Rigged Eels - A Series on Eel Rigging
Making a Rigging Needle
                      by Tim Surgent

It's certainly no secret that surf or jetty fishing with a rigged eel, whether it's rigged rubber eel, a real rigged eel rigged to an tin eel squid or a plain real rigged eel rigged with two belly hooks and no eel squid known as a "Rhody style rigged eel", they are deadly effective for taking LARGE striped bass! Striper fishing with rigged eels is one of the most effective striped bass fishing techniques in use. They are more verstile striper fishing lures than a live eel as you can fish them at any depth and speed the striped bass want you to. Rigged to a tin eels squid is the most popular local method, while Rhody style rigged eels are more popular everywhere north of NJ, especially Rhode Island and Massachusetts. We've put together the following few "How to make a rigged eel" pages to help take some of the mystery out of making a rigged eel.

Making an Eel Rigging Needle to Rig Your Own Eels:
Making your own eel rigging needle is so easy, you might as well make a couple of them.

You'll need:

• a wire coat hanger
• a drill and 1/8" drill bit
• a file
• a hammer.

Untwist the coat hanger, straighten it out and cut off a 12" piece. Flatten one end of it with the hammer, drill a hole in the flattened end. Sharpen the opposite end with the file. That's it, you made a rigging needle and are well on the way to making your first rigged eel! You can make them longer or shorter as needed, but 12" seems to be a good size for most of the eels I've ever rigged.