Hi Pekka,
I found the info below on a fishing site, thought it maybe of interest to you: -
How Reef Conger Live
Reef conger have different habits from that of wreck fish. Reef conger do not sit tight in their holes and pick off food as it passes by. They are most active towards dusk and dawn, tending to roam across quite wide areas hoping to surprise both live fish, but also picking
up fresh fatalities, too.
This walkabout tendency seems to be triggered by two things. Firstly, that the tide is approaching slack water with little water movement evident. The eels work over the ground until the tide starts to pick up. A this occurs they head back towards a permanent hole within which they can hide their full body length, though this is surprisingly rarer than written work would have us believe.
Many reef dwelling eels, especially the 20lb plus fish with greater body girth and length, have difficulty finding holes large enough in the reef structure. They are content to lay full length along the deeper cracks and fissures in the rock strata. This method of dormancy whilst tidal activity is at it's greatest is also used by eels living over relatively smooth coral structured reefs like those along the Bristol Channel.
Alternatively, they may embed themselves around the base of bigger rocks, or sink into the camouflage of dense weed beds. There is some substance in saying that some of the larger eels tend to be free swimming as opposed to holed up and are frequently caught from the
outer edges of the reef, whereas the inner reef area tends to hold a quantity of the smaller sub 20lbers.
Periods of peak tidal flow see the eels go to ground, and only if the bait drops right on their noses will they be induced to feed.
Light entering through the water is critical to success. In water under 50ft, days with an overcast sky are needed to maximize catches. Bright sun and clear skies in calm settled seas reduce your chances of success beyond acceptable levels. If you must fish such spells of
weather, then be fishing by dawn, or stay through the dusk, safety permitting, when the suns rays are shallow and reflected off the surface of the water and do not penetrate to any great degree.
As a sea settles after a storm when the sea colour is brown and coloured, or grey as happens over a large reef area, then this is when the eels will capitalize and feed well. Such weather and sea state combinations produce the best of all reef conger fishing, both in
numbers and in size.
The neap tides will always give the best fishing, but not necessarily the best fish. The slower moving tide on the neaps prolongs the time for the eels to feed, whereas the spring tides and faster flowing water have a much shorter slack water period which reduces feeding
time. The biggest conger though, do show up on the spring tides, possibly due to their extra bulk making them less affected by the tide which allows them to feed without the competition from the smaller fish.
