The waters surrounding the UK coastline are home to some great fishing and despite many anglers' experiences of these waters being unfruitful, if you know where to look, there are some giant fish lurking, with some incredible fishing to be had.
It’s fair to say that Gareth Griffiths of GG Guiding is a sea monster hunter, seemingly landing huge fish wherever he goes, whether at home or abroad and his captures speak for themselves. In the UK, tope, a member of the shark family, is a prized sport fish and landing one from the shore is rare, especially a big one. Gareth, however, has become synonymous with catching and releasing these fish, often taking clients out to battle this hard-fighting species, where he frequently lands fish of a lifetime on an almost daily basis.
One big tope from the shore is an achievement for any angler, so when you consider that Gareth has now caught and safely released over 200 tope—including 18 over 50 lbs and three over 70 lbs—it’s only fitting that his latest fish, an 86lb 12oz beast, is set to break the British shore-caught record when verified.
YOU CAN WATCH SOME OF THE EPIC CAPTURES ON THE GG GUIDING YOUTUBE HERE...
"Tope are incredibly strong fish and your gear needs to be up to the job if you are going to target them, it is one thing hooking a big tope, it is another thing landing them," Gareth told us.
"My setup consists of a Century Kompressor SS rod, coupled with a Daiwa Saltist BG30 reel, spooled with 20lb Varivas Yellow Sport line and a 100lb Rovex 10x leader," he added.
"For bait, I favour mackerel that I catch during the session, it is what the tope are feeding on and nothing beats a big fresh bait when targeting these predators."
IF YOU WANT TO GO AND CATCH TOPE OR OTHER FISH, YOU CAN GET IN TOUCH WITH GARETH HERE....
Most anglers would be happy to have one record under their belt, as it is a feat very few achieve in their lifetime, but this tope may well become Gareth’s third shore-caught record fish, joining his Welsh record haddock and British record black-mouthed dogfish.
"I've been fishing for 40 years and after helping many anglers catch their bucket list fish, it was nice to catch one of my dream fish too," he said.
"It has already been a successful season so far, with my latest clients landing 20 tope with the biggest fish weighing 37lb, 51lb, 56lb, 61lb and 68lb, all of which are released safely to fight another day."
IF YOU WANT TO START SEA FISHING, HERE IS A USEFUL BEGINNERS GUIDE.
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