essexman
Regular
Joined: Oct 16, 2005
Posts: 304
Location: clacton on sea essex
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 Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 9:26 am Post subject: Sand Eels |
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Sand eels are supposedly one of the best baits for tempting rays from the shore and also a good bait for dogfish. sand eels can be used as a bait on its own, in a cocktail with squid, as a tipping bait and used for spinning when targeting bass and Pollack.Sand eels are small eel-like fish, which swim in large shoals. They are an abundant and important food chain component in the North Atlantic. They also support the largest fishery in the North Sea; Ammodytes marinus is the most abundant and comprises over 90% of sand eel fishery catches. Sand eels have a close association with sandy bottoms, which they burrow in to. They are comparatively short-lived with a life span of less than 10 years. They settle after their plank tonic phase, at around 4-5 cm length, and may reach 5-10 cm length within three months of hatching. Sand eels off the Firth of Forth are relatively slow growing compared to those in other fished areas. Whilst a significant proportion of sand eels from other areas are likely to spawn at age one, many of those from the Firth of Forth do not spawn until age three. Shetland sand eels also tend to be slower growing, although they generally grow faster than Firth of Forth sand eels. During the active feeding season (April-September) the common sand eel tends to emerge during daylight hours to forage close to their burrows. Their main prey is plank tonic, but will include fish larvae. Large sand eels may also take worms. Sand eel can often be the make-or-break bait for the angler during a trip and can entice fish to feed when other baits are totally ignored. Whole small or medium sand eels are most effective for rays, Huss, whiting, turbot, Brills, dogfish, Pollack and bass in clear water.There are various ways of presentation, but most effective is to use a thin baiting needle passed through the tail to the head. For drift fishing aboard a boat and for shore bass fishing, have the hook positioned towards the tail so that the sand eel looks more natural. For fishing a sand eel as a dead bait and static ledgered, then the hook is better placed towards the head. Some anglers prefer to just pass the hook through the head once, but this can result in missed bites. For casting, a few wraps of thin elastic bait thread around the body helps secure the bait and maintain good presentation.
Sand eel have plenty of scent and is good bottom fishing bait. To get the best out of it cut the backbone out of a whole sand eel but leave the fillets attached to the head to create a flapper presentation. Slide the hook through the mouth and out through the gullet between fillets and slide the flapper above the hook on to the trace. With the baiting needle, slide on another whole sand eel head first making sure the hook leaves the body just below the mid belly area. Slide the flapper sand eel down over the one on the hook and bind them together with elastic thread. This looks like a whole sand eel, but gives maximum scent from the cut fillets. This is especially good for rays, Huss and dogfish.
Sand eel can also be used as a whole fillet for smaller species like whiting, dabs, and makes a good bait to tip worm off with to target bigger whiting amongst the passing shoal and larger than average dabs. A flapper sand eel over a king rag bait, called a “Rocket bait”, is a top competition bait for shore dogfish. |
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