conger antics

have had around 8 runs in the last week from i suspect to be conger, but cant seem to hook one, dropped the hook size to 5/0 from 8/0 to no avail and the bait size, apart from the fact im clueless when it comes to these guys can and i jynx the conger king when he comes along, can anyone advise me when to strike or what to do in general?

its a fine balance between giving the fish enough gtime to swallow the hook and giving him enough time to find a hole...... if you can get the balance right i think ul do ok.

could even try dropping 2 smaller hooks again. try a 3/0 or something. should still get a conger and if it turns out to be something else you have a better chance of a hookup

thanks for that paul, their doin me nut, a few times they went back in the hole, i pulled the bait out of their gobs and got it stuck in there loosing me gear :shock:

where were you fishing?? was it all rough ground or mixed?? could it have been something else??

not sure im convinced they where fish crabs, wouldn't pull the ratchet of like that, the ground is thick kelp along a pier wall

could you have been caught in kelp that was moving in the current?? prob was a conger. hope you get one soon to tick it off the list

could you have been caught in kelp that was moving in the current??

probably was and the others where too polite to say that,

swimmer crabs can give you a good run ,they grab the bait and leg it . I wouldn't drop the hook size to much if your certain its conger ,they just inhale the bait half the time and a small bait will go well down the hatch :lol: have you tried using pouting or poorcod as bait ,they can work very well if the fish are being pickie , also I'd try to hit them as soon as you get a run if possible ,if you miss them set the rod back down and wait 5 mins before checking the bait ,in case it comes back for another go .

tried whiting

let it have 2 pulls at the ratchet just to make sure then bang let him have it pump it up don't mess about good luck :lol:

there only one way to find out if their conger, a dept charge along the wall should do the trick, coming to think about won't need worry about striking them either anymore, thanks lads :D

why dont you try float fishing and suspending the bait just off bottom out of the reach of shore crabs

very sensitive method to pick up shy congers, i had one session a while back with three congers of 18,20 and 21lbs to the float while three bottom rods blanked

eric ,

last year we caught them down the back of the west they were literally coming out of the water for the bait no messing we left a mackeral head on the kelp and a conger came up and took it. the best method we found for catching them was to float fish the bait it gives you a bit more time before the conger gets back down into the hole.