bait for tope

Hi all
Bait for tope should lie on the buttom or should be suspended over.

hi pike
personally i think your bait should be as close to the deck as possible and
keep your trace as short as possible too, about 4 feet. the tope uses its snout to go along the sand looking for flats (mainly dabs) and other bottom dwellers. that's not to say you wont get them if your bait is off the deck but personally i would do it the other way the fact that tope are mainly a bottom feeder
best of luck
Brian

Thanks brianbru

if your fishing over sand and the mackeral arent in then i would agree with brian, keep the bait on the ground, this is where the tope will hunt for dabs etc (dabs are actually great bait if you can catch them for bait)

down where i fish when the mackeral are in and im fishing over rough ground in 100+ feet of water i would always keep a mackeral fillet 20-30 feet at least from the bottom, its easily seen by a tope and at the right depth cause this is where mackeral shoal, a big launce sandeel will do also