Tope at Greystones South Beach

Hi All.

I got chatting to a fella on tuesday night as I was loading the car up after a session at the stream, and he was telling me that tope frequent the area this time of year. I have been doing a bit of research and found out a little bit about fishing for the at greystones, but I was wondering if anybody has fished for them this year, and if so have they had any success?

Also, what type of tackle would one use, trace material, hook size/pattern and bait?

cheers

Matt

never targeted tope. they are being caught now from both n. and south beach. 6/0 hooks with 18" of wire above hook or 200lb. mono on a pulley rig or similar. use 80lb. line for pulley rig body if you have it, otherwise 60lb. minimum. a reel holding 15lb. mono and shock are all you need.

baitwise try coalies, whiting and even dab will do the trick. some anglers prefer mackeral. it really is up to you. you can basically catch the fish where your fishing. probably a good idea to cast the tope bait back out where you caught the bait as they will be hunting the shoals. they can be caught quite close in too.

i don't know what conditions are best. what i think is more important is the presence of smaller speceies that the tope are hunting. hope this helps, if only a little.

Have fished the south beach for them last year and the year before, hooked into a few fish and my god are they full of life...Haven't been able to get them in yet but not giving up yet...

I use a 30lb steel trace(nylon covered) about 12" just to stop the Tope biting through it, you don't need 200lb mono save that for the tuna :D to a 4/0 CR meat hook then the rest of the trace is 60lb mono..either use a standard one hook clip down or a pully rig...

The most inportant thing to remember when fishing for them is to set the drag and clicker on the reel otherwise you'll lose your rod/reel etc....Couple of years ago I had a tope hit the rod that I had out for tope so hard that it took the rod, tripod and other rod on the tripod onto the ground and started to head for the sea...I had the drag set but not set loose enough. Also if you do hook one make sure you have a reel that has a fast retrieve as you'll need it.

The Tope that I hooked into where November/December time (3 runs in one night) they run like hell off the beach and are great fun. I had one on for about 5 minutes running up and down the beach like a lunatic trying to stay in touch with the fish but he rolled so hard that he managed to bite the shock leader off 6 inchs from the end of it...Trace plus 40ft of shock leader and that's how quick they move in shallow water off the beach...Also if there is allot of coalies around use them it's what they are after, also if you have another rod out for coalies codling etc keep an eye on it very closely...Nothing like a fish in distress to tempt a Tope....

I'll be doing plenty of all night Tope hunting trips this winter, ohh and it didn't matter what stage the tide was at but anytime I hooked into one the weather was very calm. Ya fancy doing an allnight session trying for them let me know as I'll be there allot this year....

John

Thanks for the info guys, I think I now have enough to start to have a go at them.

One final question, do they tend to get caught on the night tides, or do they also feed in close during the day?

Cheers

Matt

If memory serves me right, cooke off this very forum has caught tope at greystones, a 60lber last year as the picture in sea angler will confirm.
Im sure he 'd be willing to give a few pointers

John i was told by a match angler that fishes here for tope that 200lb. mono was a good alternative to wire.

John i was told by a match angler that fishes here for tope that 200lb. mono was a good alternative to wire.

just a bit over kill really...I use 30lb wire...each to there own though.

I think 200lb mono is standard really. Mono tends to be more supple than wire, even at that test strength. Tope have such sharp teeth that they bite through lower breaking strains (including wire) like butter.

Better to be safe than sorry! I imagine it would be a real sickener to lose a large fish because the trace was bitten through.

I think 200lb mono is standard really. Mono tends to be more supple than wire, even at that test strength. Tope have such sharp teeth that they bite through lower breaking strains (including wire) like butter.

Better to be safe than sorry! I imagine it would be a real sickener to lose a large fish because the trace was bitten through.

ahh suppose just me liking light lines etc....I do use 130lb mono for me conger traces.....

The best tope fishing won't start happening until late November early december. Fish close in.

How near in would you be casting?

I now for a fact a few have been already caught this year from Greystones , Kilcoole , Five mile .

Hi guys.

Thank for all the info so far, I think this is all going to come in really useful.

One thing though, is it ok to use fixed spool reels, or should you really use multipliers? I have two standard beachcaster reels, loaded with 15lb and 25lb line, although I do have three carp fishing baitrunner reels, but I feel these would be a bit small.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Cheers

Matt

I suppose ideally it would be best to use a multiplier. From anything I have ever read on the subject, it seems best to allow a tope to run with the bait, then strike when he stops to swallow it. A multiplier with a ratchet would be most suited for this kind of fishing therefore. The general consensus is that they will often drop a bait if they feel any resistance.

I'm sure a fixed spool would be up to the job though, just make sure the clutch is loosened off or you can kiss your rod and reel goodbye!