CONGER TACTICS

[fagan]

Well im goin to a conger mark this weekend and was looking to no the best way to catch them??, rigs, bait, hooks, etc etc and how do u keep the dogs of ur bait???

[donal domeney]

some reading here: http://www.sea-angling-ireland.org/bull ... =1&t=34628

[donal murphy]

i dont think u can keep those dogs away, ive had dogfish take conger baits that are just below my feet.

i find the rocklings more of a nuisance than dogs tho

[THE BROW]

use the rockling for bait they seem to like them down here

[lugworm]

what me and my buddys usually do is make up a trace with a size 4/0 hook or bigger, cut the head of a mackeral off jus behind the gills for the blood and guts the bloodier the better for scent! drop your trace jus off the side of the pier with a lead of course, tip the bottom and pull it up a bit from the bottom! another tip is with the rest of ur mackeral cut it up and put it in a net bag and also hang it over the side near your trace for more scent!

[jonny gilbert]

The best methods I find for conger are a pulley rig made up of 100lb body and 150lb hook snood and an 8/0 bronzed hook and the lowest I'd go is a 6/0 hook. Bait mac is always a top bait but try as the fly anglers call matching the hatch. Pout, rockling, small pollock and coalies are most likely what the eels feed on day in day out and I've had most of my 20lb+ eels on a whole pouting. And also never strike at the first signs of an eel at your bait 90% of the time they just play about with it before they take it. Oh and when you hook one the first stage of the fight is most critical so get it off the bottom as quick as possible so it doesn't get into a snag. And always make sure you have a safe place to land it and never use a gaff cause they do too much damage to the eel. Hope this helps
Cheers Jonny

[lugworm]

Yes the last post about striking it in, is true as congers can actualy swim backwards and if ur in rocky territory they will yank the bait and swim backwards back into the rocks!!!!!!! Many different methods but my method proves to work for us!!!!!!!!!

[fergal]

anyone tried circle hooks for congers?

[jonny gilbert]

anyone tried circle hooks for congers?

Yeah tried them a few times and yes they do work but I find that my hook up ratio is a lot lower than with the standard hooks.

Yes the last post about striking it in, is true as congers can actualy swim backwards and if ur in rocky territory they will yank the bait and swim backwards back into the rocks!!!!!!! Many different methods but my method proves to work for us!!!!!!!!!

I agree lugworm there is lots of different method out there and if it gets them off the bottom that's the main thing. And its good fun when they start to swim backwards

[cachalot]

I agree about a lot of the comments above, the most important one, hoik like hell to get the fish away from the bottom.

Another important thing to consider is that small pollack make good conger baits

[fergal]

we did well fishing for congers at night on tory island. frozen mackerel and herring were the chosen bait but when that ran out we used freshly caught coalies. we caught fish to around 15lbs. 1ft of plastic coated wire 150lbs. size 6 bronze J shaped hooks and some traces with size 6 cat fish hooks. i made the traces up from some tope traces i had and they did the job. there was a lobster pot sitting on the peir we fished off and we chucked it in too with some mackerel in it. the biggest conger of the trip curled up in the pot... about 20lbs

[gavind19]

on the boat ya cant go wrong with a flapper, off the shore especially of a pier float ling a head is the best option