conger rig vs tope rig

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#1 Post by **Conor H** » Tue Oct 04, 2005 7:54 pm

I'm hoping to do a bit of tope fishing on Saturday , weather permitting. I have a few conger traces that I reckon will do the same job - 100lb suffix mono with 3/0 swivels each end , beads and a zip slider boom, tied to 18 inches or so of plastic coated wire, with a 10/0 hook crimped on. Will this rig fish alright for tope or do I need a totally different rig ?

I've searched the posts for tope traces and they results were fairly varied, though Luke Scully's reply seemed to be about the same rig as my conger trace.

nick j · #2 Post by **nick j** » Wed Oct 05, 2005 10:46 am

The hook length of wire needs to be strong; thirty to fifty pound can easily be bitten through, especially by the big females around at this time of year. ( I use 2ft of 150lbs)Hook size is about right although 6/0 and 8/0 are also popular. Use bronzed hooks as they can be left in if unhooking is too difficult.

I think trace length is important. most tope marks have very strong tide races and if you make the trace too long then the bait can be lifted off the bottom. I made this mistake fishing a big spring tide with ziplock booms back a few years now and wondered why i was only hitting the odd spurdog. I fish east coast and find 5-6ft about right.

good luck with the trip

#3 Post by **Conor H** » Wed Oct 05, 2005 11:11 am

Hi Nick, so you reckon the zip slider boom should be replaced with a bigger boom ? Does the boom type really make that much difference? The traces I have are about 6ft long in total - about 18inches of this is strong wire 80 - 100 lb with a crimped on 10/0 hook , to a 3/0 swivel, then the rest is strong mono with the slider boom on it to another swivel.

Cheers for the other advice , much appreciated. Sounds like the conger traces should do then ! Hopefully we get out on Sat as I haven't wet a line in yonks !!

#4 Post by **Tanglerat** » Wed Oct 05, 2005 1:09 pm

Sounds ok, Conor, I'd be happy nuff to have a play with that rig.... :)

#5 Post by **squalus** » Wed Oct 05, 2005 11:12 pm

You should have about 6ft of 80lb - 100lb nylon above the boom. This acts as a rubbing trace. Its also a lot easiert to grab when landing the fish.

#6 Post by **Drew** » Thu Oct 06, 2005 7:21 am

squalus wrote:You should have about 6ft of 80lb - 100lb nylon above the boom. This acts as a rubbing trace. Its also a lot easiert to grab when landing the fish.

Agreed. 8)

nick j · #7 Post by **nick j** » Thu Oct 06, 2005 10:44 am

hi conor,
a bit late in replying but i feel a zip slider would be fine.. have used them and longer booms

#8 Post by **Conor H** » Thu Oct 06, 2005 11:41 am

cheers all, I have it sorted now. basically 10/0 hook to 80lb wire , wire to 3/0 swivel, swivel to 100lb mono with siding boom - mono to 3/0 swivel. Sounds grand - all I need to do now is get out and catch a fish on it !!

All advice much appreciated.