Some of us are old enough to remember the fantastic wrecking that Decca navigators brought us in the hay-days of the 1970s and 1980s with The legendary catches of McVicar, Trust, Passmore and others. I have fantastic memories of congering from Plymouth aboard Graham Hannaford’s boat Tiburon where eels to 80lb were common and the odd 100 pounder possible. 50 years on and the great days might be a distant memory but, there is still good sport to be had from charter boats around the coast specialising in wrecking.
Conger eels suffered a severe lull in numbers partly as a result of the huge numbers unnecessarily taken from the wrecks. Now, it is refreshing to report that numbers of eels on our local wrecks of Ramsgate and Dover are increasing and a good day’s sport can once again be enjoyed.
A charter skipper who knows his wrecks and quarry will be able to offer you a good day on the water, and the angler with his own boat, who wants to have a try, will experience a great sense of achievement when a conger breaks the surface. It’s one of the more demanding areas of our sport as technique and tackle might be new to you, so hopefully in this feature I can get you started on a new adventure.
TACKLING UP
Conger eels are powerful fish and suitable tackle is needed to cope with fish in the proximity of the wreck. 20/30lb class gear will cope with fish on open ground
