Using sand eels as bait

The humble sand eel is about as versatile a bait as you are ever going to come across. I'd list the various species of fish that i have caught on eel but it's easier to say that there arn't many fish i can think for that won't take them.

With this in mind I thought I'd try and explain how to use them, when to use them and how to look after them.

The sand eels you buy from a shop are usually lesser sand eels. The greater variety are more commonly know as Launce which are also sold in most shops. They tend to hang out in shallower water over sandy ground and can bury themselves up to 30cm down. They are often seine netted from the shore using a small net and a small rowing boat.





Sand eel selection

Sand eels are generally bought as a frozen bait. They are usually caught and frozen down very quickly, so once defrosted they are still fresh. The very first thing to look at when you are picking sand eels up is the colour. They should have a silvery brown tint to them, but not too dark. If they are very brown then put them back as they will split when your hooking them up. They should be solid and be in an air tight vacuum packed bag. There are plenty of on-line bait suppliers that will send bait directly to your door but sand eels realy need to be bought from your local tackle shop and kept frozen for as long as you can before you need them. If they have partially defrosted (which they will be, even if they are send on a next day courier) then again, they will split when you use them and be useless)

Most shops will also sell different sizes of sand eel. You need to think about your target species when selecting what size of eel you need. If your fishing for smaller fish with smaller mouth's then use smaller eels. I would use smaller eel for mackerel and Pollock spinning, medium eel's for Turbot fishing, large for Ray fishing and extra large for Bass fishing.

Many shop's will also stock live eel's. But let me tell you from my own experience that this isn't easy. You need the space, the equipment, the time and the supply of them. Even with all of this you can lose a tank full of eel overnight for no apparent reason. When you can get them though these can be a killer bait.


How to hook and present sand eel's

Getting sand eels hooked up properly is of great importance. Not only because bait presentation to the fish is paramount but because a badly hooked eel will spin up your trace leaving it sitting there without the chance of a bite. For frozen eel I always take the tail off as this will act like a propeller and spin your trace up. I then thread the hook through the eel and bring it out near it's head. Then i cut it's head off just behind the gills as this will let the blood out giving you a better scent trail. I tend to use a pennel hook (a free running hook on your trace line) to hook through the top of the eel. This not only helps in hooking fish but keeps the eel in place. I have found that a good, fresh eel, hooked nicely and with a pennel means that i don't need to use bait elastic.

Here is a link you a video showing how i hook my sand eels.

Live eels are totally different. They are usually supplied by the dozen and need to be kept alive. This can be done by using either a bucket full of salt water and an aeration pump or by keeping them in a small cool box with a cool pack wrapped in news paper. A tea towel dampened down in salt water will then provide them with all of the moisture they need. Eels will live happily for 12 hours+ using this method and it's the method that i use. Generally though live eel will only be available from shops between May and October. Hook wise i use a carp hook for live eel. Korda wide gape X's in a size 2. They are small hooks but have plenty of guts. I then just nick the hook through the skin near the tail and tie a couple of half hitches over the tail and the eye of the hook. Beacuse you are only nicking him through his skin he will stay alive on the hook for ages. I would do a video but i'm not sure that Youtube would approve of me putting a hook into a live creature.

There are, of course, many other ways of doing both but these are the way's that work for me.

As always i like to clip down to my sand eel baits using pulley rigs with Imps as this will aid in distance and stop the spinning effect.

Another advantage to using sand eel is the cost. A pack of large eel will cost you £1.80 in my shop and that would do one rod for the whole night, so a couple of packs and that's your bait sorted. Certainly bassing wise your never going to get as many bites as you do whilst using lug but you will pick the better fish out.

So give them a try and as always, if there is anything that i have forgotten to mention then feel free to ask via the comments section below or on my facebook page. There is no such thing as a stupid question, just a stupid answer.