S
Stuart Johnson
Guest
Paul, as you know I hate the bloody things, but I really enjoyed the read. But Paul that hat and hair, what happened mate? It looks as though you were dressed to go to a Rubet's concert.
D
Dave Johnson
Guest
I cant believe he posted the picture Stu.....
nearly as bad as the Eddy pic in Jase's bream book!!!!
wax jacket as well......and a beret, probably a French Barbel cop......
nearly as bad as the Eddy pic in Jase's bream book!!!!
wax jacket as well......and a beret, probably a French Barbel cop......
S
Stuart Johnson
Guest
I know can you beleave it, thats just got to be a wig. Wax jacket? yes its starting to make sence now. Wax, Rubber, Boots, yes its coming clearer.
P
Paul Williams
Guest
I only put it in to show you whippersnappers i was young once!!....and i got your P*** taking message on the mobile Stu, i just couldn't phone you back...i had run out of cred again (thats twice today with the hat!!)
Actually the hat was a protective one...i was breaking it in for the following weekends trip to wembley with Wolves in the league cup final.....the opposing team wouldn't take kindly to being stuffed!!....ahhh those 70's eh
Actually the hat was a protective one...i was breaking it in for the following weekends trip to wembley with Wolves in the league cup final.....the opposing team wouldn't take kindly to being stuffed!!....ahhh those 70's eh
C
Chris Bishop
Guest
So you went along disguised as a member of some nondescript 70s doo-wop band in the hope you'd be spared the wrath of the opposing teams fans.
"...ok lads, here's the plan... if we get separated just start singing Sugar Baby Love..."
"...ok lads, here's the plan... if we get separated just start singing Sugar Baby Love..."
S
Stuart Johnson
Guest
Stuffed?
P
Paul Williams
Guest
We won!.....thats stuffed!........now look what youve started!.....you could have done it on the carp forum, not on the macho predator!!!! Oi DJ that "wax jacket" cost me two weeks wages then!
S
Stuart Johnson
Guest
What two chickens and a bag of spuds.
G
Gary Knowles
Guest
Paul,
Great article mate………... I only got bitten by the eel bug myself last summer and now I can’t get enough. It now seems that every water I look at, I’m trying to suss out the eel potential first when a few years ago my first thoughts would have been for bream or tench.
A question or two….You say you prefer butt indicators for your eel fishing. Do you mean bobbins on a long drop, or possibly even a lovely old monkey climber (I’ll have to go into the loft to try and find a couple of those). I’d agree they would be more sensitive than the traditional drop off alarm but I still chose to use drop offs this year the reasons being :
a) many of the takes I experienced were ‘screamers’, meaning that if I fished bobbins, I either fished with the baitrunner on or clipped the line on the rod above the reel with an elastic band or such. None of which I really fancied.
b) Because I was using front rest alarms ‘twitches’ on the drop-off bobbin were being indicated as single bleeps and in most cases I was up and pulled the line out of the clip before the eel did.
Fortunately only one eel was deep-hooked this summer but I can accept that it was probably more by luck than judgement.
After reading your comments I’m toying with the idea of getting out the old monkey climbers and putting them at a 45 degree angle pointing immediately at the back of the reels spool and fishing with the bail arm open. I think I remember someone suggesting this (or at least seeing it in an old article somewhere) many years ago. My first thought is that setting up in this way would give you the best of both worlds.
Any thoughts…
Oh, by the way....top hat mate !!!!!!
Great article mate………... I only got bitten by the eel bug myself last summer and now I can’t get enough. It now seems that every water I look at, I’m trying to suss out the eel potential first when a few years ago my first thoughts would have been for bream or tench.
A question or two….You say you prefer butt indicators for your eel fishing. Do you mean bobbins on a long drop, or possibly even a lovely old monkey climber (I’ll have to go into the loft to try and find a couple of those). I’d agree they would be more sensitive than the traditional drop off alarm but I still chose to use drop offs this year the reasons being :
a) many of the takes I experienced were ‘screamers’, meaning that if I fished bobbins, I either fished with the baitrunner on or clipped the line on the rod above the reel with an elastic band or such. None of which I really fancied.
b) Because I was using front rest alarms ‘twitches’ on the drop-off bobbin were being indicated as single bleeps and in most cases I was up and pulled the line out of the clip before the eel did.
Fortunately only one eel was deep-hooked this summer but I can accept that it was probably more by luck than judgement.
After reading your comments I’m toying with the idea of getting out the old monkey climbers and putting them at a 45 degree angle pointing immediately at the back of the reels spool and fishing with the bail arm open. I think I remember someone suggesting this (or at least seeing it in an old article somewhere) many years ago. My first thought is that setting up in this way would give you the best of both worlds.
Any thoughts…
Oh, by the way....top hat mate !!!!!!
P
Paul Williams
Guest
Gary,
Sense at last.....those Johnson twins don't half gang up!
I fished with standard Solar light indicators complete with the chain...the bail arm open and the line very lightly tucked into a band above the reel.....the light bobbin caused the alarm to sound if anything was messing with the bait ( i was fishing very close in)
The type of drop off i have stopped using for eeling are my ghetto blaster type....i felt they were not sensitive enough.
You're an experienced pike angler and i know you fully understand bite indication but to someone who doesn't (or only thinks they do) i think ghetto types could cause deep hooking if not used in a sensible manner.......actually when you think about it we were both fishing in a similar manner, front mounted alarms with a weight behind to indicate any line movement........i'm not sure about the monkey climbers, do you think they may "stick" rather than drop or twitch like a solar type?
Deep hooking in eel angling is something that happens to us all if we are honest, the thing is knowing what to do for the best.......next season i intend to fish with smaller baits, very short hook links and heavy leads.......i have dabbled with these set ups a little but not caught enough to say if it makes a difference yet..........do you remember that pike water we spoke of in the past...well there are absoloutly definatly no mahoosive snigs in there!
Sense at last.....those Johnson twins don't half gang up!
I fished with standard Solar light indicators complete with the chain...the bail arm open and the line very lightly tucked into a band above the reel.....the light bobbin caused the alarm to sound if anything was messing with the bait ( i was fishing very close in)
The type of drop off i have stopped using for eeling are my ghetto blaster type....i felt they were not sensitive enough.
You're an experienced pike angler and i know you fully understand bite indication but to someone who doesn't (or only thinks they do) i think ghetto types could cause deep hooking if not used in a sensible manner.......actually when you think about it we were both fishing in a similar manner, front mounted alarms with a weight behind to indicate any line movement........i'm not sure about the monkey climbers, do you think they may "stick" rather than drop or twitch like a solar type?
Deep hooking in eel angling is something that happens to us all if we are honest, the thing is knowing what to do for the best.......next season i intend to fish with smaller baits, very short hook links and heavy leads.......i have dabbled with these set ups a little but not caught enough to say if it makes a difference yet..........do you remember that pike water we spoke of in the past...well there are absoloutly definatly no mahoosive snigs in there!
C
Chris Bishop
Guest
I'm no eel angler but have you thought about float fishing, using a scaled-down version of the pencil float deadbaiting rig with just a couple of BB or AA shots on the trace a couple of inches from the bait..?
Got to be the ultimate in sensitivity, as soon as a fish picks your bait up, the float keels over.
Got to be the ultimate in sensitivity, as soon as a fish picks your bait up, the float keels over.
T
The Monk
Guest
Touch ledgerings the best mate, especially it you can stay awake for a few weeks!
P
Paul Williams
Guest
Chris,
I have tried float fishing.....it's great fun,scaled down freeroamer watching the starlight float.......don't do it as often as i should......missed loads of runs though.
I have tried float fishing.....it's great fun,scaled down freeroamer watching the starlight float.......don't do it as often as i should......missed loads of runs though.
S
Stuart Johnson
Guest
Crikey Paul at your age are you sure you will be able to see a scaled down float.
P
Paul Williams
Guest
My age?......greenhouses and pebble throwing?.....anyway i'll show you who can float fish next week on that roaching trip!!!
S
Stuart Johnson
Guest
Your still older and you wear funny hats, so I can take the p*** and I'm milking this one coz I might not get an other chance.
P
Paul Williams
Guest
I think we should go roaching somewhere much much deeper than we have planned....and i have some new boots for you to try on!
T
Tony Jolley
Guest
Nice article Paul,
I have been eeling for a good few years and still learning all the time,
your thoughts on the use of butt indicators is intreasting,
I have for the last 7 or so years been using drop off indicators, this including fire line braid can make a very "tight line set up" my hope being that if the bait is moved I get a quick indication, I have missed a far few takes on this set up (but that is expected on most set ups), I had hoped that this would reduce deep hooking, but have found that not to be the case,
looking at it from a differant line of thought, I feel that the use of a braided line and the light bobbin set up could well be a way forward, (Sort of back to basics), I feel the use of the "clipped up drop off indicators" help to make us lazy, indeed I have been using one rod on a monkey climber set up for the last season, But my angling time as been limited so I can`t make any conclusions, I aim to carry on the experiment next season, and hope to encourage some of the N,A,C membership to "Look into this idea" as well, If we can help to reduce deep hooking then that can only be for the best,
I have been eeling for a good few years and still learning all the time,
your thoughts on the use of butt indicators is intreasting,
I have for the last 7 or so years been using drop off indicators, this including fire line braid can make a very "tight line set up" my hope being that if the bait is moved I get a quick indication, I have missed a far few takes on this set up (but that is expected on most set ups), I had hoped that this would reduce deep hooking, but have found that not to be the case,
looking at it from a differant line of thought, I feel that the use of a braided line and the light bobbin set up could well be a way forward, (Sort of back to basics), I feel the use of the "clipped up drop off indicators" help to make us lazy, indeed I have been using one rod on a monkey climber set up for the last season, But my angling time as been limited so I can`t make any conclusions, I aim to carry on the experiment next season, and hope to encourage some of the N,A,C membership to "Look into this idea" as well, If we can help to reduce deep hooking then that can only be for the best,
S
Stuart Johnson
Guest
LoL. But if they have been made for your shoe size they will be to small for me.
C
Chris Bishop
Guest
Bobbins give you more information as a take develops but aren't as reliable at showing drop-backs unless you weight them, which obviously adds resistance into the equation.
A weighted drop back with a decent clip lets you fish really tight and it's very sensitive at detecting the initial take, but tells you nothing once it's dropped off.
When I've had eels pick up deadbaits intended for pike and zander on float rigs I can usually tell. Instead of a full-blooded take, you seem to get a twitchy stop-start that moves the float a few inches at a time, which I assume is the eel moving the bait along as it spins lumps out of it.
On the rare occasions I have hooked and landed one, I reckon it's managed to impale itself as it attacks the bait.
A weighted drop back with a decent clip lets you fish really tight and it's very sensitive at detecting the initial take, but tells you nothing once it's dropped off.
When I've had eels pick up deadbaits intended for pike and zander on float rigs I can usually tell. Instead of a full-blooded take, you seem to get a twitchy stop-start that moves the float a few inches at a time, which I assume is the eel moving the bait along as it spins lumps out of it.
On the rare occasions I have hooked and landed one, I reckon it's managed to impale itself as it attacks the bait.