A good swivel-no doubt about it, good, quality ball bearing swivels cost. But they actually work as intended and for eel fishing, that is worth the price of admission. All or most swivels work perfectly right out of the package. But cheap standard swivels foul and stop working quickly once introduced to the harsh saltwater environment. Own at least one pack of good quality ball bearing swivels for eel fishing.
Simply attach ball bearing swivel to one end and hook to the other. For fishing most beaches, eels are heavy enough to cast without adding additional weight. For some beach fishing and most boat trolling/ drifting, many fisherman elect to add a small egg sinher or rubber core sinker just above the swivel to allow for fishing at the proper depth.
Rods/ Reels
As for rods and reels , any rod you are currently using to effectively fish with 6-7 inch 3/4 -2 oz lures will work fine.
Because of the repeated casting of beach fishing with an eel, I like a 7'6- 8 foot medium action rod keeps the weight down , but is capable of handling 40+ inch bass.
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