time to reach a big size, and as stated, are territorial.

Equally, a landed conger can be as placid as the householdcat, but the next one goes ape and can be a real handful, especiallyin a tight place. But they grow big, fight hard and are a realchallenge, plus have always been a cult fish attracting specialistconger anglers.Pick most cliff type rock marks in England’s Southwest, the rock marksof South, mid and North Wales, and the rock ledges along the Scottishcoast and you’re in conger territory. The secret to hitting big congeris the type of terrain you’re fishing and recognising just what a bigconger looks for when choosing its home.First off, what’s a big conger? Any fish off the shore over 20lbs is abig fish in my book. That’s the target figure. If you specificallytarget the 20lbers, then sooner or later you’ll hit an eel twice thatbig.Secondly, try and locate rock marks that few anglers visit. Rememberthat congers are territorial fish and a popular mark is likely to getfished out quickly. Get your boots on and go walkabout in the remoteareas to locate a suitable mark that’s little fished. Once you’ve foundit, fish it at every opportunity to get to know it well in all itsmoods and weather patterns. The sort of mark they like is over very rough ground, maybe adjacentto a sandy patch where they can ambush small fish that stray closeenough. They often choose a home close to a passing tidal currentwhere small fish get swept past them. Don’t believe all you hear aboutconger always living in holes in the rock either. They definitely do,but they are also adept at lying inside rock cracks and fissures. Thatis why nature designed them like a snake. Their body will adapt tomany different types of home, being so slender and supple. There’s a clue in the last paragraph regarding where to find bigger thanaverage conger. If a fish is able to locate and claim a hole-typeabode, then it can grow fat without having to work too hard for itsmeals. These are the conger with big heads and carrying the bulk oftheir weight behind the head with short fat bodies. On the otherhand, conger having to adapt to living in more exposed rock cracks andfissures are likely to be feeding on the move and hunting by stalkinglike a cat. They tend to burn up more energy and grow less quickly.These are long, slim fish. That’s why you need really rough ground,fairly tight in to jagged rock cliffs where boulders that have fallenfrom the cliffs have piled up to create holes to locate the biggerconger.Water depth is less critical than you think. Just 5-metres can beenough, but generally I look for a depth exceeding 10-metres. I’venoticed the bigger eels are more comfortable in the greater depth whenit comes to making a permanent home.There’s a basic rule you can use to begin to learn about your chosenmark or marks. Congers tend to feed during the smaller neap tides whenthe tide is lessened. They also feed for a longer period. On biggerspring tides, the feeding spell can be very short and is usuallyconcentrated either side of low water slack or high water slack whenthe tide run is minimal.Just to throw a spanner in the works though, some marks produce bestfor short periods right in the middle of the peak tide flow. Thesetend to be the marks where the conger are living in the rock cracks.What I think is happening here is that the small food fish tend tocongregate together around the base of rocks and other structures thatbreak the tide flow. The conger knows this and goes on the prowltrying to chase something down by scaring it.The weather is very important. In my experience, the best congerfishing comes in two patterns. You can choose to fish calm weatherduring the early autumnal period when the first night frosts appear orthe warm, sultry nights in high summer. This seems to trigger the eelsinto a feeding frenzy some nights, but not always. My theory is thatit’s likely to be the calm seas associated with summer or frostyautumn nights that allow the more active smaller food fish likerockling, pout and poor cod, plus the influx of whiting to feed closein that the conger are capitalising on.But it works both ways. When the weather has been especially rough andthe seas huge, fishing a falling sea immaterial of tide size can bethe most productive of all. I think this is due to the fact that thesmaller food fish are pushed out in to calmer water. The eels haven’tbeen able to feed for some time and go on the binge as the smallerfish return inshore as the sea ease back. Safety comes in to theequation here, but fishing a rough sea going down after a blow is agood time to fish. This sequence can produce excellent fishing inearly and late winter in the west.I never fish a deliberate daylight session, even in overcastconditions. You’ll get strap conger to double figures, but I’ve rarelyhad bigger conger during daytime. Dusk can be a good time, but I likemy sessions to fall in full darkness. The best baits for conger are natural fresh baits. It’s a good idea tofish a second rod just to catch the bait. Whole small poor cod, poutand rockling are excellent. If they are biggish fish, then use afillet.Of the bought baits, fresh mackerel is okay, but squid and especiallycuttlefish can be much better. I also use lamprey from Predator Baitsand I’ve had some great fish on it. Also try mixing the baits to makecombinations. Mackerel and squid is a useful one. Cuttlefish and afillet of poor cod or pout are also good. Equally effective is a squidbody full of smashed mackerel or pout.Don’t be in too much of a hurry to renew big baits. If there are crabswhittling the baits down quickly, then you’ve no choice, but thelonger you leave a bait the better chance you have of a conger findingit. Anything up to an hour is okay if the bait is big and smelly,whole cuttlefish being a good example.Conger take quite lightly in calm seas. They tap gently on the rod tipand will pinch a few inches of line off the reel at a time. You’llhave the reel in free spool with the line ratchet on to anticipatethis. Give them time to eat the bait a little, then lift the rod,strike hard and keep them coming all in the one motion.In rough weather it’s a different story. They will hit a bait hard andare easily capable of pulling the rod in to the sea in one go. I tiedown my rod rest with a lanyard fastened to a climber’s rock nut,wedged in a rock crack just in case. Just hit and haul these fishimmediately to keep them away from the seabed snags.Never give a conger an inch unless you’re absolutely forced too. Ifthey make the snags you’ve pretty much lost them. Fables aboutthrowing stones in the water to scare them in to moving, tapping thetight line to annoy them and more are just stories and are unlikely towork. One thing to try though is to give them plenty of slack line.Sometimes they think the danger has passed and will move off the snaggiving you the chance to haul them clear again.They fight by backing away from you and trying to dive. On rock ledgesthey can easily pull you off balance so keep away from the edge of therocks. Keep that pressure on and they’ll come easily to mid water, butthen often go berserk. The critical period is when they approach therocks. Expect a crash dive, which can be very powerful.Landing a decent conger is the only time I advocate a gaff. You needto wait until the eel is steady in the water and place the gaff onlyinto the lower jaw to lift them clear. This does no damage and allowsthe fish to be returned unharmed. For photographs, then leave the hook and trace attached to them andgently hold their heads up with the mid and lower body on the ground.This seems to semi-pacify them and they hold fairly still, minimisingthe chance of damaging them and keeping them at arms length to protectyourself if you’re working in a tight place.I release them by slipping the gaff back in to the hole in the lowerjaw and letting them slip off the gaff in the water. Every time theyinstantly crash dive proving their good health.Tackle for conger needs very careful assessment. Even for biggishfish, in my opinion, some guys fish far too heavy and this willput some eels off feeding when they feel a big hook. The best rig is apulley rig made from 125lb mono.Take about 90cms of mono, tie in a small loop at one end, then slideon a 5mm bead. Next, slide on a size 4 round eye rolling swivel, thenanother 5mm bead. Use a figure-of-eight knot placed about 35cms fromthe spare end to act as a stop for the sliding beads. The spare endtakes the hook. This needs to be tough, but not ridiculously big. Foraverage eels to 20lbs, then a Mustad 4447B size 6/0 is adequate. Forbigger eels go for a 6/0 pennel rig using Mustad 3406 O’Shaughnessy’s.To the loop tied in the end of the rig you can add a weak link of 15lbline. Either a loop and pin system holding the lead in place forcasting, or a dogleg in the wire tail of the lead placed inside theloop for casting work extremely well. Both methods will release thelead as it hits the sea or seabed leaving the lead attached only bythe weaker line, which can be broken free to retrieve the rig andsometimes a fish. Rods need to be powerful. Something capable of casting 6 ounces plusbait with a very fast taper can really apply some power when it’sneeded. The choice of reel is down to just a couple. I’d suggest anABU 9000, which is what I always fish with myself, as it’s tough andcapable of casting a good distance. Also the Daiwa SL30SH, or the morepowerful new Daiwa SL40HV which takes 300-metres of 30lb line. Thereare others, but I’d have faith in these. Remember that it’s the rodthat does the work and applies the pressure to big eels, not the reel.Line strength? If possible use 30lb line. It has more than enoughstrength to bully big eels and helps you cast a little further if youneed to. Alternatively, for very heavy snags and really big fish,load with 40lb line. I also fish a 60lb leader for both casting and tohave something to pull on when a big eel is near the rock ready forlanding.Put back the congers. There are better fish to eat in the sea and themore that are killed the less there are for the future, as conger take

time to reach a big size, and as stated, are territorial.