Tope species guide • Sea fish • Moderate (6/10)

Tope junior fishing guide

Galeorhinus galeus

A clear, plain-English guide to tope for parents, coaches and juniors. See where they live, the best starter tackle, simple bait choices and a three-step plan to help young anglers catch their first one safely.

🎣 View starter tackle setups 📋 Log a Tope catch
Junior-first & welfare-aware • 3-step beginner plan • UK venues & seasons
Skill & size • Seasons • Beginner baits

Skill level

Moderate (6/10)

Best with some experience or support from a coach.

Best time

Spring–Autumn

Pick mild, settled days for junior sessions.

Typical size

20–40 lb common; much larger possible.

Always match hooks, nets & lines to expected fish size.

🐟

Beginner baits

Bluey (blue whiting), Herring / sprat, Mackerel strip …

Keep it simple — small hook baits, little-and-often feeding.

Typical venues: Deep inshore channels and offshore marks with strong tides.
Scroll down for detailed tackle setups, methods and parent-friendly guidance.
Catch your first tope with confidence

Catch your first Tope in 3 steps

A simple, repeatable plan juniors can follow with help from a parent, coach or older angler.

  1. Step 1

    Specialist shark trips only

    Tope are powerful sharks and not a casual junior target. Any junior involvement should be from charter boats with experienced skippers and shark anglers.

  2. Step 2

    Heavy gear and circle hooks

    Strong rods, big reels, wire traces and circle hooks are standard. Juniors can help bait up, watch runs and assist under supervision.

  3. Step 3

    Emphasise catch-and-release ethics

    Use Tope to show how large sharks are tagged, unhooked and released alongside the boat, keeping them in the water at all times.

Tackle setups that work

Designed with juniors and fish welfare in mind. Start with an IDEAL or GOOD setup for easier casting and safe unhooking.

👉 Swipe sideways to view different setups.

Boat Rod

Beginner tip: These fish are **coach only** targets – emphasise safety, harness use where relevant and careful release.

IDEAL

Rod: 6–8 ft 12–30 lb class boat rod (uptide/downtide depending on venue).

Reel: Boat multiplier filled with 30–50 lb braid.

Line: 30–50 lb braid mainline with appropriate mono leader or rubbing trace.

Terminal tackle

  • ["Strong mono or wire traces"
  • "Large hooks"
  • "Heavy leads matched to tide"]

Extras

  • ["Fighting harness where needed"
  • "Heavy-duty landing gear"
  • "Long-handled t-bar or disgorger"]

Heavy boat setup for deep-water species, rays and sharks – always with skipper / coach supervision.

Downtide Rod

Beginner tip: These fish are **coach only** targets – emphasise safety, harness use where relevant and careful release.

IDEAL

Rod: 6–8 ft 12–30 lb class boat rod (uptide/downtide depending on venue).

Reel: Boat multiplier filled with 30–50 lb braid.

Line: 30–50 lb braid mainline with appropriate mono leader or rubbing trace.

Terminal tackle

  • ["Strong mono or wire traces"
  • "Large hooks"
  • "Heavy leads matched to tide"]

Extras

  • ["Fighting harness where needed"
  • "Heavy-duty landing gear"
  • "Long-handled t-bar or disgorger"]

Heavy boat setup for deep-water species, rays and sharks – always with skipper / coach supervision.

Uptide Rod

Beginner tip: These fish are **coach only** targets – emphasise safety, harness use where relevant and careful release.

IDEAL

Rod: 6–8 ft 12–30 lb class boat rod (uptide/downtide depending on venue).

Reel: Boat multiplier filled with 30–50 lb braid.

Line: 30–50 lb braid mainline with appropriate mono leader or rubbing trace.

Terminal tackle

  • ["Strong mono or wire traces"
  • "Large hooks"
  • "Heavy leads matched to tide"]

Extras

  • ["Fighting harness where needed"
  • "Heavy-duty landing gear"
  • "Long-handled t-bar or disgorger"]

Heavy boat setup for deep-water species, rays and sharks – always with skipper / coach supervision.

About the Tope

Tope are long, powerful sharks that run extremely hard and demand strong, specialist tackle. They are usually targeted from boats or selected deep shore marks.

Junior tip

Only fish for tope with a qualified skipper or very experienced shark angler. Always follow fish-handling guidelines and release them quickly.

Logged a Tope recently?

Add a catch report so juniors can see where they’re being caught, which baits work and how your tackle was set up.

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Want to discover more species? Browse the full species guide.

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