I met a fellow that guides out of Stillwater for cats a few weeks ago. Among the pictures of his cats and sturgeon, he had a picture of the eel. Judging by the picture, it had to be close to 5 feet long.
Question of the day: How often do you encounter these little cute’s while night fishing? Where are you fishing? Croix, Miss, Red, MN? What do you do with them once you get them to the boat?
Thanks…PS looks like a knife to the line would be the best? 
It has been about 10 years since I have caught one. That was on the Miss. over in north MPLS. Cut the line is right. After we hauled in the third one for the night we picked up and left. Never went back to that spot.
After that I did a little checking into them and going from memory here are a few things I remember.
Taylors falls and the coon rapids dam are as far north as they make it on the Miss system. They reproduce some where in the ocean. The young are called glass eels and drift with the currents back to the mouth of what ever river they have come from. They will come up on the river banks and eat bugs and frogs. Grassy areas is where they like to do this.
I also think these eels are eating by some people on the east coast. (taste like chicken 
) Sounded like they might be more popular on the east coast than here.
Cant say I have seen one on the croix yet but have always wondered if they where in there or not.
One more thing. They are not good to pet. Seem to remember the first on we caught biting someone.
Some of the more serious cat guys we have running around the board use smaller american eels for bait. Or at least that’s what I’ve been told. 
Umm….if that’s true…Well at first I was going to say…”some” of these guys are on the “edge”. But after thinking this through, at least that don’t have to worry about hooking a 5 footer when using an eel for bait….unless they eat their own….
If my wife and I were to get into even a small one, people would start calling me Jesus….because of my ability to walk on water…..except I don’t have a following. 
They are also a close relative to a certain eels in foreign countries(don’t have the name offhand), and are considered a delicacy to some!! 
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I also think these eels are eating by some people on the east coast. (taste like chicken ) Sounded like they might be more popular on the east coast than here.
Need I say more?
I catch a few eels on both crawlers and chicken liver each year. It doesn’t take more than one time to learn to not net one. They will spin around and tanglew your net terribly. If you grab ahold of one you get that slime on your hands and it doesn’t come off very well. The best thing to do is just cut the line.
By the way, a buddy of mine’s brother use to hold the Minnesota record for the eel. He has it mounted in his house along with the plaque form the MN DNR.
Gator Hunter
When i worked for the DNR, we got several eels in our nets for what i can remeber………now that was 2 yrs ago….heck, i can barey remeber what i ate for diner last night! 
I have herd of servral people catching them…then just cuttin the line………but heck, i get one of them buggers on i am gettin a picture! damn straight! 
I thought this to be a humorus post started in 2004…
…Now I know a number of expert eel fisherman… I’ve still been lucky enough to not have caught one! 
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I also think these eels are eating by some people on the east coast. (taste like chicken ) Sounded like they might be more popular on the east coast than here.
Brian, was that pic taken at your prime rib night out? Trying something different?
Need I say more?
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I met a fellow that guides out of Stillwater for cats a few weeks ago. Among the pictures of his cats and sturgeon, he had a picture of the eel. Judging by the picture, it had to be close to 5 feet long.
Question of the day: How often do you encounter these little cute’s while night fishing? Where are you fishing? Croix, Miss, Red, MN? What do you do with them once you get them to the boat?
Thanks…PS looks like a knife to the line would be the best? <img src=”http://www.in-depthangling.com/forums/lake/images/graemlins/bawling.gif” alt=”” />
Can you imagine catching that at night and not knowing what the hec it is? No thank you. 
I remember catching my first eelpout on Mille Lacs as a kid. I had dozed off at about 11pm in the dark when I was awoken by a tugging on my line (I was going to say pole, but I know better) and I tried grabbing a hold of the fish I just reeled up. I was very confused as to what kept slipping out of my grip in the dim light.
I still can’t wait to catch my first eel. How common are they in the different pools?
Yes, I caught my fair share of eels this fall on the St Croix.. I think everyone can agree on that..
What to do with them? #1, dont take them in an aluminum boat with no carpet.. they get some speed going if they cut the line, or fall off the hook. It will be a memorable occasion when your passengers panic! (That can be good or bad, depends on the passenger 
)
The easiest thing to do is grab the hook with a pliers and shake them off the hook unless they have swallowed it.
Some people eat them, and have asked me to keep them if I get them again. I guess they taste great, I dont know, and dont know if I would want to experience cleaning one.. killing them isnt all that easy either if you are using your spotlight to bash it on the bottom of the boat, they seem uneffected.
I would like to see how these things stand up in captivity. A 5 gallon bucet with a lid might make it out fishing with me next year so I can transport one or two to a local(to the eel spot), covered bullhead tank 
Brian K can give me a call and let me know how its holding up
Dave? Why drop it off here when keeping it/them at Moore’s would be much open to the public?
I’m sure Meg would love to make sure they get fed daily.
Mmm…
Unagi. that’s almost as good as Uni.
I have a 55 gallon tank I could donate to Moore’s for the eels. 
I don’t think that’d be very comfortable for a 3-5 ft eel.
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American eels can absorb oxygen through their skin as well as their gills, making it possible for them to travel over land,
Maybe not so good of an idea. 
I have read that and it is amazing. So amazing that I felt dumb relaying it to a friend because it is so unbelievable where they spawn. Actually, I may have said Caspian sea instead of the Sargasso sea, which is very unbelievable.
…wonder if there’s a way to keep them down there??
Pretty…
Was that a slime mark on the floor of your boat??
That was from before I had a boat. He’s laying on the concrete of the Lake City Marina. I’m pretty sure neither my friend or I touched it…not that we’re sissy’s but… I think it went “you take him off” “no you take him off” “no you…” Then some guy in a boat came along and told us that they are great to eat. Anything is great to eat if you are hungry enough.
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not that we’re sissy’s but… I think it went “you take him off” “no you take him off” “no you…”
I remember having a conversation like that with a notable cat angler here in regards to mud puppies.
How many did I take off your hook that night Brian? 
BTW… thanks for letting me use your gloves to do that.
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How many did I take off your hook that night Brian?
All of them! Did I thank you for that?? 
You didn’t happen to find a black handled scissors in your boat after that trip, did ya?
I have to return it to the kitchen knife set that sits on the kitchen counter.
You mean the one that looks like it’s been used to cut up 1000 spawning shad?
I thought that was my wife’s!
It’s in the kitchen drawer…I’ll get it back to you.
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