In all the sports that we take part in, people do so at different levels, Kayak fishing is no exception with some happy to fish for smaller species on rivers or estuaries while others will push the boundaries with long offshore trips or the search for larger specimens.

One specimen that has captured the imagination of many U.K. Kayak fishermen is the Conger Eel, a powerful predator with real attitude! Over the last two years, two U.K. anglers have had tremendous success targeting this species with over 30 caught and released between them. Richi Oliver and his fishing buddy Chris Fernandez-Relva. After many requests from Anglers from various parts of the U.K., Extremekayakfishing decided to organize a meet to target Conger Eels.
The interest was huge; in fact no other Kayak fishing meet in the U.K. has had so many participants.

Ocean Kayaks had also arranged for a fleet of demo Kayaks to be available including the all-new Prowler Trident 15 along with all the other favorites. Many people came to try a demo under the watchful eyes of an instructor and guide.

Accommodation had been arranged in what can only be described as idyllic surroundings, just a few feet from the waters' edge in a 200 year old former boat builder’s house that now contains four contemporary and stylish holiday apartments.

The accommodation was about a mile paddle to the area that had proved most prolific in producing these hard fighting fish and Extremekayakfishing had located buoys to tie up to at a couple of prime marks.

There were plenty of Mackerel to be caught during the day ensuring that no one went short of bait

Most anglers used half a Mackerel on a 8/0 hook with 150lb mono set up as a running ledger with 12-20lb class rods coupled with medium sized multiplier reels loaded with 30lb mono. All hooks had the barbs removed to allow easy release and to minimize damage to the fish. Numerous organizations in the U.K. now advocate catch and release including the British Conger Club.

The fishing was superb with many anglers catching new species or personal bests. Outstanding catch of the meet had to go to Chris Fernandez-Relva, who caught a beautiful Conger of around 35lbs and managed to pull it in the kayak for a picture!

In all 5 Conger were caught during the meet, the largest around 50lbs, which provided a good half hour fight before it's captor was able to bring it to the kayak. All were released unharmed.

Bass which had recently been scarce in the area turned up in numbers to provide some excellent sport and some large specimens were caught. Martin Hurst who had traveled for four hours to get to the meet caught the two best Bass of the meet including this 8 1/2lb specimen and another at 7 1/2lb.The Bass readily took the half Mackerel baits intended for the Congers.

During the course of the meet around 20 experienced Kayak fishermen took part and at least 6 people have bought their own kayaks after trying a demo at the meet. The event will be run again next year and due to the great success of this year on a far greater scale

For more info on UK kayak fishing click here