How to Pose with an Eel

Since we first caught eels in our eels traps at Community Boating we have been trying to get some really good photos with the long, slippery fish. It's no easy task getting a photo of an eel where it's not just swimming around the touch tank. Countless explorers have tried, but every time they are holding the eel and ready for their close up, it wriggles out of their grasp and back into the water.

Yesterday at Community Boating, we had a group of campers from the Environmental Program who were fishing with us. We only caught one eel so we decided to bring it to the dock where we were fishing. While taking a break from fishing for sunfish, the explorers were having a friendly competition to see who could hold the eel for the longest time. Because the eel was so slimy, none of them could grasp it for very long, but it seemed like a good opportunity to try to get them to pose with the eel.

After a couple of tries, we have worked out that the best way to keep a good hold on the eel is to hold it gently behind the head with one hand and support the rest of its body with the other hand. Be sure not to squeeze it! We managed to get several great photos of campers holding the eel this way.

Hopefully we will catch a nice big eel soon so we can test out our method on a larger specimen.

See you on the river,
Sej