Eel drifting in Indian River Inlet

[Olivia123]

Hi, a friend of mine bought a 18' Sea Pro this year we use for crabbing and we were thinking of trying the Inlet this Fall drifting for Stripers.
We know that spot work great there when available, and also eels but were not sure of the best way to rig the eels. I figure that using a fish finder rig with 3' of 30# flourocarbor leader is the way to go. Tommy says a 3 way dropper rig would work better, but I think this would be too easy for the eel to wrap itself around and foul the rig.
Also when drifting what weights do you most use?
Do you hook the eels through 1 lip or 2? Some go through the eye sockets but I heard this will kill the eel quick.
Thanks for any help![smile]

[gotboost]

Welcome aboard,the fish finder rig works better in IR then the 3 way dropper,the dropper will get snagged more offen,as far as weight use the lightest you can to get to the bottom,somedays it's 1-2 oz others days it may take 6-8 oz,the eel will head for the bottom on it's own,hook the eel up from the bottom lip out the top lip,or up though the bottom lip and out though one eye socket,the only way you will kill the eel is if you go to deep into it head like the very back of the socket,most guys try to slow there eels down bye keeping them on ice,I perfer to keep mine as lively as they can be,yeah it's a little harder to catch,hold and hook em but they seem to get to the bottom with less weight,to check your eel hold the rod high with eel out of the water if his tail curls up he's fine,on a side note spot will out fish eels in the early season,hook them right though the eyes in one and out the other staying towards the very front of the socket,fish the same way up on the shoals of the DE bay from the 8's,overfalls and prissy wick,the valley is also a real good bet just a short run out of IR,good luck...

[Olivia123]

Thanks for the info, gotboost. I have had the pleasure of fishing the 8's and other areas of the Del. Bay on a friends bigger boat and have had good succes in those areas striper fishing.
Was just hopeing to get some tips about drifting the inlet on a smaller boat.
With the weather cooling I think our last big crab shot will be this weekend somewhere in the Choptank River area, then hopefully will be soon till the striper run![wink]