West of Dunmore 12/8/06

People:me and kstaff

Duration:8pm 12.30am

Tide:not sure

Weather:good

Bait:spinners, mac, jelly worms

Rigs:Float, pulley

Results:2 mac, strap conger, Pollock, dog fish and rockling


Report:Myself and kstaff had visited this mark before for a bit of spinning and had noticed the depth of water here was exceptional with mixed ground of sand and patches of rock.
We spoke of spending a night here but never seem to get around to it so when we finally did we set off with great hopes and that buzz when fishing a spot for the first time.

As the water was quite deep I decided to go straight for the conger thinking they might come to the ground bait which I brought along.
Staff put a macky bait out at distance and pretty soon had a knock on the rod. First fish fell to him and was a 2lb 10oz dog.

[img]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f321/powerpaul/DSCF0096.jpg[/img]

Shortly after this I saw some fish moving up the rock face where we were putting in the ground bait but could not make out what they were in the fast fading light so I started to set up my spinning rod with a sliding float to give them a go.
As soon as I was ready to start with the float I got a knock on the conger rod and lifting into it found that I was locked solid in the bottom :x
After a snap off and re-set up down the rocks I go with spinning rod in hand.
10 seconds in the water and the float shot out of sight like a rocket. After a short but good scrap I landed a Pollock of 2lbs.

[img]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f321/powerpaul/DSCF0097.jpg[/img]

I stuck with the float for an hour with only a few very small fish toying with my bait as staff got another couple of dogs bigger than the first.
At this point I packed the float in and set up a second rod to fish a bit of distance but found one snag after another.
Staff got a strap and a rockling in quick succession as I lost 2 traces in a row :x :x

[img]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f321/powerpaul/DSCF0101.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f321/powerpaul/DSCF0103.jpg[/img]

After this it went very quite and we said we would call it a day.
As we were packing up the rest of the gear my sl 30 started to click away and as I struck into it there was a serious weight to it. I moved the fish about 10 feet and then with a strong pull back from the (conger :?: )
the whole lot locked up. Not again I said without using any bad language :D :D
After about 10 to 15 Min's of gaining a small amount of line only to loose it again straight away I felt that head shaking thing they do when swimming backwards and snap. :evil: :evil: :evil:
I thought the line had gone at the knot only to reel it in and find that the fish had bitten through my 100lb coated steel trace :shock: :shock:

[img]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f321/powerpaul/DSCF0106.jpg[/img]

This kept us there for another hour but without a bite.
Needless to say we will be back.

And the next time staff I'm on the left. You can fight the snags :D

Nice pics and nice report Coaster. I know people have differing opinions, but I swear by using those breakaway lead release clips when fishing rough ground at any distance.

It dosn't matter to me left or right my excellent casting avoids the snags!!!! :D

maybe the wire became frayed on a rock with the head shaking rather than a bite though?

maybe the wire became frayed on a rock with the head shaking rather than a bite though?

Possibly but there was no fraying on the wire. Just a clean cut. The nylon coating looked frayed but all she strands of wire were cut as clean as if you had used a snips. :? :?:

I know people have differing opinions, but I swear by using those breakaway lead release clips when fishing rough ground at any distance.

Hello petekd.
I never used any form of rotten bottom before but said to staff as we left that I will have to check out a couple of different types and see what suits.

Any suggestions/ info appreciated.

Hi

I have found that the wire will often snap at a snag if it gets looped and then drawn tight into a sharp bend / almost doubled back on itself. With all the twisting congers do, if you are over rough ground this is probable.

It offers a point of weakness to any subsequent snags / fighing fish. Very careful examination of the strands right at the end will indicate if they have been bent over or not. Lost lots of god fish to wrecks in this way.

I find it hard to believe that a conger will bite through the wire, their teeth are arranged in nine rows, and whilst the bigger the conger the bigger the teeth, they are slanted backward to help hold onto a live prey fish and not really designed for a sawing action.

Does not mean it wasn't a big fish, just suggesting that it wore and fought rather than bit through. Having said that I have seen a half ton up fish in the aquarium in Galway and reckon it would bite yer hand off! :D :wink:

Hey I might be fishing sunday - all I need is half decent weather!

Tight lines all

It dosn't matter to me left or right my excellent casting avoids the snags!!!! :D

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kieran, That makes sense as there was another pic which I did not post that showed the last few inch's of the trace doubled back on its self.

But I'm still going with the biggest conger in the world theory. :D :D

nice pics. we will have to go out some evening and ill catch that conger for you!!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: