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Replies: 22
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Orange Blooded [2175]
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Eels
May 18, 2021, 7:54 PM
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There have been several interesting posts recently about fishing the lowcountry blackwater rivers, especially by Purple Gunstock, which brought back a lot of memories for me.
Lot of discussion about redbreast, jackfish, "trout", and even mudfish. But I haven't seen eels mentioned.
Eels were a common catch for us, probably because we used worms, on the bottom, just as often as crickets for bait. My Grandaddy, from whom I inherited the fishing gene, liked catfish for frying. I liked them too. I think we caught bullheads, but honestly I just knew them as catfish. But that meant catching some eels too.
A lot of people don't like eels, I guess because of their appearance and because they're so slimy. A lot of times people just cut the line if they brought up an eel. Even if you're keeping them, it's easier just to cut the line and re-rig than try to take one off the hook.
Granddaddy didn't much care for eels either, but he ALWAYS cooked lunch on the bank (and of course, it wasn't lunch to him, or me at the time...it was dinner). I mean, if we didn't catch fish in the morning, we had to fill up on hushpuppies at noon. So, sometimes when things were slow, we kept eels.
I actually always liked them. They have white meat and a mild flavor. If they're dead they aren't hard to clean either; cut the skin around the gills and you can usually pull it off in one piece, and they're easy to gut. Of course if you've ever dealt with one, you know they aren't easy to kill. It's best to throw them on ice for a while. If that doesn't kill them it at least slows down the wiggling.
Now that I'm older I've developed a taste for sushi and smoked eel...unagi...is one of my favorites.
Any of you fellows catch and eat eels? I've read that populations are way down, so I don't know if they're common anymore in the lowcountry.
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CU Medallion [55389]
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Re: Eels
May 18, 2021, 8:00 PM
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I've eaten eel before, and it is rather good, and it taste just like cat fish, if you ask me, I couldn't tell a difference really!!!
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Heisman Winner [111526]
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I am pretty sure eels are extinct
May 18, 2021, 8:08 PM
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Just how old are you?
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Orange Blooded [2175]
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Re: I am pretty sure eels are extinct
May 18, 2021, 8:26 PM
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I was born in the late Pleistocene. I've never known the exact date, but you can use the interweb to get an idea of how long ago that was.
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Heisman Winner [111526]
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You must be really small then
May 18, 2021, 8:34 PM
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Oxygen levels plummeted during that epoch.
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Orange Blooded [2175]
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Re: You must be really small then
May 18, 2021, 8:39 PM
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I'm offended by this remark. Eel consumption is known to produce phenomenal growth and virility in the human male.
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Heisman Winner [111526]
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I have witnessed firsthand what they do to a woman's Libido.
May 18, 2021, 8:42 PM
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I gave my model girlfriend from Santa Monica some eel once and she went home with 2 other dudes.
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Orange Blooded [2175]
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Re: I have witnessed firsthand what they do to a woman's Libido.
May 18, 2021, 8:52 PM
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Wait...I thought you said they were extinct. Something is fishy here.
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Heisman Winner [111526]
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We are talking about the same animal, correct?
May 18, 2021, 11:42 PM
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Orange Blooded [2175]
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Re: We are talking about the same animal, correct?
May 19, 2021, 10:39 AM
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What you're showing there is the fat-bellied paddle eel. It is indeed extinct. The accepted theory is that this evolved into the modern eel, which has no limbs and is more or less the same diameter from snout to tail.
I still don't understand how you fed this to your girlfriend though.
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Legend [15526]
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110%er [6009]
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Re: Eels...
May 18, 2021, 8:30 PM
[ in reply to I am pretty sure eels are extinct ] |
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One of my older Brothers was running a small Motel in Labelle Florida a about a decade ago. It was right on the Caloosahatchee River. I would fly down and visit and I loved fishing that river. You never knew what you were going to catch. One night I got a bite and it was something big. When I brought it in it was a 6 foot American Eel. That thing was huge and very slimy. I had to look up what I had caught and it showed me it was an American Eel that could live up to 20 years. No I did not eat it. I set it free. It was big around as your forearm.
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Orange Blooded [2175]
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Re: Eels...
May 18, 2021, 8:34 PM
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A 6-footer would be something indeed. I'm guessing we never caught any longer than about 2-2.5 feet, and they were good fighters.
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110%er [5084]
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Have only caught the saltwater variety
May 18, 2021, 8:26 PM
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They will knot themselves up along with your line before you even have a chance to remove the hook. And they for sure are the slimiest of all water dwelling creatures.
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Orange Blooded [2175]
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Re: Have only caught the saltwater variety
May 18, 2021, 8:31 PM
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Exactly...freshwater ones are just as bad about doing that, and I imagine just as slimy.
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Legend [15526]
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Re: Have only caught the saltwater variety
May 19, 2021, 10:27 AM
[ in reply to Have only caught the saltwater variety ] |
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Spurrier is the slimiest of land creatures. He must be some sort of eel, too.
Message was edited by: Dugatiger®
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Orange Blooded [4150]
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Re: Eels
May 18, 2021, 8:40 PM
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We caught quite a few of the "slimy eels" in fish traps on the Lynches River when I was growing up in lower Florence County. We did not eat them but several folks in the area wanted the eels so we did not throw them back. Plenty of eels in the river in the 60s.
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CU Medallion [50774]
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My coot cousin who lived in Columbia and I went
May 18, 2021, 8:43 PM
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fishing in the Congaree near downtown Columbia and caught several catfish and were keeping them in a burlap sack ( search previous posts about tow sacks)which we kept hanging in the river to keep the fish alive. He caught a pretty good size eel and told me they are good to eat so he was going to keep him. You guys familiar with those creatures probably know where this is headed - a few minutes after he dropped him into the sack, we noticed that the bag was now floating weightlessly on the top of the water. The eel had eaten through the sack and all of our fish joined him in his return to freedom.
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110%er [5623]
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Re: Eels
May 18, 2021, 8:43 PM
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Funny you bring up Eels, I have a good episode coming up about Mollies and Eels. I would have enjoyed meeting and fishing with your Granddaddy. It is important to never forget our memories of our loved ones. It is also important to pass these stories on to younger generations lest they be forgotten.
I for one would enjoy hearing about more of your fishing trips with your Granddaddy!
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Orange Blooded [2175]
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Re: Eels
May 18, 2021, 8:47 PM
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Mollies! I forgot about them! Sure enough, what most people call a warmouth, he called a mollie. I assume that's what you're talking about?
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110%er [5623]
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Re: Eels
May 18, 2021, 9:11 PM
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Yep.
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All-In [25950]
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Re: Eels
May 18, 2021, 9:35 PM
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Once I was given a piece of fried fish on a sandbar fish fry. Tasted pretty good. When I finished, the guy that gave it to me came over and asked how I liked it. I told him I liked fried catfish. He informed that it was eel. I told him that I still liked it but catfish was more appealing. Purple, we call them mollies also. We have a lot of similar fishing history.
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Orange Blooded [2319]
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Re: Eels
May 18, 2021, 9:46 PM
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Which blackwater river were you fishing? My grandfather raised Catalpa worms and we fished in the Edisto River, usually near Jellico's. Catfish were kept and used in Catfish Stew.
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Replies: 22
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