Removing eels

[Pointyfish]

Need to set up some lines in my parents dam to cut down the eel population. What bait would you recommend for eels?

[finga]

Some rules to follow when using set lines in QLD
http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/28_3023.htm

Steak is good for eels but you won't thin them out.

[bennykenny]

240 volts should work well and all at once:-X:-X

[stonecold]

garden worms always worked a treat for me in the farm dam

[Ryan the slayer]

use a round crab pot with blue pilchards as bait eels are very easy to thin out

[tunaticer]

Curious as to how a private dam has got eels, they need saltwater to breed.
How large is the dam currently? With the current weather patterns i would not be worried about draining the dam and scooping the eels out.
You could also offer your dam up for professional eel catchers for a few % of the produce. I think the pro eelers are finding it very tough accessing good waters these days.

[murf]

Curious as to how a private dam has got eels, they need saltwater to breed.
How large is the dam currently? With the current weather patterns i would not be worried about draining the dam and scooping the eels out.
You could also offer your dam up for professional eel catchers for a few % of the produce. I think the pro eelers are finding it very tough accessing good waters these days.

try doing aquaculture on the east coast of the great divide

eels are one of the biggest pests to keep out, the young elvers/glass eels come in their 1000's at the the right moon times and get into any tasty (as in plenty of nutrients etc) dam or pond

the long and short finned eel that live in fresh water on the east coat of Aus do need to travel long distance into the salt (can't remember where they breed of hand atm) where they change into a big eye eel before breeding and then dieing, it is legend that the baby eels then travel back to where their parents came from

you can get eel traps or at least you could 10years ago when I was doing it, they are like large opera house traps for freshwater crayfish

we have excavated an old dam that was drained for 12 months to make it bigger and the excavator dug up dozens of eels over a foot long three feet down in the clay under the bottom of the dam

a mate had a 3" or so eel in a glass tank on his aquaculture farm for more than 12 months (so he said) and didn't feed it and it looked as healthy as ever

cheers Murf

[murf]

and an adult eel will travel lots of km's overland in the rain following the scent of a good pond /dam

so how did you go getting eels out of the dam?

cheers Murf

[bootlace]

Liver has worked for me in the past

[Feral]

As Murf says, the mongrels travel overland a long way, so usually repopulate dams. Got any middle east or eastern european mates? They will probably come and get stuck in to the eels in the dam for you, smoked and jellied eel is a delicacy for many of those cultures.

[gunna]

Why do you need to reduce the population? Just wondering how thats a problem ?

We had some new dams put in at the golf course. Within months they had eels in them. Presumably they just slithered over from the existing dams.

[daki23]

fresh water mallet as well... anything meety and stinky usually works for me on albert river :)

[murf]

Why do you need to reduce the population? Just wondering how thats a problem ?
.

only a problem if you want to stock it with fish/freshwater crayfish etc other than that smoked eel is yum

cheers Murf

[Pointyfish]

Have caught quiet a few eels out of it with red claw pots so far. Haven't caught any red claw yet! Can't say why I want the eels out ::)

[bondy99]

Pointyfish

Where are you located mate?

I'm partial to freshwater eels too, can help you out to get three or four out for my esky to cook up later. smoked eel is good too if I had the right wood for them.

Cheers, Peter

[steveclem]

Squid and liver are both good, a freshwater deadbait also or try a fish head from a very freshly killed perch/mullet etc, gills intact. Try setting a night line, warm overcast nights are good. If you want them alive use circle hooks, if you're going to eat them any old hook that they will swallow will do.
Nail the head to a post, cut around the neck and strip skin off with a pair of pliers. Kill the poor bugger first though eh?
They are very rich and tasty, on a griddle over coals or smoked. If you want you can purge them in fresh,clean water that is aerated or changed frequently for a week or so.

[slothbinge]

....oh you need a hinaki bro!
http://images.trademe.co.nz/photoserver/95/151088195_full.jpg