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November 11, 1999 - Eels and quid and shrimp, oh my!4A • The Suffolk Times • November 11, 1999 Eels and squid a oh my! My son and I went firelighting the other night. It's the ancient art of using a light source to see fish, eels and crabs that come out and roam the creek bot- toms at night. Then with net or spear, it's your job to scoop the crab or spear the eel. Years ago, when I was first introduced to firelighting, we used spears that were made at Petty's Black- smith Shop in Southold. At the same time I'm sure an equal number of eel spears were made at Paul the black- smith's in Greenport. Now that was a real art, being able to forge eel spears out of rough iron. They were made in two distinct styles: one with straight prongs about six or eight inches long used for spearing eels on sand, and the other with a Focus large barb that hooked into the ON eel when the spear was thrust NATURE down and then by Paul drawn back. We Stoutenburgh called it a mud spear. Both were attached to long wooden poles 12 or more feet in length. The mud spear was usually used in the winter for blind spearing through the ice during the day. The hope was that by continually probing in the mud, you'd sooner or later hit an eel. When you felt resistance from the eel, you pulled back sharply, which pinned the eel on the large barb of the spear. When the eel is brought up through the hole in the ice, it's not too frisky, for it has been hibernating in near - freezing water and mud. By the way, one thing you have to keep your eye on are the marauding gulls. They are always look- ing for a free meal and will snatch your prize eel off the ice right in front of you if you don't watch out. Of course, we were not using mud spears, for hopefully all our eels would be within sight. We would be using a new version of the sand spear designed so that the prongs could be removed or replaced if they became dull or broken. This often happens when you hit a rock JUIIUIK IIIIIC, fn 1UlU Uy r aui ­U­1 —W' The mantis shrimp seldom is seen during daylight hours. It is a creature of the night that roams the muddy bottoms of our creeks and bays. It gets its name from its similarity to the praying mantis we commonly come across In our gardens. Its size is six inches or more. or, worse yet, when you mistake an old piece of pipe for the "super big" eel. We also graduated from the old hissing gas lights that always needed to be pumped up, to electric lights using a car battery. Our latest adventure involved using an old but very light aluminum boat that we put in the back of the pickup with little trouble. I was a bit leery about using it, for rivets often leak, so I took special precaution and brought along extra bailers, just in case. And would you believe it, when we launched the boat there were two rivets missing com- pletely. We had water spouts fore and aft. It was a good thing we had an old piece of wood that we could whittle plugs out of to stop the geysers. Even at that, it still leaked and kept us busy bail- ing throughout the night. Eels' escape attempts We also brought along a tall garbage pail, for eels have a habit of jumping out of an ordinary pail. There's nothing worse than having four or five slippery eels sliding around under your feet as you are trying to stand up in a boat, and by the way, have you ever tried to pick up a slippery eel and put it back in the bucket? I guarantee you it's a chal- Seminar Schedule (tentative) Fall 1999 P.O. Box 1447 Club MetLife 750 Pacific St., Mattituck, NY 11952 (516) 298 -1382 'Presented by persons who are not employed by or affiliated with MetLife. Each is solely responsible for the content of his or her presentalion. Neither MetLife nor any of its agents provide tax, legal or accounting advice i1 WILDLIFE RESOURCES QUALITY BIRD SEED at WAREHOUSE PRICES AVAILABLE NOW!! 734 -2096 Pre -Grand Opening Cox La. & Oregon Rd., Cutchogue Hours are Sat. & Sun. 10 - 4 lenge. Oh, and of course, don't forget the lid of the garbage pail. It helps in getting the eels off the spear when you bring them in. Once we were loaded in the pickup we headed for one of the many creeks that always seem to yield eels at this time of the year. It is my belief that the last part of October is best for eeling. The cool weather has chilled the water so that eels are moving from the deep water into the creeks to winter over in the mud. By now, they've built up rib- bons of white fat inside them to see them through their long winter's sleep. The key ingredients for a successful firelighting trip are tide, wind and water clarity. If any one of these elements isn't just right, it can ruin your evening. If the tide's too high, you can't see the bottom and if you could the spear thrust would be too deep. If the wind is blowing, ripples obscure your vision, making it almost impossible to see your target. And if the water is cloudy, forget it, you can't see anything so you might as well go home. Everything has to be just right. Luck was with us and we had good eeling. My son Roger stood in the bow and reminded me of a whaler with his harpoon ready to be thrown. He's very good and I figure he misses about one every six or so tries. The nice part about our eeling is he keeps me informed as to other things that are going on. For instance, he'll show me white perch that frequent our creeks during this time of the year. He speared two for dinner. They were about three quarters of a pound each and I must say they were delicious. When I was cleaning them, I found one was a male that was loaded with a whitish material called milk, the other was a female and she was full of roe. White perch have long sharp spines running along their back and their scales are heavy like porgies. They are sort of silvery in color and have a rather small mouth for the size of the fish. They're very fast swimmers. What really caught our eyes was a small school of six or eight squid. Through the clear water, they looked almost like extraterrestrial bodies mov- ing through space. They moved in uni- son, their long, slightly reddish, pointed bodies and rippling appendages along their sides helping to give them their propulsion. It was a wonderful sight to see, almost like some television ,nature program you might pick up on Channel 13. They swam parallel to the boat and we could have easily speared them but saw no rea- son, so we left them alone. Another interesting creature that we have been seeing in our creeks is the mantis shrimp. They are well named for they have that praying man- tis shape about them. You know how the praying mantis holds its front feet tucked under itself and has those big protruding eyes. That's just the way this mantis shrimp looks. Sometimes we'd see them in the entrance of their holes. Other times we'd catch them foraging away from their den. They come in all sizes, from a few inches to six or more inches in length. Every once in a while we'd see striped bass, which reminded me of years ago (maybe 40 or more) when I was eeling with Bill Jackowski out in the bay and speared an 11 3/4 -pound weakfish. What a lucky shot! But those days are long gone. I guess stripers have taken their place. We often see small bluefish or snappers earlier in the season but by now they have all moved out. I guess they have headed south to warmer waters. Remember, fish migrate just as birds do. I don't know which leaves our creeks first, the snappers or the baby bunkers. I caught snappers right up to Oct. 26 and bunkers were still in the creek then. I believe the snappers feed off the bunkers and when the bunkers go, they follow. That disappearance is also true for our osprey that's been feeding in our creeks. So you see, when the food supply leaves, the predators leave, too. �— Mon., Nov. 22,10:30 a.m. Investment Techniques ClubMetLife'' for Seniors r ; Philip Schertz, regional vice president, New England Funds Club MetLife seminars are designed for seniors. Each session begins �`. at 10:30 a.m. and runs for Every Thursday ! ' 10.11'30 a.m. approximately one hour. Prior to the seminars, attendees may have break- Southold Town l 1 Healing Circle* w fast for Sl at the Human Resourct Center, which is Pamela Shenk reiki master adjacent to the Club MetLife Building. The meal is served from f president, Holistic Options 9:15 to 10:15 a.m. P.O. Box 1447 Club MetLife 750 Pacific St., Mattituck, NY 11952 (516) 298 -1382 'Presented by persons who are not employed by or affiliated with MetLife. Each is solely responsible for the content of his or her presentalion. Neither MetLife nor any of its agents provide tax, legal or accounting advice i1 WILDLIFE RESOURCES QUALITY BIRD SEED at WAREHOUSE PRICES AVAILABLE NOW!! 734 -2096 Pre -Grand Opening Cox La. & Oregon Rd., Cutchogue Hours are Sat. & Sun. 10 - 4 lenge. Oh, and of course, don't forget the lid of the garbage pail. It helps in getting the eels off the spear when you bring them in. Once we were loaded in the pickup we headed for one of the many creeks that always seem to yield eels at this time of the year. It is my belief that the last part of October is best for eeling. The cool weather has chilled the water so that eels are moving from the deep water into the creeks to winter over in the mud. By now, they've built up rib- bons of white fat inside them to see them through their long winter's sleep. The key ingredients for a successful firelighting trip are tide, wind and water clarity. If any one of these elements isn't just right, it can ruin your evening. If the tide's too high, you can't see the bottom and if you could the spear thrust would be too deep. If the wind is blowing, ripples obscure your vision, making it almost impossible to see your target. And if the water is cloudy, forget it, you can't see anything so you might as well go home. Everything has to be just right. Luck was with us and we had good eeling. My son Roger stood in the bow and reminded me of a whaler with his harpoon ready to be thrown. He's very good and I figure he misses about one every six or so tries. The nice part about our eeling is he keeps me informed as to other things that are going on. For instance, he'll show me white perch that frequent our creeks during this time of the year. He speared two for dinner. They were about three quarters of a pound each and I must say they were delicious. When I was cleaning them, I found one was a male that was loaded with a whitish material called milk, the other was a female and she was full of roe. White perch have long sharp spines running along their back and their scales are heavy like porgies. They are sort of silvery in color and have a rather small mouth for the size of the fish. They're very fast swimmers. What really caught our eyes was a small school of six or eight squid. Through the clear water, they looked almost like extraterrestrial bodies mov- ing through space. They moved in uni- son, their long, slightly reddish, pointed bodies and rippling appendages along their sides helping to give them their propulsion. It was a wonderful sight to see, almost like some television ,nature program you might pick up on Channel 13. They swam parallel to the boat and we could have easily speared them but saw no rea- son, so we left them alone. Another interesting creature that we have been seeing in our creeks is the mantis shrimp. They are well named for they have that praying man- tis shape about them. You know how the praying mantis holds its front feet tucked under itself and has those big protruding eyes. That's just the way this mantis shrimp looks. Sometimes we'd see them in the entrance of their holes. Other times we'd catch them foraging away from their den. They come in all sizes, from a few inches to six or more inches in length. Every once in a while we'd see striped bass, which reminded me of years ago (maybe 40 or more) when I was eeling with Bill Jackowski out in the bay and speared an 11 3/4 -pound weakfish. What a lucky shot! But those days are long gone. I guess stripers have taken their place. We often see small bluefish or snappers earlier in the season but by now they have all moved out. I guess they have headed south to warmer waters. Remember, fish migrate just as birds do. I don't know which leaves our creeks first, the snappers or the baby bunkers. I caught snappers right up to Oct. 26 and bunkers were still in the creek then. I believe the snappers feed off the bunkers and when the bunkers go, they follow. That disappearance is also true for our osprey that's been feeding in our creeks. So you see, when the food supply leaves, the predators leave, too.