Fished off the coast of Maine, maybe

EELED

This slippery catch might be found in rivers too, and it’s often smoked or jellied in culinary traditions.

This clue plays on the double meaning of "eeled." Off the coast of Maine, you might catch eels, so "eeled" literally means fished for eels. But it also sounds like "heeled," hinting at the past tense of "heel," though that’s a red herring—the answer is the fishing term. The wordplay relies on the homophone trick, where "eeled" fits both the literal fishing context and the misleading soundalike. Maine’s coastal waters are known for eel fishing, making it a clever but fair misdirection.