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Saturday 11th October 2008 - Dr Paul Clack's "Gemini" Big Eel Exciting Experience - Here's a blow by blow account received from Paul Clack of his 100 lb plus Conger, caught aboard Dave Harrison's Dartmouth charter boat, "Gemini" last Saturday. Thank you Paul, your input is as always, greatly appreciated and I'd like to convey my hearty congratulations on your notable success. I admit to feeling envious. Here's what Paul said: I thought I’d drop you a line to say thanks for running such a good web site and getting the "Gemini" Conger report up so fast at the weekend! In case you are interested, here a few more details. This was indeed my first Conger trip, although I’ve been out with Dave several times on private charters in the last couple of years, and this year been an occasional member of Brian Coles ‘club’ trips, mostly chasing Pollack when the weather allows. I’ve only been getting in to boat fishing seriously in the past two years, but have been fishing since I was 5, mostly coarse and latterly game. Whilst I’ve always done OK, I’ve never really been lucky with big specimens – Saturday was a bit different. Anyhow, we struggled to catch enough bait initially, trying 4 spots on the way out, eventually picking up enough Mackerel, Scad, Pout and Whiting. When we got to the wreck, Dave put the anchor in perfectly and we settled about 3 boat lengths from the hulk. On with 2lb leads and a whole Mackerel, and soon one or two of the guys were in to eels. I think a couple came to the boat before I got any interest – from memory these were a decent size too (40+). Not knowing what to expect as a bite, I was beginning to think I may have lost my bait when a couple of strong pulls started taking line from my reel. Time to crank the drag up and wind down! In to the fish and try and move it clear of the wreck, not easy to start with but soon got a few turns on and then it was a case of trying to enjoy the slow, stubborn fight in the tide. It felt big to me, but I wasn’t going to say anything in case it turned in to a 5lb strap! Not sure how long it took, but perhaps 10-15 minutes later, the Eel appeared to view, around 20 feet down in lovely clear water. When I got it to the surface, comments were it was a good one, but Dave noticed how fat it was, and suggested we get it on board as it may be bigger than expected. The rear doors were opened and in she came, and indeed she was a big girl, full of fish – coughed up 6 Mackerel and Scad on the deck whilst being unhooked. Also, we found the Eel had another old trace and 10/0 hook in it’s mouth, so we extracted that and I have kept as a trophy!
Now came the fun part, trying to estimate the weight. In the water 70+ was guessed, but that got increased when the eel was on board. I had no idea! Just pleased to have broken my duck with such a good fish. I’m told this might be the biggest ever first time Conger. Dave asked if I wanted to keep the fish. I asked what the point would be, and it was explained to me that for club purposes an accurate weight must be taken on certified scales on dry land. As I’m not in any club, whilst I would have liked to known the exact weight, I was happy to go with Dave’s estimate. I understand that sometimes the fish market can take the eels once weighed and give the proceeds to the lifeboats, but that probably couldn’t have happened on a Saturday night anyway. I only like to take fish I they are edible, so I was pleased to be able to return the eel. We did try and weigh the fish at sea, but it was too long and too heavy for two of us to hold up – it was showing 85-88ish with a foot or so still on the deck! Dave chatted with other experienced Conger anglers on the boat (Rob Marshall, Alan Padden, Alan Jones etc) and given the size of the belly on my Eel, suggested 100+ was likely. Good enough for me! So we wrestled her back and I was pleased to see her recover and swim back down to the wreck.
We had a good size comparison as Alan had an 80+ and Sally a 74+ shortly after. I did manage another Eel, only about 20lb, a bit later before the sport died. Dave said it was unusual to get so many big Eels in a short time – I guess we had 25-30 Eels in little more than an hour, with several 40-60s in addition to the three big ones. Credit really goes to the Skipper, I was just lucky to be in the right place at the right time. Thanks also to Brian Coles for the loan of the gear and Rob Marshall and Chris Date for help tying up the traces.
And yes, I will be going Conger fishing again!
A day afloat aboard "Gemini".
Bill Harkness, who is already the holder of the 20 lb line class record
for a Conger Eel which
Here is some video of our efforts which
has been published via YouTube. You can view it here via your Broadband
Internet connection,
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The majority of these magnificent fish were returned
alive after photographing them, to grow and fight again another day
These are a selection of just a few of our Conger Eels, caught by our happy anglers aboard "Gemini" out of Dartmouth |
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