I caught an eel in my minnow trap the other night, about 12" long and about the size of my thumb. I also caught another eel with a dead mullet on a small hook, he was about 4 times the size of the one in the trap. My question is, have any of you ever used eels for bait and if so what did you catch? This was a small creek flowing into the Cooper. I’m all about saving money on bait, so anything that works is worth a shot. Thanks in advance for the info.
smaller eels make great stripper baits, also have used them offshore for bottom fishing.
Cobia love them
Best Cobia bait around…
John
Pathfinder 23 HPS
Have always heard they are excellent for shark bait, never used one though.
You need to keep a big eel in your pocket for stripper bait.
quote:
Originally posted by ReelShocksmaller eels make great stripper baits, also have used them offshore for bottom fishing.
thanks Rad. something needed to be said on that.
handful of singles works too
X10 for the cobia.
For Thanksgiving week, we rent the same house most every year on the IOP, just south of the connector.
Most of our fishing is done from my boat, but we also throw out some cut bait when we are hanging out on the dock out back. The only year I can say we had some real success off the dock was about 10 years ago when we cut up an eel we had caught into 3" - 4" chunks and used it for cut bait. We didn’t catch a bunch of them, but probably got 4 or 5 reds that week that were in the upper 20"s to lower 30"s. I remember we never caught any near the bank, but all just casting straight out from the dock…somewhere I never would have fished if it wasn’t for being on that dock. I remember also, the eel wasn’t all that big, but we were able to reuse a piece for multiple fish.
We’ll be there this year and I’d like to try it again, but I never know where to find any eels and we haven’t caught any since then. If anyone has any ideas on where I might be able to somehow catch, or purchase, any eels that time of year please let me know. Thanks.
'07 198 DLX Carolina Skiff
FS90 Suzuki
How do you rig them for cobia? The whole eel? Chunks? Set up?
Thx
220 Outrage
250 Verado
In salt cobia and shark nearshore. Off shore pretty much your guess as to what you can pull up with them. Fresh water cut in chunks, good catfish bait.
Fishing with then live for cobia, lip hook and run a stinger with a treble buried at the tail. Bap them in the head a fell times to half kill, if not they will tangle your line into a few dozen knots. Put a sock on your hand or better yet use a handful of Spanish Moss to hold the eel while baiting it on the hook.
Used to be able to find them in most every bait shop, but I don’t know where to buy them at now.
Every fresh water river we have has them. My son and I caught a few dozen fishing from the dock in between running our set lines in the Edisto River. Worm on the bottom and pretty much aggravated when we pulled up eels.
Joe’S riverbend bait shop in Beaufort usually has some eels, just call her, she’s always got live shrimp and mud minnows.
quote:
Originally posted by Mako212Joe’S riverbend bait shop in Beaufort usually has some eels, just call her, she’s always got live shrimp and mud minnows.
No Eels at Joe’s. She hasn’t carried them in awhile. Her supplier sell’s them all oversea’s. If you turn off 170 onto 128 there used to be a little bait shop that sold eels. Not sure if it’s still open?
my father would preserve them in a large pickle jar (and I actually think he might’ve pickled them in his means of preserving them). Then he’d use the whole thing for striper bait. Here, I’d do the same thing but use them for cobia. If you catch them in the late late late spring/early summer then keep them alive (they’ll live in a 2/3’s full 5 gallon bucket of tap water for a little under a week with a cheap aerator… just change the water each day). Then live line them at a nearshore reef. Cobia have big mouths; they’ll eat the whole thing.
I will tell u where to get eels.Take two eel traps and go to beesferry road.The small overpass that goes over that little creek is where u need to put the traps.Go at night sit for a couple of hours and u should get a trap full of 4-6 inch eels.Do not leave the traps they will get stolen.Maybe put them out at dark and get them before daylight.Can of dog food works.
Your welcome.
Stonoman