Glatting

[mackem 23,799]

20 minutes ago, jukel123 said:

I've never seen the numbers of a species collapse as quickly as eels. They used to be in every waterway. I believe they are now so rare that smuggling elvers into the far East, where it is a delicacy ,is more lucrative than drugs.

 

[South hams hunter 8,837]

32 minutes ago, jukel123 said:

Rayballing?

I've never seen the numbers of a species collapse as quickly as eels. They used to be in every waterway. I believe they are now so rare that smuggling elvers into the far East, where it is a delicacy ,is more lucrative than drugs.

A friend of mine used to fish commercially for eels. He used to thread worms with wool and plonk them over the side of his boat. The eels would swallow the worms and he would pull them into the boat. I think he called it 'blebbing'.

Thousands of the shitty little ones like the video down here; they're a bustard nuisance 

[mackem 23,799]

18 minutes ago, mackem said:

 

Man found guilty of smuggling £50m worth of live eels out of UK | UK news | The Guardian

AMP-THEGUARDIAN-COM.CDN.AMPPROJECT.ORG

 

[jukel123 6,570]

18 minutes ago, mackem said:

 

Its ironic really. Smuggling is actually keeping the species alive. OK they are not living in the wild, but there is still a healthy population to draw on for future conservation projects.

[Timmy H 195]

8 hours ago, South hams hunter said:

What's rayballing?

 

Thread lobworms onto a long length of wool, tie it into a ball and tie on a line attached to a pole. Dangle the lot in the river, usually close to a willow. Eels chew on the worms and catch their teeth in the fibres, then you can lift them up and shake them into a tin bath tethered to the bank.

Lobworms were called "rays" down here, hence rayballing.

[Timmy H 195]

3 hours ago, jukel123 said:

Rayballing?

I've never seen the numbers of a species collapse as quickly as eels. They used to be in every waterway. I believe they are now so rare that smuggling elvers into the far East, where it is a delicacy ,is more lucrative than drugs.

A friend of mine used to fish commercially for eels. He used to thread worms with wool and plonk them over the side of his boat. The eels would swallow the worms and he would pull them into the boat. I think he called it 'blebbing'.

Elvering used to be good money, most went abroad for restocking, Russia used to take loads. Overfishing, pollution and changes in the gulf stream didn't help, trapping of adult eels made it worse. When I finished I was getting £300 per kilo but with so many nets out the catch was weighed in grammes unless you were really lucky. I did have one catch of 17kg in my last season, not bad for 2 hours work cash in hand.

Now it's regulated and taxed, penalties are quite high for illegal fishing and it's difficult to get a licence.

[terryd 8,044]

Mate in work used to do elevering and stick in tank for collecting and made very good money in short time. Was about 10 15 years ago

[Greyman 25,266]

4 hours ago, jukel123 said:

Rayballing?

I've never seen the numbers of a species collapse as quickly as eels. They used to be in every waterway. I believe they are now so rare that smuggling elvers into the far East, where it is a delicacy ,is more lucrative than drugs.

A friend of mine used to fish commercially for eels. He used to thread worms with wool and plonk them over the side of his boat. The eels would swallow the worms and he would pull them into the boat. I think he called it 'blebbing'.

I still catch plenty

[Daniel cain 42,889]

38 minutes ago, Greyman said:

I still catch plenty

I used to drop one of those traps in to my swim before a session on the Wye ,always seemed to get plagued by green eels start of the season.... biggest I've hadout the traoy was just shy of 5 lb,

[forest of dean redneck 11,190]

Do many still  do the elvers on the Severn? 

[Timmy H 195]

1 hour ago, forest of dean redneck said:

Do many still  do the elvers on the Severn? 

Not so many now, licence numbers are getting lower and being taxed put a lot of people off, especially those on benefits.

There isn't the money in it now especially as part of your catch is taken for restocking. Something needed to be done though, eels nearly got wiped out.

I can remember when there was so many elvers in the river that after we ate what we wanted the rest were given to the fowls, bucketfuls were dug into the veg patch as fertiliser. When I started elvering properly in the late 70s we regularly caught 1cwt or more each night. I once earned £1000 in a week when they were only £2.50 per kilo. That was a lot when my wages in work were £50 a week.