Looking for Congers around Cork...

Hi
during the last month i decided to try fishing for congers and after looking for info on the web (this site included) i went out several times: i tried mainly in Ballycotton (at the beginning of the breakwater) and Ringaskiddy Deep Quay (under the bridges to Haulbowline Island), always after the dark and with different sea conditions (calm, running, low water, high water), with a running leger as rig and fresh mackerels (fillet, chunks, heads) as bait... results: lots of tackles lost (started making my own traces) and just dogfishes in Ballycotton, no signs of congers at all.

I think i do everything in the correct way but i also read that congers are everywhere all over the year, according to some articles it seems one of the easiest to find fish...is this correct? Is there anybody who had congers from those locations in the last period? Is it worth trying again in those places (now i'm planning to go also to Cobh&Monkstown) in the next months?

...blanking is not a problem, i'll keep trying the same but i'd just like to know if maybe i'm loosing lots of hooks and weights in the wrong locations.... :( !

I know i'm asking a lot and maybe what i'm asking needs more than a simple post, but if somebody could give even a small suggestion to put me on the correct direction i'd really appreciate!

Hi Davide ,the way we fish for conger up here is to drop our baits down the side of the pier or into gaps between the boulders protecting the pier . I would use a trace approx 18" long of heavy mono and tie a 2oz lead onto the top eye of the swivel using a weak link ( line weaker than your main line) a couple of inches long ,this cuts down on the amount of tackle lost as your only using a hook,swivel and weight ,you will lose gear conger fishing but that just comes with the type of ground being fished .
what breaking strain of main line are you using ? personally I'd go for at least 30lb but 40lb is better for a beach caster ,and 80lb on my boat rod set-up for fishing the really rough stuff were you have to really haul fish out from between boulders .
I hope this of some help .

Ringaskiddy Deep Quay (under the bridges to Haulbowline Island),

That's not technically the deep water quay :) and I wouldn't have thought much of a conger mark. You need to try back at the deepwater quay itself (think it's the first turn as you come into ringaskiddy. Not sure what the story is with fishing it is at the moment as not sure if its allowed. I haven't been there for ages, but theres a gate to go through and you'll see all the loading cranes etc and thats the right spot. Had plenty of whiting, coalies and doggies from there, but only fished it a couple of times.
Seen plenty of congers caught (possibly the same ones??) at Ballycotton in the past, so keep at it.

I will get some stick for this as I'm anti conger, but on the wall just by the tunnel and off the pier slip end with mack flappers at night................. bring a boat rod.

Hi

thanks a lot to everybody, i hope one day to be able to give suggestions and not only asking... :) !

On the reel i have a 20 lbs line with few meters of 50 lbs shock leader, i then use a 4-6 oz weight and about 12 inch of wire...the rod is a 12 ft beachcaster, not the cheapest but nearly...i'm just trying to get enough experience to buy something better but at the moment i feel like i don't deserve it... :? ! ...surely i'll start using weak links, also because for what i see you don't really need to cast for this kind of fishing.

I had kind of the suspect i wasn't in the actual Ringaskiddy deep water quay...i saw people only spinning there, just thought that maybe the pilasters could be a good spot...but i'll try to reach the real deepw quay! Talking about Ballycotton, does anybody know when will the works be over? I read that another good spot could be off from the wall which at the moment (i'd say since one year) is closed.

I also tried without success to locate a place called "Congers hole" in Kinsale (yes, i fancy the name :lol: hoping it's not just a legend....) but i don't know that zone very well, i've been in the town just a couple of times not for fishing but to eat fish (fantastic restaurants!)... has anybody been fishing there?

Billy your page about marks is very good, i'll give them a go...trying to have something good to report on!

The best spot in Monkstown for Conger is from "The Cut n Cover" itself but if you live in Midleton you are almost passing a much better mark for much bigger congers from or near the marina in Marlogue :wink:

Jim

u should try cobh seen a lot of them caught abt this time last year.

I don't think you're allowed to fish on the Marina, but a good spot is off the rocks on the southern edge of the marina. Its difficult to get to. You need to park your car before the marina, cut across the field, through the walkway in Marlogue wood for about 200yds and make your way down the steep wooded bank. Not easy. However, it may be worth it. I've had conger to 36lbs from this spot (but I fished it from a boat). Another spot worth trying is the Deep Water Quay (the station) at Cobh. Between the 2cnd & 3rd bollard from the western end, or just in front of the tug at the eastern end. Short cast or straight down. Good luck!

Thanks for all the details, i'd say i'll start from the deep water quay... unfortunately i just discovered i'm away all the next week for work and i also can't do next 2 nights, but the 1st time i'm out again it will be there!

davide, im originally from midleton and used to do a bit of conger bashing in my past.

i recently fished ballycotton off the breakwater as the main pier is under repair. i had congers from the start of the breakwater, just where the walkway is at its widest. try dropping straight down over the side, preferably with a strong short rod ( i use an uptide rod) i find the best way to minimise tackle losses it to set up as ronald says but keep your rod in your hands at all times and try gently tipping the lead off the bottom (lifting no more than a few inchs at a time) this allows you to react instantly to an snags and allows your bait to wave about a bit more enticingly.

hope this helps, perseverence is the key, once you have it cracked the problem will be keeping the feckers away :lol: :lol:

If you stand on the wall in Monkstown, and look down to your right, you will see a small quay near the tunnel, fish here on a dropping tide, use a running ledger about 2 feet long of 80-100lb mono ending with a 6/0 chemically sharpened hook like a Kamasan b940, use a whole fillet taken from a side of mackerel or herring hooked through the narrow end.
Cast 30/40 yards downtide towards the tunnel mouth in line with the corner of the quay you are standing on.
Change your baits every 20 mins or so, and you will catch a conger, my best here went 42lb one november night, but the average will be around 12lb.
b.t.w I have seen lobsters caught here doing this, but I for one would not eat them out of the river.....
Dave

rubby dubby helps get them on the feed u can fill these with cheap herring and mackerel heads and stuff ive invested in 1 just attach rope :lol:

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Cheap version of the rubby dubby bag....an onion bag throw an old weight into it. I'm not quite sure how politically correct this is with all the C&R brigade (I'm having an internal battle with my self over what my view is on this subject)((still thinking of my reply to the C&R thread)).
attach a small pollack/colie caught from the conger ground. Side hook and let this wounded fish swimin the same location as you caught it from.

Had my best conger this way.