Eel line
An eel line is a passive fishing tackle that is mainly used to catch eel . It is a row fishing line consisting of a main line and 150 to 300 so-called mouth lines with hooks. The latter are usually 30 to 40 cm long and attached to the main line at intervals of two to three meters. In addition to earthworms, various small fish species serve as bait as live or dead bait fish, such as bleak , smelt , roach , perch or ruff .
Eel lines are mainly used to catch eel at night. The baiting and casting is usually done in the evening from the boat while sailing. The position and working depth of the eel line are specified with weights and floats that are attached to the main line. The eel line, which is unguarded during the night, is hauled in the following day.
In a five-year study carried out in the 1950s, the average catch weight per 100 hooks was 0.7 kilograms of eel. In contrast, the use of eel pupae with 2.9 kilograms of eel per 100 hooks was significantly more successful. Because of the relatively low yield and higher personnel expenditure, eel lines are used less often in professional fishing today. Catching with a hook also limits the animals' ability to keep them . Its use is restricted in various countries by general bans or the ban on the use of live bait fish. The use of eel lines is usually prohibited for sport and recreational fishermen and is considered unsporting because of the unsupervised fishing gear with which pike and other predatory fish are caught.
literature
- Horst Müller: The eels. Life cycle and economic importance of migratory fish between sea and fresh water. In: The New Brehm Library . A. Ziemsen, Wittenberg 1975, pp. 148-151.
- Valentin Friedrich Fischer: The new German angler. Instructions for fishing with a line in rivers and lakes. C. Schaumburg and Comp., Vienna 1813, p. 105f ( Google books ).
