catching eels

[night nurse]

Does anyone catch their own eels? I am looking for some INFO:rolleyes:

Ted

[samie]

I do. What kind of info are you looking for?

[Capt. Dale]

ISamie,
I'm going to give it a try this spring.
Do you begin the season in mid April?
Are chreek channels where you target?
And lastley do you use razor clams as bait?
Thanks

[Burchbeer]

Dale, on the Miles, where nothing lives, the comms that target eels use broken horse shoe crab. Not sure where they get it.

DB

[Capt. Dale]

Dave,
Yes Horse Shoe crabs were at one time the norm for eeling.
But like most all sea creatures they are very limitted now days.
They use to be easy to come by in Deleware.
I know with their Blue Blood they are hightly prized in the medical industry.

[samie]

Ted, I tend to put my eel pots where the sand and mud come together near the mouths of the rivers. I use razor clams when I can get them. I start in March since I am commercial. If I cannot get the clams I use dead crabs from any of the local seafood stores. Most are willing to let you have them. Break the claws off and remove the shell. I also put my bait in a net bag so the little critters wont eat the bait.

[rgminer]

Horse shoe crabs are used for medical testing because of their copper based blue blood, however, Lonza, the company who owns the patents to the tests does not kill the crabs. They are returned to the water after "donating" a small portion of their blood. The horse shoe crab population decline can be directly linked to the population boom of the Red Knot...a small migratory sea bird that devourers horse shoe crab eggs...an estimated 24000 eggs a day per bird...these birds have exploded in numbers due to the protection afforded them by environmental groups such as the Audubon society...

The law of unintended circumstances hard at work....


Blue crabs work well for eel bait, just break them in 2 and put them into your eel pots..

[Salmo trutta]

What does an eel pot look like and where could I get one? For recreational only, non-commercial.

[night nurse]

Thanks Guys for the information. I am looking to make my own traps or buy a few and fish those. Any one have some for sale or some leads on where to start?

Thanks

Ted