the right conger gear

this year i am ogoin to try for a conger from the shore. which rods are best. which reel and lines.

this site might give you some ideas http://www.britishcongerclub.org.uk/conger.htm

cheers for that

Hi Dan

I use a 12ft Abu Meteor with a Penn 535, i fish with the reel left on free spool with the ratchet on and find it a great way of bite detection gives a thrill as well !!!!!!! Know it sounds unsporting but always use 30Lb mono when after conger cause you never know what size the next fish might be !!!!!!!!!!!1

Best of luck

Let us know how you get on

Regards

C

Hi Dan

I use a 12ft Abu Meteor with a Penn 535, i fish with the reel left on free spool with the ratchet on and find it a great way of bite detection gives a thrill as well !!!!!!! Know it sounds unsporting but always use 30Lb mono when after conger cause you never know what size the next fish might be !!!!!!!!!!!1

Best of luck

Let us know how you get on

Regards

C

i arrived at a pier one day where a lad was fishing and he had a rope over the pier for conger,he got one near 5 foot long and maybe 20 to 25 lbs weight,it was the first time i ever saw a conger,after seeing the fish i dont think 30Lb mono is unsporting,the conger is probably one of the hardest fish to land and one of the biggest most people get from the shore

Depends on the ground you're fishing. Last conger i got from the shore was from very rocky/weedy ground (Our Lady's Well, behind Loreto Convent, Dalkey). I used a 7 ft 30 LB class boat rod and multiplier. Casting far not a requirement. You gotta get 'em moving fast or they go to ground. One other point, they can spin like the bejaysus when hooked, so good strong swivels can save you a lot of messing about afterwards.

Other than that I recall another gentleman who fished the back of the West Pier in Dun Laoghaire for conger. He used one of those old orange handlines that used to be very popular. The technique he used was once the conger was hooked he'd put the line over his shoulder and run like a lunatic up the rocks towards the wall on the pier, hauling the eel with him!

No real finesse involved in either case.

30lb mone isnt unsporting i wouldnt think, i normally 15-25lb mono for other smaller species.

Hi Dan

Know it sounds unsporting but always use 30Lb mono when after conger cause you never know what size the next fish might be !!!!!!!!!!!1

30LB is def not unsporting,i use 35lb for wrasse and sometimes when a fish gets in the rocks it`ll snap like thread.if a conger finds a rocky hole to hide in then 30lb line isn`t going to last long,unless use have a heavy leader.
on my beachcaster im using 35lb mainline with 60 foot of 80lb mono as my leader.
when im fishing somewhere that i dont need to cast i`ll use the boat rod and 80lb mono straight through.
the last thing i want is a 40lb+ conger to snap the line when its on the surface.(its happened before and its not a nice feeling )
im not saying 30lb mono is no good for congers,it just depends on the terrain.but theres no point in taking chances with big fish

All depend on where your fishing. I tried a boat rod fishing piers and rocks but found the fish can't be guided away from the edge so I prefer a beach caster. One mark we fish you have to use .40mm line as it's from deep water at mid-range in a massive tide so wouldn't hold bottom if we used 30lb line. Unblieveable place to catch a conger it's like being hit by a express train. As for unsporting on most marks it's a tug of war when ledgeringfor conger and wrasse and giving any sort of line will result in leaving a hook in the fishes mouth.

very good point about leaving hooks in the congers mouth Donagh.It`s also worth pointing out that bronzed hooks should be used for congers.If you are unlucky enough to loose a fish,the bronzed hooks will rust and fall out in a matter of days.Stainless hooks will be there for a very long time and may affect the fishes feeding.

Agree with you on the longer rod Donogh, find you can guide the fish better with the longer rod, think i will be upping my line strength though !!!!!!!!!!1

i hooked around 10 congers and landed only 2 from a pier all other fish were lost due to using 25 lb line then 35 then one snapped an abu boat rod finally got decent 50 lb line and good boat rod and landed one let them run a little then bang get em up fast when there close to the surface its some buzz they go mad

Hi Dan

Know it sounds unsporting but always use 30Lb mono when after conger cause you never know what size the next fish might be !!!!!!!!!!!1

30LB is def not unsporting,i use 35lb for wrasse and sometimes when a fish gets in the rocks it`ll snap like thread.if a conger finds a rocky hole to hide in then 30lb line isn`t going to last long,unless use have a heavy leader.
on my beachcaster im using 35lb mainline with 60 foot of 80lb mono as my leader.
when im fishing somewhere that i dont need to cast i`ll use the boat rod and 80lb mono straight through.
the last thing i want is a 40lb+ conger to snap the line when its on the surface.(its happened before and its not a nice feeling )
im not saying 30lb mono is no good for congers,it just depends on the terrain.but theres no point in taking chances with big fish

cheers davy, i no i had a decent conger on at portaferry, was usin 80lb line, fish got into a snag, the line broke after about 10 secs of gettin snagged,

Big reel - Slosh 20 or 30 or a Penn 535 (with rachet for added excitement) with 25-30lb line (give the congers a chance in all fairness) and a true rough ground rod like a Greys Apollo or Conoflex Nemisis

Its some crack when you hear that ratchet going on the initial take

cheers everyone for all the replies have to try all these tips out this year.

Lads Conger don't normally stray to far from cover so if you let them run then you are asking for problems

When you start to get bites let them develop until they start to move then STRIKE and reel like F**K to get them off the bottom

Best to use a light boat rod or a up-tide rod if you have to cast a bit.

cheers for all the advice lads- highly appriciated

Dont they normally head straight back to their nest when hooked and if they get back there its goodnight and god bless, you'll find it hard to get them out without snpping the line.

All depend on where your fishing. I tried a boat rod fishing piers and rocks but found the fish can't be guided away from the edge so I prefer a beach caster. One mark we fish you have to use .40mm line as it's from deep water at mid-range in a massive tide so wouldn't hold bottom if we used 30lb line. Unblieveable place to catch a conger it's like being hit by a express train. As for unsporting on most marks it's a tug of war when ledgeringfor conger and wrasse and giving any sort of line will result in leaving a hook in the fishes mouth.

now where might that be donagh? i can think of two places that fit this description!