Eel river fishing on Ringkøbing Fjord

Eel fishing - or 'dragging eels' - had its heyday on Ringkøbing Fjord in the latter half of the 1890s and up to the early 1920s. The sanding of the outlet at Nymindegab in the late 1800s had given the eel new and good growing conditions in the fjord. The eel catch in the fjord began to clearly exceed the ordinary sea fishing that would have taken place if the outlet had been free.

It became very advantageous to catch eels in these years, as fishermen could get a high price for the eels - at the same time they could sail on the calmer waters of Ringkøbing Fjord. Sea fishing was therefore shelved for a while.

The eel river fishing was so popular that fishermen came from the nearby fjords to get their share of the fat eels - as far away as Harboøre. There is no official record of the number of eel drifters during this period. However, it is thought that there were around 120 active eel drifters on Ringkøbing Fjord in the early 1900s.

Fishing was done at night. The eel drifters set sails and could thus drift sideways with their seine nets, although gradually most boats were given engines. When the boat drifted across the wind, it dragged the seine across the fjord floor. The boat drifted sideways to get the greatest possible distance between the 'arms' of the seine. The tow lines of the seine were attached to the boat's jib boom and a boom rigged aft.

The driftwood did not scrape the bottom, but slid across the eel grass where the eels were staying. It was a very effective way of catching eels, and the great interest in eel fishing intensified the competition, so that there was almost a race when the night's fishing was over. Everyone had to hurry to the auction house in Ringkøbing - the first to arrive usually got the best prices.

Eel fishing with seine nets was not only popular, it was also so effective that the eels and the eelgrass in which they lived almost disappeared in Ringkøbing Fjord. Fishing with drift nets was therefore banned, and soon the eel drift nets also disappeared from Ringkøbing Fjord.