unhooking conger eels

monty_python

Any tips or tricks for unhooking a big conger??

I hooked an absolute monster of a conger yesterday and he broke the 20lb line when I tried to lift him onto the pier. It got me thinking what would I of done if I did land him 😂

jack01986

I'd use a t-bar for unhooking.



https://sidsfishingadventures.wordpress.com/2014/02/02/615/

gumbo1

Above and a glove with good grip!

bpmurray

One thing to remember - never, ever take a conger into a boat. They're covered with a grey slime the covers absolutely everything.

And they have teeth. And a boat is a really confined space.

Jim from Cork

bpmurray wrote: »

One thing to remember - never, ever take a conger into a boat. They're covered with a grey slime the covers absolutely everything.

And they have teeth. And a boat is a really confined space.

That's a bit harsh!
It certainly is easy to t-bar a conger off at the side of the boat and yes they are covered with slime but a decent conger makes a nice picture!

There's a bit about boat fishing congers here: http://www.topfisher.eu/eel-hunt-conger/

Tippjohn

Use a big barbless hook with a muppet on and a mackerel flapper. The muppet stops them gorging. Get to the boat slide the T bar ( called a twizzle over the water) and let the thing spin itself off. No harm done. Drop down again and catch it again and again.

monty_python

I'll have to invest in a t-bar so

a148pro

As a matter of interest does anyone here ever eat conger? Had it once in South America and it was nice. Eel not give the respect it probably deserves on Irish menus and given that congers seem plentiful mightn't be a bad one to eat occasionally?

Qualitymark

a148pro wrote: »

As a matter of interest does anyone here ever eat conger? Had it once in South America and it was nice. Eel not give the respect it probably deserves on Irish menus and given that congers seem plentiful mightn't be a bad one to eat occasionally?

Yes, got a conger steak about 4" wide a few weeks back, cooked it with shallots in butter, then vermouth, then took the eel out and de-boned it, then chopped it in pieces and added it back, added Greek yogurt (taking some out into a cup of the liquor to mix it, then mixing it back in). Served with basmatti rice, was delicious. But I wouldn't do it too often for fear of depleting stocks.

Tippjohn

First of all they are not easy to kill cleanly, like any Eel. Unflavoured ( not as above ) The flesh consists of a cross between Cod and Ling, there is a soft part and a hard part. Ate one once, it took years. never again, put them back and they survive to grow.
Was going out of Littlehampton in England about 15 years ago, got to the car park to be greeted by about 20 by 40lb dead ones dumped on the floor. A really nice bunch of anglers and skipper not. All in front of tourists on a sunny day :-(

a148pro

They probably didn't have the balls / knowledge to unhook them and decided the easier thing to do was to kill them

I wonder how the stock is? I'm assuming because they're not (to my knowledge) commercially fished here and their habitat is conducive to mass slaughter like other fish they're ok but maybe that's wrong. I know freshwater eels in Ireland are in massive decline.

Tippjohn

If a Conger or Shark is caught by trawler it can end up as a decoration ( English market Cork comes to mind, disgusting. Some people who sea fish kill everything, fair enough if it is a food fish. If people are doing well why not clear off to another mark and give them a rest. Greed.
At least competitions can be length and specis.
As a lad Eels ( in Britain) were a nuisance, tons of them. Then the Elver slaughterers were given free rein. Elver traps and virtually every Elver caught and fried by the million. Doh, none left. Salmon is following and I would be surprised if there is a wild Brownie left in 50 years.
It is all up to the people and the government to protect our wildlife. Being in the EU means we cannot.

a148pro

Tippjohn wrote: »

It is all up to the people and the government to protect our wildlife. Being in the EU means we cannot.

We're going way off topic here, but, while I presume you're referring to quotas it should be noted that the EU have introduced a large amount of environmental regulation and most of the protections in our laws come from the EU.

Tippjohn

Reality is that before the EU help we had massive fish stocks in both fresh and salt water. The amount of fish available is relevent to the subject matter, without the fish we would not need to worry about unhooking.

bpmurray

I think the whole area of stocks declining warrants a thread for itself - I could gripe about it all day.