Eels on the yak ...

[pjyak]

Probably going to give fishing with eels tonight a try. I have never fished them from the kayak before only the boat. On the boat I usually just throw em in a 5 gal pal. Want to go a different route for the yak for sure, any suggestions? How are you guys doing this ?

[126andy]

I put mine in some baggies, then when I need to hook one up I just hook it right through the baggie and tear the bag away after its hooked. No eel slime on my hands but don't throw the baggie in the water stuff it somewhere in the yak.

[pjyak]

They last alright in a baggie? They dont need any air?

[Shipwreck]

Eels can be kept in a small cooler on ice, but dont let them get immersed in the ice or they will drown. My friend Benny showed me a way to keep the mess to a minumum.

 

He puts each in their own individual plastic baggie with a tiny hole on each corner (very tiny). Then he stacks them on frozen blocks. When he needs one, he grabs a baggie and forces the eels head into the corner. Then he hooks the eel right through the baggie. Then he rips away the plastic bag and viola!

 

Perfect storage and no slime on you or the yak. Works great.

 

You can also use emery paper to grip em but its messy and you need alot of it because it clogs up fast.

[boulderdash]

I have a soft side lunch bag cooler with a thing of blue ice and do the eels in the baggie. my cooler bag has two zippered pockets where i keep extra pre rigged leaders . i put the leaders in CD sleaves so the dont get tangled.

[TheLuckyStrike]

I've always used a clam tote bag with a draw string. It's truly the simplest way to keep them, you can dip them in the water to keep them fresh and I usually lay the bag over a freezer pack inside a very small cooler. The bag helps you grip the eel to hook it without getting slimed as well. The bad was $10

[The Riddler]

I have a soft side lunch bag cooler with a thing of blue ice and do the eels in the baggie. my cooler bag has two zippered pockets where i keep extra pre rigged leaders . i put the leaders in CD sleaves so the dont get tangled.

 

That's what I do. Works great. I like the idea of cd sleeves.

[Jason B]

He puts each in their own individual plastic baggie with a tiny hole on each corner (very tiny). Then he stacks them on frozen blocks. When he needs one, he grabs a baggie and forces the eels head into the corner. Then he hooks the eel right through the baggie. Then he rips away the plastic bag and viola!

 

I never thought I would ever say this about eels, but that is just purdy. I may never touch those damn things again, great idea

[Sudsy]

This is what I do. It's from one of my older posts and is surf fishing related but it should work well on a yak:

 

Here's what I use:

 

90# Spro swivel (the tiny one)

 

Tied to 4' of 30# quality fluorocarbon leader

 

5/0 or 6/0 depending on the size of the eels Gami Octopus hook

 

I keep a few leaders pretied and labeled in small ziplock bags in a leader wallet

 

 

The leader is tied to the running line and replaced when scraped or nicked or after a bigger fish puts undue strain on it

 

If there's too much current to get the eel to the bottom I'll put the lightest possible egg sinker required on the main line in front of the leader

 

All knots are palomars, the hooks are snelled on. If you can't tie a good snell then use a Palomar (I've never trusted the "fast" snell knot, they like to unwind)

 

 

The eel is hooked up through the bottom of the jaw and out the eye socket

 

They work almost as well dead as alive.

 

I prefer 1 to 4 oz rated medium action rods

 

I use both spinning and conventional reels

 

Most spinning reels have 20# Fireline on em

 

All conventionals have Berkley Stealth braid on em

 

I like 6500 size Abu's with levelwind

 

Each eel is placed in it's own sandwich sized ziplock bag

 

The bags are all placed in the main pouch of an Aquaskinz belt pouch

 

 

A small frozen plastic ice block is placed in with em, helps keep the eels calm.

 

Hook em right through the bag and pull through (take your garbage out with you!!!)

[Sudsy]

Also, for the yak, no matter how you decide to carry them, keep a Scotch Brite pad handy in case you have to grab one of the slippery bastages. In a little yak surrounded by water, if you can't control them you'll be setting more free then getting onto the hook.

[Shawntunachaser]

What do you guys pay for them down there?

[pjyak]

Great thanks for the tips, Probably give the ziplock baggies a shot tonight or tomarow night.

 

Im paying 2 bucks a pop..

[Sudsy]

Another thing - be sure to use the cheapest zip lock bags you can find. The good ones are too tough to pull the hook through without pulling the eel off.

 

Eels - $1.25 to $2 depending on where you get em

[pjyak]

Another thing - be sure to use the cheapest zip lock bags you can find. The good ones are too tough to pull the hook through without pulling the eel off.

 

 

Eels - $1.25 to $2 depending on where you get em

 

wow good to know. Thats funny because i was going to grab the most expensive ones, the type with the slider across the top. Figured the eels might bust out of the regular ones.