BANGOR CONGERS

ny1 got ny advice on
traces
hooks
baits
leads
lines.

You should pm ronald, he's pulled out some monsters from Bangor pier and he knows his stuff.

Running ledger with a rottom bottom, heavy mono trace 150lbs+, 6/0-8/0 bronzed oshaughnessy, big mackeral bait, typical conger gear. Ronalds the person to ask really, I've only had one conger from bangor, just watch out for seals, ferries, and people socialising

And don't go down there by yourself Dan, I'm NOT losing a nephew to the Sea.

fished portaferry for them on monday, usin half a bluey and size 8/0 hook. hag rod pulled over, i hit it had it on for about 30 secs but come off.

i can tell yas one thing i was

RAGING

time of year???????

Tackle
best rod for conger is a 30lb to 50lb boat rod for the pier (you need these to bully the fish from their rocky lairs ) boat reel loaded with 50lb mono at least . 18inch heavy mono(150-200lb) trace a decent swivel . 8/0 bronzed o'shannessy hook .
Method
find a decent sized hole in the boulders on the back of pier (anything over 12inches deep will produce fish ) bait up with mackerel head or fillet , tie a 1-2 ounce weight to the top eye of your swivel on the trace using 30lb mono about 6 inches long max . drop your bait down then put the reel in free-spool with the ratchet on and wait until you get a run .hit it straight away and haul like hell .

Yeah what Ronald said....

Sounds fun

dan, go into "Trap and Tackle" in Bangor and ask Robin for a "Bobby Dazzler" conger rig as used successfully on the Bangor charter boat Osprey. This rig was the brainchild of a local angler and costs about £1, money well spent. They are that cheap even the Chinese are buying them, pity they don't release the congers they catch at Bangor pier.

how about time of day and tides do they matter

ny1 use herring or cuttlefish for 'em off bangor.
my grandad used to haul creels off donaghadee and normally used cod or mackerel and he used herring one day and had over 60 congers out of about 60 creels and some were 20-30Ibs.

low tide is best as you cant get down onto the back of the pier ,Failing that fish the front of the pier ,.
Herring works well for the conger but because it's softer fresh the crabs and rockling tear it of the hook quicker so you'll need to re-bait more often .

how bout squid or cuttlefish.

back in the early '80s as kids we fished for congers in arklow. at roadstone breakwater just south of the jetty 3/4's way out facing the jetty.
we used boat gear with fresh mack. sometimes with no weights the bait just wandered in and out of the rocks below us, other times with weights just out beyond the rocks in the sand to tease them out! we lost many to the rocks but were successful too on many occasions.
back then there were many "congor bashers" using clothes-lines just to catch and kill
but we let them back as tricky as it was, to catch them another day.
i'd love to do it again but i think the breakwater is out of bounds these days.
i always wanted to fish for them from a boat facing the breakwater to avoid them retreating
back into the rocks. we often spent 20/30 minutes fighting these great fish before landing.
one of the best moments was seeing the hook clearly and easy to remove.
gentle feeders but super scrappers!
just remembered one time when we had to pull our lines in as we had a sack of rubby-dubby
in front of us and a seal with her cub popped up in front of us!!!!!!!! colliemore harbour comes to mind! enjoy the congors dan, it ain't bangor, but if yer ever in arklow........

low tide is best as you cant get down onto the back of the pier ,Failing that fish the front of the pier ,.
Herring works well for the conger but because it's softer fresh the crabs and rockling tear it of the hook quicker so you'll need to re-bait more often .

when you say in front of the peir what part do ya mean.

wat siz of congers mite i expect of the peir. heard thers som biggies.

GET A LOBSTER POT STICK A MACK IN IT AND DROP IT INTO CONGER AREA (ROCKS, HARBOUR) IF YOUR PREPARED TO USE ANY MEANS (see below)TO GET IT, IM SURE THAT WOULD WORK, OR YOU COULD TRY DYNAMITE....!!! YOU MIGHT EVEN GET A BONUS SPECIES MIGHT BE HARD TO I.D. IT THOUGH AFTER YOU'VE BLOWN IT UP

low tide is best as you cant get down onto the back of the pier ,Failing that fish the front of the pier ,.
Herring works well for the conger but because it's softer fresh the crabs and rockling tear it of the hook quicker so you'll need to re-bait more often .

when you say in front of the peir what part do ya mean.

I'm not going to divulge that sort of info ,but basically anywere along the side the trawlers tie up to right along to the point .
the best landed was a 35lber a few years ago now by sexy legs (dont want to embarrass him with his real name ),but there are still a few 20lb plus fish kicking around hard to land though ,especially on your own so bring your uncle drew up to give you a hand .

Uncle Drew's Busy.... With... Other things...