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Eel Fishing too soon?

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eel fishing
4K views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  JakeF 
#1 ·
Is it possible to be night fishing from shore with eels too early in the season? Does the cold water temp or the fact the bass are in the rivers feeding on bait fish have an impact on eels effectiveness?

Getting into my first real season of striper fishing. I am heading our Friday night for a shot, and I am debating using clams or eels.
 
#4 ·
I would think you'd be fine slinging eels from shore this early in the season. You may be better off slinging them during May/Early June than the average Joe may tend to think.

I live a bit to the south of you, on Cape Cod, and do just fine with eels during May and June. I'm usually in a boat, at night, however during this time of the year I'll find myself fishing surprisingly close to shore-as little as 7ft of water.

At least in my area, the bass come "right up on the beach" during May/Early June and then again during September/October.

Compare that with the 50-80 foot depths that I normally find bass in during the height of the summer.

So with all that said, I tend to think this time of the year, and September October are the best for slinging eels from shore, just based on how the majority of bass seem to behave in my general area.

Hope this helps!
 
#5 ·
It's too early north of Cape cod, mainly because of the size of the fish ... right now, Plum Island is just getting under way..most of the fish are micros... your best bet this early is herring and sand eel imitations...cut bait or worms ... as May turns to june the game changes... Mackerel and herring sized baits work great during the day, come nightfall bass will feed heavily off eels, especaily now that larger fish are in the picture... the picture up north is very differant than the cape... even in the dead of summer under a hot Augsut sun, the majority of your fish will still come from 20' or less of water.. and at night... just enough to cover their backs....

Boston north will see large mediums ( 10-15lbs) by memorial day.. then you'll want to break out the eels...
 
#7 ·
Hi all, been awhile since I've been on the site.There are two rivers in my area where some post spawn Bass are still hangin out.They are feedin heavy on Gaspereau{sp].These rivers a chocolate colored, and 90% of the fish taken are from Gaspereau, cut or whole.When using cut, it is extremely hard to keep bait on the hook due to the amount of eels in the River.I've never seen or heard of anyone using eels here.Do you think they would be successful, on post spawn fish that are onto the Gaspereau?
 
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