When To Strike Tope

[Ian Burrett]

Same as me ,never had a run on eel section there agian all my tope fishing is done on the south coast not in a euastaury having said that some of the lads down there swear by it all the same ,I use a whole mackral flapper a 2' 150lb mono trace tied to a 8' 80lb rubbing trace I use crimps on the 150lb to keep it neat and end it with a cox and rawle meat hook that I hone after every fish, cast uptide in shallow water seems to work well enough for me. I have grown to live with the occasional dropped run keeps you on your toes.

 

Hi five bellies

 

To me its the dropped baits and the runs that make the tope such a buzz to fish for. There's always that split second when you stick the hook in and your not totally sure if it is hooked or not, particuarly when the tope uptides you.

 

I can't think of another fish, certainly in the UK that can give an adrenaline rush for so many people for hours on end, when you have got a decent pack around the boat

 

You can miss a screaming run and don't care because you know you will have another one within minutes

 

In regards to the dab bait, I like to use the head and shoulders with the guts trailing. The best thing about this bait is the lsd's will never touch it.

 

 

 

A small dab will do, which should be easier for you to cast.

Edited November 9, 2005 by Ian Burrett

[Ken Davison South Wales]

Only just spotted this thread

 

The first tope I ever saw boated was by my brother Ray whilst fishing with rag for bream.

 

He hit it straight away and in doing so the fish was only biting on the long shank hook (standard kit back then ) so with fifteen pounds straight through it was extreemly lucky.

 

It was only about two to two and half feet long but had a lovely set of nashers

 

After that we did target them for a while using a pike bait set up of two trebles on a light wire trace.

 

We would bait with a small mackeral nose and flank hooked, with the flanks knifed through in several places.

 

Not having the knowledge now availiable we used to strike on the first run and most times we had a hookup

 

Never caught a monster but had a number of fish 20 to 30 plus pounds.