reccomendations?

[steve]

i fancy going conger fishing where i normally go for bass and i think there will be conger there. wot do you reccomend i use (tackle and bait) to catch them?

[Fishing Forum Admin]

What kind of ground are you fishing a;so shore or boat mate

[Simon TorbayFishing]

If it's shore you need to work out where the rocks are and have the conger been sighted recently?

You need to drop the bait as close to the holes they live in as possible. For example on Brixham Breakwater you only cast out 5 yards (in other words you drop the bait just past the rocks which run all along the breakwater.

Because of the teeth on conger you need either a metal trace or a 100lb+ trace. The hook should be around a size 8/0 to 10/0. The hooks you buy must be ones that will rust away quickly. If you hook a conger but it's too big for you to land you'll need to cut the line so you won't want the hook to remain inside the conger for months on end.

Best baits are mackerel flappers, mackerel fillets and whole squids.

Your main problem is once the conger realise they are hooked they will attempt to go back into the hole or the nearest rocks to try and snag you while it works free.

A conger bite can be quite distinctive. Quite often you'll see 3 tugs as it attempts to eat the bait. Get ready to strike quickly because it will very soon head back to the rocks. Because they can swim as fast backwards as they can forwards be prepared for a long battle keeping it away from snags.

They also tend to feed much more at night so this is probably the best time to try.

Hope that helps.

[devondave]

chuck a whole cuttle fish down there!

oh and also a good bait for conger (but not many ppl use it) is mullet.
martin larkin who holds the british record catches all his eels on mullet not sure if he uses them whole or flapper style or what but i know he uses mullet.

and like simon said they can swim just as fast backwards as they can forwards so once u strike into that fish winch like hell to get him up out of the way of snags

[steve]

cheers for that. yeah i know where the conger are, simply because iv seen them caught befor. there is a pier type structure where the tide goes through tunnels and through a bridge into a pool. i will try for them tommorow. would it be best fishing for them at high tide?

[Simon TorbayFishing]

Personally I think the time is more important than the tide. They tend to stay in the same places and those places will always have water over them. They feed more at night so I'd get down there around dusk and see what happens.

[steve]

cheers mate. i will go down there in the evening, but the thing is this spot almost has no water at low tide, and high tide seems to be the only time iv seen catches

[John Marshall]

From the boat 4/0 reel 30lb rod or 30/50lb, heavy mono trace 150-200lb, 8/0 hook,
Bait, mackeral cut into kebabs and pushed up the trace, squid on the hook, Pout also
work well.

[Old Smoothound]

Garfish are a good bait, again Kebab style topped off with Squid head.

Cheers
Shaun
Old Smoothy Garr/Tuna

[devondave]

i dont know if its the same for the shore as for the boat but they pick the slackest tide possible (neaps)for the best boat fishing conger trips

but like i say i dont know if thats the same from shore