Andy 1965
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2020
- Messages
- 376
- Reaction score
- 3,440
- Points
- 93
- Location
- North Wales
- Favourite Fishing
- Lure
With a return to unsettled weather forecast there was no time to waste this week, so last night saw me head out on my latest conger hunt. The chosen venue was one where I’ve heard of some proper snakes being caught in the past, to almost double my 20lb target size 
, so I was feeling very confident. After a quiet drive to the island I arrived at the mark to find 2 local lads already fishing there, but they were nowhere near where I planned to fish, they had also already caught a decent huss too, so my expectations were raised further still.
First off the conger rod was baited with a mackerel and squid cocktail, and this appetising offering was then lobbed just a few meters out from the rocks, into some surprisingly deep water. The scratching rod was then baited with frozen black lug and cast out well away from the shore, where I hoped the whiting and other stuff would be waiting.
Everything appeared to be going in my favour, as I sat back to enjoy the cold and frosty evening while waiting for the action to start, but the first cast was very quiet without so much as a tap on the rod tips ?. While the conger bait was left to soak, I re-baited the scratcher with sandeel and this seemed to do the trick, as the rod tips began rattling as soon as the baits hit the bottom. Unfortunately, despite the fishy interest I couldn’t actually hook anything until 2 casts later, when a switch from 1/0s to size 1’s did the trick and quickly resulted in a double header of whiting.
With the blank beaten and some fresh bait acquired, I spent the next hour experimenting with the scratcher, by casting it to different ranges, but apart from a half decent pollack hooked right down the side of the rocks, which surprisingly was my first pollack this year ?,
I only caught more whiting.
I now had more of the buggers than I needed, so it was time to put plan B into operation.
The conger rod, which had so far sat completely motionless, was now baited with a whole whiting and again dropped close in, while the flapper was swapped for a pulley dropper and baited with a whiting fillet on pennel 4/0s, this was then whacked out to maximum range and I sat back to wait. Once again the conger bait was left unmolested, but the whiting fillet eventually attracted some interest. A series of rattles didn’t suggest anything particularly big but I was just happy to get a bite. My hopes of catching something interesting were soon dashed though, when I reeled in yet another whiting, hooked fairly on squarely on the bottom 4/0 ?.
As the last hour of the session began, I swapped back to the more traditional baits and half a mackerel finally attracted a run on the conger rod, regrettably though the culprit spat the bait before I even got to see it ?.
For the last cast of the night, the pulley dropper was baited with a whole squid in the hope of attracting a patrolling huss, or even a late season ray, but it wasn’t to be and my night was rounded off with another species entirely, the first doggie of the night.
Next up is tomorrow night and my final session before Christmas, when I’ll be joined by Steve A, so hopefully some of his luck will rub off on me and I’ll see my first decent conger of the winter.
, so I was feeling very confident. After a quiet drive to the island I arrived at the mark to find 2 local lads already fishing there, but they were nowhere near where I planned to fish, they had also already caught a decent huss too, so my expectations were raised further still.First off the conger rod was baited with a mackerel and squid cocktail, and this appetising offering was then lobbed just a few meters out from the rocks, into some surprisingly deep water
. The scratching rod was then baited with frozen black lug and cast out well away from the shore, where I hoped the whiting and other stuff would be waiting.Everything appeared to be going in my favour, as I sat back to enjoy the cold and frosty evening while waiting for the action to start, but the first cast was very quiet without so much as a tap on the rod tips ?. While the conger bait was left to soak, I re-baited the scratcher with sandeel and this seemed to do the trick, as the rod tips began rattling as soon as the baits hit the bottom. Unfortunately, despite the fishy interest I couldn’t actually hook anything until 2 casts later, when a switch from 1/0s to size 1’s did the trick and quickly resulted in a double header of whiting
.With the blank beaten and some fresh bait acquired, I spent the next hour experimenting with the scratcher, by casting it to different ranges, but apart from a half decent pollack hooked right down the side of the rocks, which surprisingly was my first pollack this year ?,
I only caught more whiting.
I now had more of the buggers than I needed, so it was time to put plan B into operation.
The conger rod, which had so far sat completely motionless, was now baited with a whole whiting and again dropped close in, while the flapper was swapped for a pulley dropper and baited with a whiting fillet on pennel 4/0s, this was then whacked out to maximum range and I sat back to wait. Once again the conger bait was left unmolested, but the whiting fillet eventually attracted some interest. A series of rattles didn’t suggest anything particularly big but I was just happy to get a bite. My hopes of catching something interesting were soon dashed though, when I reeled in yet another whiting, hooked fairly on squarely on the bottom 4/0 ?.
As the last hour of the session began, I swapped back to the more traditional baits and half a mackerel finally attracted a run on the conger rod, regrettably though the culprit spat the bait before I even got to see it ?.
For the last cast of the night, the pulley dropper was baited with a whole squid in the hope of attracting a patrolling huss, or even a late season ray, but it wasn’t to be and my night was rounded off with another species entirely, the first doggie of the night.
Next up is tomorrow night and my final session before Christmas, when I’ll be joined by Steve A, so hopefully some of his luck will rub off on me and I’ll see my first decent conger of the winter
.
