what's the ideal eel size for a skin plug?
 

what do you guys think? I have one of Salty's awesome skin plugs that I basically begged him to bring to the MSBA show this winter, and I have yet to try the thing out! (sorry Scott, but I was preoccupied with just live eels) what size eel should I get because I am getting eels tonight

As large as Humanly Possible....seriously



Oh and I would fish it live 1st, then when its done....then off to the skinnin room with it

surfland gave me a huge eel last time I was there, I mean, way too big to cast, would that work?

basically you need an eel with a diameter equal to the plug. they don't stretch much. tough to find usually.

It ain'tthe size of the eel its what you do with it.

Spoken like an irishman....

You can get dried eelskins. Big Bear in Glocester RI got me a dozen a few years ago. I still have some left. Basically they are somehow salted and dried so they stay forever. After use they dry out but you just leave it on the plug and they are good as new after a few soaks in the saltwater.
I believe Beverly at Big Bear got them from the wholesaler Tom's Bait. I think they cost me $3.00 each but an eel's a $1.50 so that ain't so bad.

How'd ya Know :hihi:

All I gotta say is Thank God for the Chinese

actually.. i just read about making eels skin plugs yesterday. just out of curiosity. i must say i want to give em a try. and would rather not go through all the trouble of skinning an eel my self.. (aka i dont have the stomach for it) any places to get eel skins around the south shore (of ma). if i must i will do it myself. so on top of that any places to get large eels around here? every where i go seems to have nothing over a 1ft long.
should have kept that 3ft one i caught earlier in the year... figures.. now i know.

Tried it recently with Salty's eelskin swimmer and a 19" or 20" eel was too small to fit without cutting and sewing. You use the tail portion where they are a lot thinner than you think. I'd say you should be looking for a 25" eel if you want to have it slip over easily. That's really, really big.

The only place I know of that sells skins only was Makos at Buzzards Bay. If you can get them buy a bunch and store em in kosher salt. Thae last forever! Use the smaller ones for eel skin rigs - 4 to 5 ounces to jig the ditch.:cool:

It actually isn't that bad.