livingart Posted April 26, 2009 Report Share Posted April 26, 2009 wet day today, no customers and a bit of free time so decided to see how many eels are in our stream raided the freezer and stole a lamb forequarter (told Caroline it had bad freezer burn) , tied a rope on it and popped it in one of the pools in the stream waited a 1/2hr and had about 30 smallish eels hanging off it and doing death rolls to tear off chunks so i tied it to a waratah (steel fence stake) left it for an hour and then came back to it when i got back the waratah was bent over at about a 30 degree angle and because of the rain the water was pretty murky, where the rope dissapeared into the water was a mass of writhing eel bodies that looked like medusas head with a bad lice infestation pulling on the rope took a fair bit of effort but as the forequarter emerged a coil of black anaconda rolled around in the boil up and the rope was pulled out of my hand a quick dash back to the office and i was armed with a large round whitebait scoop net and a helper while the helper slowly pulled on the rope i perched on the bank with net fully armed and ready part of a big black head emerged and about 4 feet behind a tail came out of the brown soup of water, so i plungd the net in behind the tail as the head released the meat and turned to go downstream lifting the net resulted in me flat on my back and one gumboot full of water with the net on top of me , a bit heavier than i thought it would be i folded the net over and attempted to scramble up the bank so nice little helper dragged me up by the scruff of my neck and i dragged the mud covered net we stood up and i flipped the net over and out slithered a large length of black drainage tube (best description i can come up with) onto the wet grass and headed back to the stream a mad scramble ensued till it was back in the net, and after another dash back to the office the drainage tube is now cruising in the eel pool the eels head is just on 10 inches long, body about 6 feet long and after consulting my helper weighs in excess of 20kgs it is now the queen of the eel pool we returned to the bait and have caught another 3, close but not as big as arnie the anaconda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbreeder Posted April 26, 2009 Report Share Posted April 26, 2009 wow i want one! my eel is only about 30 cms or soo. is tiny. what have you got THAT in? must be a swimming pool sized pond thing! geez you wouldnt want to meet that in the stream. ahhh. dont know if hubby would let me keep one that big he wants me to get rid of my little eel . but i had it for 10 years now. it was only 5cms when i got it. gotta do a water change on tuesday and get another filter as my filter broke. pity you cant send one my way. LOL can you put up a photo of you eel family? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbreeder Posted April 26, 2009 Report Share Posted April 26, 2009 bet the standard that is IMPRESSIVE strenght. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted April 26, 2009 Report Share Posted April 26, 2009 pics pics pics! i would like to see this big momma eel :lol: sounds like you had a right nice adventure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinkles Posted April 26, 2009 Report Share Posted April 26, 2009 yup pics are a must she sounds magnificent, never seen one that big I used to get funny looks taking my daughter to feed the eels at western springs, she loved it, beautiful animals Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted April 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2009 sorry guys didn't have time for pics will try over the next few days when it settles down will try and weigh it properly too eel pool is about 20,000 litres Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbreeder Posted April 26, 2009 Report Share Posted April 26, 2009 so like a swimming pool size?a large one? u not worried it will try and eat ur smaller ones? what do you feed eels that large? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted April 26, 2009 Report Share Posted April 26, 2009 so like a swimming pool size?a large one? u not worried it will try and eat ur smaller ones? what do you feed eels that large? You feed it whatever it wants to eat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nana Luke Posted April 26, 2009 Report Share Posted April 26, 2009 so like a swimming pool size?a large one? u not worried it will try and eat ur smaller ones? what do you feed eels that large? I'd feed it babies... yes babies.... the other, other white meat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted April 26, 2009 Report Share Posted April 26, 2009 I didn't know eels grew to that length Caper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted April 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2009 for your edification caper http://www.doc.govt.nz/conservation/nat ... facts/eel/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted April 26, 2009 Report Share Posted April 26, 2009 I caught a 16kg one as a kid on the east coast north of Gisborne. Didn't know at the time how bad the eel situation is It would've been about 20-25cm in diameter and 1.5m long. It was in a creek about a metre wide and quite shallow, I have found that is where you are most likely to find the biggest ones 8) I got it with a pitchfork 8) I remember playing paper scissors rock with my mate to see who had to stab it :lol: I now know not to take the really huge ones, as they are females. I know where 3 are on my parents property that are at least as big as the one I caught, but they are going to be left alone so they can have a chance to breed. They are all in creeks shallower than gumboots, that are very clear with a shingle bed. I have also seen some in Wairoa that would be similar sized, if not bigger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted April 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 one of the customers today is a keen hunter and eel fisher i had the water level down to try to clear the algae in the water i said i needed a photo to get a relative size of the big girl, so he said he would get in for me while i took the photo, he's about 6 foot 2 he then picked one up and said it's about 12kg i said thats not the one, so he looked some more and found her but couldn't hold her properly he estimates about 20kg and the biggest he has seen some of the others wanting a feed what has no legs and an arm my eel when its happy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbreeder Posted April 27, 2009 Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 i want one !!!!! wow, when will mine be that big???!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted April 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 i want one !!!!! wow, when will mine be that big???!!! probably about 60 years from now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supasi Posted April 27, 2009 Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 She must be really old. That is massive. Ive seen some big eels, but that one takes the cake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinkles Posted April 27, 2009 Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insect Direct Posted April 27, 2009 Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 thats amazing what a beast. going to breed them or ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted April 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 i think they have never been bred in captivity most of their breeding cycle is still a mystery Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insect Direct Posted April 27, 2009 Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 true im sure you can work it out theres an eel farm in Levin or atleast thats what i thought it was...they export/ed them i was lead to beleave ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaNs Posted April 27, 2009 Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 makes me want an eel again....got any albino ones? haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted April 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 not albino hans, but a yellow one is in the stream, haven't caught it yet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaNs Posted April 27, 2009 Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 Any tiny eels? Like finger lenght Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted April 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 yes the odd one about, plus heaps of galaxiads Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted April 27, 2009 Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 Monster!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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