The technique that David spoke of is the one which was shown to me by a
friends Grandfather many moons ago. The salt is used to preserve the skins.
A coarse salt like - Kosher Salt - seems to work best. Freezing does indeed
work well.
About this time of year was when we would go eeling. You would enter a tidal
river after dark on an incoming tide. The eels would be moving up the river
enmass to spend the winter in the mud of the connected ponds. We would use a
large gaff type of tool, which had several fish hooks soldered onto it. The
eels were mostly pretty large - 2 -4'. The guys that did it used to sell the
eels. The size was ideal for skins for plugs - a bit large for eelskins.
Later after the ponds froze we would go spearing the eels through the ice.
You could try it if your bored some night this fall or some day this winter.