EEls, can ya eat em.

[Avenger]

Here's irony for you: I don't eat seafood. Love catching it, hate cleaning it, and if it was up to me I'd throw it all back. Okay... I'll eat shrimp, clam chowder (Manhattan, thank you) and tuna salad, but that's not really seafood.

Yes, I've tried it all, even escargot. (Just like chewing an eraser. My brain kept saying "You're eating a slug! You're eating a slug!" But I got it down.) Codfish should be called codboard, etc. So don't accuse me of missing anything here.

At a restaurant, a friend once asked if I wanted to try some of her Calamari. I told her "We use that for bait." After that, she couldn't finish her own dinner.

Now that we've established where I stand on seafood let me say this; I WON'T EVEN USE EELS FOR BAIT!!! I've tried and never caught squat with those miserable, nasty, slimy little bastards. Meanwhile I've had to throw out clothing, shoes and even rags because I couldn't get the f@#$ing eel snot off of them.

And let's not even talk about smoking them. Have you ever tried to light one of those things?

[jweb]

man you are missing out on a huge treat. Skin one of those baby's cut into 3-4" pieces, egg and flour,salt&pepper , and throw them into the fryer- delicious!!!! smoked is also great but may be alittle too oily for you of your finicky. Go for it! You only go around once!

[joeksr]

Originally Posted by Glenn W

skin & fillet the nasty bastards as best you can, soak them over night in sugar water in the frige, and smoke as cool as possible to a medium golden brown--- will be just like the smoked eel you get in a sushi house.

Thats what I was looking for. Love it in a shushi bar with a teriyaki glaze. havent gotten any more tho since the first batch. I'll keep trying.

By the way, Found this on the net somewhere.
Drop the eels in a bucket deep enough to keep em in.
Pour salt on em, ( i used bionic brine since i had some handy).
A good coating.
Give em an hour or two. They'll be dead and a quick rinse takes off any remaining slime. It Works.
Easiest way I've found of handling them.

[neilinov]

Originally Posted by joeksr

I find myself puting a trap over for killies ( OK minows if Your not from NY).
Not the point.
Im catchin eels. This is not a standard minnow trap, probably an eel trap. Baiting with crab. But, I have pulled a couple dozen bullhead minnows from it. The mesh size lets the little ones go.
Now, I'm gettin eels.
Found a site that said put em in something they can't get out of, pour salt one em, wait a while,They be dead.
It works. Very little slime to deal with. Quick rinse and it looks like meat.

Any suggestions on how to finish the job ?
Lookin to eat these buggers.
I love goin to a sushi bar and getin terriyaki eel.
Its like candy.

Joe:
The best way to eat them is to throw them on a circle hook and drift the inlet by the coast guard station on the incoming tide at dusk. Hook a striper and throw that bastard on the grill wrapped with tinfoil fresh tomatos, onions, peppers, limes, butter and cilantro.

[joeksr]

Originally Posted by neilinov

Joe:
The best way to eat them is to throw them on a circle hook and drift the inlet by the coast guard station on the incoming tide at dusk. Hook a striper and throw that bastard on the grill wrapped with tinfoil fresh tomatos, onions, peppers, limes, butter and cilantro.

Good plan but these guys might be a little big.
Heres a pic of one that just stopped in for next weeks dinner.
Gonna let him soak a while to get rid of whatever nasty
stuff hes been eatin.
Perspective. That trap is 16". He's got it by 3" easy.

[starrfish]

Originally Posted by BarryTurano

I have eaten them in the past. Now not so much. The one thing I do remember is after you skin and clean them, run your thumb along the back bone to remove any blood that is against the spine. If you don't they have a tendency to wiggle in the frying pan. My grandmother used to egg, flour and fry them. The meat was very white & sweet like winter flounder.

thats the ticket...when i was a kid we would chop hoes in the ice and use an eelspear to get`em out of the mud...
when skinning my grandfather would hang them on a nail by the head, make a cut cut behind the gills and peel the skin down towards the tail, clean up the bloodline, cut into 3 to 4" pieces, and fry`em up. !!

[joeksr]

Originally Posted by starrfish

thats the ticket...when i was a kid we would chop hoes in the ice and use an eelspear to get`em out of the mud...
when skinning my grandfather would hang them on a nail by the head, make a cut cut behind the gills and peel the skin down towards the tail, clean up the bloodline, cut into 3 to 4" pieces, and fry`em up. !!

Yall had hoes in the ice ?

[clt_capt]

Originally Posted by joeksr

Yall had hoes in the ice ?

I think he said he was sticking eel spears in the hoes...

[joeksr]

Originally Posted by clt_capt

I think he said he was sticking eel spears in the hoes...

OUCH

[HOLWACHAGOT]

Originally Posted by joeksr

Good plan but these guys might be a little big.
Heres a pic of one that just stopped in for next weeks dinner.
Gonna let him soak a while to get rid of whatever nasty
stuff hes been eatin.
Perspective. That trap is 16". He's got it by 3" easy.

Not a chance...If you trapped it...a cow can eat it.

Eel is delicious fried. Nail head to tree. Pull skin off. Cut in chunks, batter, float in hot grease.

Holwachagot