hooking/presenting sandeel

hi lads,im just wondering what way ye present hook frozen sandeel.any tips,etc.and also,what floats would ye use,whe float fhsihing,around rocks,where it can be a bit rough at times.

hey Peter,
there are a number of ways of hooking a sandeel, my own favourite way is to first cut the head and tail off, this stops any access spinning in the water that leads to tangles. now take the hook, and push it through the cut tail section. aim for the hook tp pass through the fleshy back rather than the softer white belly. i just push the eel arounf the bend of the hook, pop it out, pull the shank and eye of the hook through the eel, now repeat the exactly the same further down the body two more times but keep the hook in the back the bait won't split. now lash on with plenty of bait elastic, and chuck it int othe briney for the crabs to have a free meal. if you find that the bait bursts doing it, then keep practising! if it still keeps happening the sandeel quality is probably shite, so stop buying it off your local shop! another tip is keep the eels in a cooler bag til you need them, they will remain frozen, simple take one out, bend it gently in your hands to soften it slightly, and slide th hook in....also you can buy a baiting needle....the instructions are on the back!

Patrick

there is a good article about this in "sea angler"

I prefer to leave the eel intact and slide it up the hook head first as far as I can get it without bursting it. I then finish with a small piece of thread if necessary, but if it is sitting nice and I am only lobbing it out I dont use any thread. I tend to use a minimum of a 1\0 hook and usually 2\0.

lads lads lads ......the easiest and neatest way is to only hook it oonce between the eyes and then reverse it and lash the rest on with shirring elastic ..easy , and neat ..
if you wanna do all sewing and knitting with hooks and line great but dont say i didnt tell yeas all ....of unless your spinning then err read sea anler this month for some neat tricks..or just use fresh ...

Mr. Blaster sir, you have me lost there, 'hook it oonce between the eyes and then reverse it and lash the rest on with shirring elastic ..easy , and neat .. '
what do you mean reverse it? you mean just lash the eel to the shank of the hook without entering the eel?

frodo me ol' mucker ..you have it exactly ...there is no need to put the hook through the fleshy part of monsieur sandeel only through both eyes so that it would dangle down then flip it up and lash it on ...hey presto.... very streamline if you like to blast it out and eyes neearest the point ...

try it .....(pst dont tell anyone but it works with squid strip and if you have skinny lug you can lash 2 together ,,,shirring elsastic one of the match anglers biggest secrets ...oh and if you use frozen lug ...shirr that on too ....

I do it a bit different. I use a sort of pennell arrangement. Instead of having a hook free-running on the line (the top hook, as it were) I use a 2 inch prawn pin. I run the 'lower' hook through the sandeel's eyes and pull enough line through to wrap twice around the sandeel, then put the hook through the root of the tail.

If I'm putting on lug or squid etc I'll lie it alongside the sandeel. I then put the prawn pin in through the sandeel's mouth and whip the whole lot together with loads of shirring elastic.

That way, I get a nice straight streamlined bait using one hook (for conservation purposes) which is protruding nicely at the sandeel's tail - makes it very easy to clip down if so desired. It stands up well to hard casting thanks to the prawn pin.

All I need now is for the fish to play ball......