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Figure 111. Finished rigged eel with two hooks. The final step is to provide a bridle. Take about 4 or 5 in. of thin, flexible brass wire and run one end into the eel's mouth and out the gill opening on one side. Pull more wire out this opening, run it over the top of the eel's head, push the end through the gill opening on the opposite side of the head, force it out through the eel's mouth, and tie the two ends of wire protruding from the eel's mouth around the loop of line several times. See Fig. 112. You can also use fishing line instead of wire to make a bridle. Figure 112. Tying a bridle on a rigged eel's head. The eel can be used as it is with the fishing line attached to the loop protruding from its mouth. Or you can attach a barrel swivel to this loop, since the eel has a tendency to spin if reeled fast. Some anglers also tie some line around the body of the eel where the hooks emerge, to reinforce it. You can also tie some around the eel's mouth to close it tightly so no water can enter. Instead of using fishing line or cord to rig an eel, many anglers like to use a brass chain such as the type used for windows. The chain is very strong and is preferred when there are bluefish around. These sharp-toothed fish will bite through ordinary line or cord, but the chain holds them. And, of course, chain doesn't rot or weaken like cord or line.
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