How to lip hook and catch eels

[@delconashvilleline]

Really cool! I live in the United States and we have American Eel here. They are a remarkable fish and very similar to the European Eel. The European Eel and American Eel breed in the same sea but the European Eel grows slightly larger. I also am excited to stumble upon someone else who is interested in freshwater eel if you want to learn more about the American Eel I have some similar videos to this on my page. Good luck with your fishing this year!

[@PaulScowen]

I’ll be sure to check your videos out

[@badger2153]

I Really enjoyed this video as it confirms something I stumbled on about 3 years ago. I was fishing a big pit for tench, one rod maggot and one rod on the worms both bolt rigs. I am by no means an eel angler but that 24hr session turned up 6 eels to just under 6lb with everyone of them hooked in the bottom lip! I often wonder when watching these videos why fish with running rigs and the likes, when eels are notorious for deep hooking. Well done chap it's certainly working and certainly maintaining the health of this beautiful species 👏

[@PaulScowen]

Thanks Badger. I also stumbled across it whilst fishing for bream many years ago. 👍

[@badger2153]

@@PaulScowen when you really look at it, it makes perfect sense this rig. Although I have had big arguments with so called "professionals " in regards to this. Tight lines and all the best👍

[@omkujane]

Got my pb eel of over 3 pounds with your methods. Thank you!

[@PaulScowen]

That’s great to hear. Well done 👍

[@markmacandrew3531]

Really enjoyed your video, full of good eels and some good advice on lip hooking. I'm involved with a lip hooking campaign trying to raise awareness at the moment with the NAC. We've been promoting rigs like yours along with some others as a guide to newcomers on safe eel fishing practices. I will share this video on our group page. Thank you and tight lines

[@PaulScowen]

Perfect. Thanks

[@bushdoctormeds7173]

I always thought when the hook is just a little out the eel doesn’t take it … must say when i make a kind of rigg you showed then it works way better ! Specially the bigger ones and yeah now I see how they get hooked in the lip perfect ! Thank You so much perfect video and very very good tip! I will show the results when I catch this Saturday 🤟🏻👌🏻👍

[@mauricewhitehead176]

Great video enjoyed that 👍 some cracking eels thanks for sharing

[@PaulScowen]

Thanks Maurice. I appreciate the feedback 👍

[@muffinthepug2358]

Interesting swim footage Paul, oh and love the beard.

[@PaulScowen]

Ha, thanks. A consequence of being in lock down!

[@janedurston8939]

Thank you for this I going to have a bash at this, as stories of large eels are coming forward with the odd photo as I fish for carp and bream at a local lake the last thing I would want to do is deep hook a specimen eel and harm it kind regards Mr D

[@PaulScowen]

They can be quite localised on larger lakes so try different swims until you start getting bites. Good luck.

[@colinevans7134]

Love fishing for eels, eating eels and watching fishing for eels love your videos

[@PaulScowen]

Thanks Colin although I can’t say I share your love of eating them. Do you eat them jellied?

[@andrewmaccallum2367]

STOP eating them ffs!!! 😡

[@kuntzanimation7490]

Hi Paul, thanks for sharing this. I look forward to the try it out for me self. I enjoy your video alot. Cheers mate. Did you make a video on crucian carp.?

[@PaulScowen]

Thanks Kuntz. I’ve not targeted crucians so don’t have any footage. Maybe sometime in the future

[@wonkylommiter6364]

Eels hate strong light, so I always try to keep any torch or headtorch light away from, well, eels, perch zander, anything which has awesome night vision as much as possible.(if I'm lucky enough to catch!)

[@PaulScowen]

Zander unquestionably have excellent low light sight and ‘recycle’ light. You can see this by how their eyes glow like cats eyes in low light. Perch and eels also have good vision but not the same low light capabilities. Eels are primarily nocturnal but rely on other senses more than sight during the night. Whilst I wouldn’t advocate shining bright light directly into the eyes of anything I have no compunction using torchlight with an eel on the bank. What I can tell you is they never shy away from torch light as you might expect them to if it was uncomfortable.

[@tommos16]

What a fantastic video - thank you!

[@PaulScowen]

Thanks Tom

[@bluesimon13ify]

A great & interesting video, im not sure wether I would use the hooks like you do or put a t section of thick mono on as well, 😀😀😀

[@PaulScowen]

You can try using a t section but there really is no need and in a weedy pit it’s likely to become a liability.

[@bushdoctormeds7173]

Sorry you just look like a Dutch singer 😂But hey what an awesome video !! I have been struggling for years with big eels who swallow the hook completly…. Thanks for sharing we will try this THIS weekend yeahhhh can’t wait can’t wait 👍👍🙏🏻🙋‍♂️🙋‍♂️

[@PaulScowen]

He must be blessed with extremely good genes 😂 Good luck with the eels 👍

[@MistralMoggy]

Excellent video and info Paul, when does your Eel season end usually ? TIA

[@PaulScowen]

I’m not a single species angler and never have enough time to do everything I want so typically I start fishing for eels around April and pull off still waters shortly after the tench spawn. I fished a little longer this year as I only did one night for them last year and didn’t start until June this. I know of some eel anglers that fish year round but realistically most would say productive eel fishing will usually be from April to September in the UK

[@robertclare6137]

Amazing Creatures that get so much bad press, They Clean our rivers,as they'll literally eat anything. The Eel can swim the same speed backwards as it can forwards

[@leaschmitt2496]

Didn't know they got bad press. Eel is a specialty dish where i live. Tasts great

[@mattwooldridge9437]

Some great information there Paul. What tc rods would you recommend for eels? I’m sort of stuck in that sense, is something at 2.25tc a good all round tc? Thank you

[@PaulScowen]

2.25 are ideal. It’s surprising how hard even a moderately sized eel will fight so you certainly won’t be taking the sport out of it but you will be grateful for the extra backbone when you have a pb reversing out of your net and you need to muscle it back in.

[@mattwooldridge9437]

@@PaulScowen Thanks for the reply Paul 👍

[@philipbeacock561]

Excellent video

[@pwsoultrainn4090]

Hi just starting to use a rod ... i know eels are strong .. what is the biggest eel that you have caught and how heavy with the size of hook that u use on the video..... it looks so small for such a strong fish. thanks Phil

[@PaulScowen]

The hooks are designed for carp and barbel and are more than strong enough for any freshwater eel you could possibly encounter in the UK

[@momentsinanglingessence855]

Very informative video Paul, thanks. I am thinking of targeting Eels on my local club pit, it's only 10 acres and fairly shallow but large Eels have been spotted and sadly a 5lb+ one was found dead hanging out a Crayfish trap recently. I'm thinking of baiting a couple of spots and using chopped dead bait and dead maggots, I seriously don't want to deep hook one so was thinking of using a T-bar rig with a short trace hook length, and sardine head. Do you think this would work? and in October?

[@PaulScowen]

The rig in the video isn’t really suitable for deadbaits. Use worms or maggots if the silverfish aren’t too bad, otherwise you can Google the Pitt’s rig which uses arma mesh. Whilst eels will take sardines, smelt etc they will take fresh coarse fish and prawns much more readily. Try a small roach head hooked through the nostril or a large prawn whipped to the hook with sea fishing elastic. The t rig will help reduce deep hooking. Eels can be caught all year round but they can be very hard going from October to March. My favourite time is the last couple of weeks in May when they seem to be very catchable. Good luck 🎣

[@momentsinanglingessence855]

@@PaulScowen Cheers Paul, I do like the prawn idea, I might try that, I was gonna try the margins for a bit, but yes I will probably give them proper attention in May.

[@SabrinasFish]

Hello! May I use a few clips of your video for my educational video on eels? I will give credit

[@PaulScowen]

@@SabrinasFish sure. I appreciate you asking first 👍

[@fishinfilip]

Hi Paul, good to see someone promoting safe eel rigs. I watched some of your others vids, and was wondering if there's any particular reason for not using a line aligner for your eel rig?

[@PaulScowen]

Eels aren’t as tolerant to plastic as other fish so a line aligner is likely to cost you more fish than it would gain. For the same reason I try to cover as much of the hook with the bait as possible. As the eels aren’t sucking and blowing in the same way as other species the mechanics work slightly differently with the hook turning and catching hold once the eye is dragged out of their mouths when they start to move. If you were to extend the eye, the hook would turn sooner leading to deeper hooked eels. Not only will this make unhooking harder but it also makes it more likely that the hook will penetrate the artery. There is also a pronounced ridge on the lower jaw of an eel that isn’t there on carp, tench, barbel etc making it very hard for a straight pointed hook, with an in-turned eye, tied knot less knot style not to turn and catch even without an aligner. Finally there is a boney edge to the eels lower jaw making for a very secure hook hold even when only just lip hooked that other species don’t have.

[@fishinfilip]

That's an interesting view. A lot of eel anglers I know of use some sort of aligner so it would cover the metal of the hook as much as possible, and also to aid turning of the hook. So what you're saying is the plastic deters them as much as the metal does? And, have you ever fished them against each other for a substantial amount of time? Regarding eels sucking in and blowing out the bait I have to disagree. I've kept eels (albeit small ones) at home and they suck in and blow out baits more than most species! Even with 'naturals' such as worms and maggots. Of course all that changed after a while, when they got used to it (prebaiting!) and they started taking the bait with a lot of confidence. I must admit I was more than a bit sceptical about your approach, having deep hooked eels on most traditional eel rigs (even with very short 3 inch rigs but on run rigs) and on the feeder, but I'll admit your tactics seem to be working so kudos where it's due!

[@PaulScowen]

@@fishinfilip perhaps I didn’t explain myself very clearly. Eels don’t suck and blow in that they don’t have a protrusible mouth in the same way that many cyprinids do. They are not randomly sucking up detritus and sorting food items from it before ejecting the remainder. All fish will test potential and reject potential food items but with species like carp rigs are designed to catch when they are rejected as well as when the hooklink tightens. This is a big reason why the separation between bait and hook created with the hair rig is so effective. However the morphology of an eels mouth, and the way they feed is very different. Consequently the hooking mechanics are also different. The hook is unlikely to turn and gain any purchase until the eye exits the mouth as the hooklink tightens. Without an aligner this gives you a very secure hook hold, away from any arteries or vital organs and makes unhooking very straightforward. With regard covering the hook I believe that eels are very efficient at detecting anything that’s non organic which is why I use hooks that are small enough to almost completely hide within the bait leaving just the eye to aid rig mechanics and the point exposed. For other species I frequently run tungsten putty into the weave of a braided hooklink. I don’t do this for eels. With regards very short hook links I found that they lead to dropped runs and enabled the eels to rob the bait from the hook. 6-7 inches seems to be the ideal length giving exceptionally high hookup ratios whilst still eliminating deep hooking.

[@fishinfilip]

@@PaulScowen Nice to read you've thoroughly tested it. So not one single eel was deep hooked? I fish for eels predominantly april-nov and will be giving this a try with some size 8 big-T raptors I just don't seem to get around using. Have you found the weight of the lead to be of any importance? 2 oz seems light. Also, have you tried fish baits with it? Being a Belgium based angler I have to deal with tons of stocked bream that love a mouthful of maggots or worms. The reason I ask is eels seem to feed very differently on fish baits, swallowing the lot much faster than lobs and such. In fact, thinking back, all fish I've deep hooked these last 2-3 years were on fish baits.

[@PaulScowen]

@@fishinfilip I can honestly say that I’ve not deep hooked any eels when using this rig. I use 2-3oz leads but have had no issues with 2oz. I fish with a fairly tight baitrunner and a drop of just 1-2 inches on the bobbin so I am sure the tension of the line when it hits the baitrunner and the lead core also aid hooking. Most bites are juddery affairs but occasionally they will tear off. I’ve not tried fish baits but would love to try to see if it picks out the bigger fish. Unfortunately I am not on any waters where silvers are viable to catch (they’ve been denuded by cormorants). If I did I would try small sections/fillets rather than whole/half fish aiming to load the look similarly to how you see it with the worms in the video. I have fished with fish baits in the past on more traditional running/dyson rigs and suffered from deep hooking. It’s worth Googling Steve Pitts as he uses a rig with armourmesh whereby you can fish sections or even mashed fish on a very similar rig. It’s something I plan to experiment with using prawns and chopped worm next year.

[@derekhinton5416]

they say if you stroke the eels tummy it calms the eel down loads

[@PaulScowen]

@@derekhinton5416 yes, turning them over, stroking, being very gentle and slow can all help

[@andrewmaccallum2367]

Excellent 👏👏👏

[@ryescott9445]

Brilliant mate

[@scottcampbell9479]

Do they ever try and bite you?

[@PaulScowen]

No. They can be quite a handful on the bank but they’re just trying to get away. They aren’t at all vicious.

[@scottcampbell9479]

@@PaulScowen I've always fancied having a go for eels. I, might have a go this summer, I've been watching and reading up on Steve pitts and how he targets them. I think i will try some canals near me 👌👍

[@PaulScowen]

@@scottcampbell9479 you never know what will turn up in a canal. Good luck

[@MrSAMUELDONG]

thanks

[@doctorjeep86]

👍

[@bushdoctormeds7173]

Hahaha GORDON zonder haar 😂😂

[@skootm188]

Safe eel fishing aye but hacking at trees with a penknife to open swims is taking the piss mate 👍

[@PaulScowen]

It was a swim that had been neglected and become overgrown so it just needed opening up again. Granted, a penknife was not the ideal tool (aside from anything else it made it bloody hard work!) but it was that or chew the branches off and the swim is now fishable again. 👍