Cobh- Cork Harbour

Here is the impressive cathedral in Cobh ( note the gill net in the foreground apparently banned but 20 ft from an inland fisheries car which was parked....)

I stood in a nice little harbour with a cruise ship where the Titanic once sat anchored before its maiden voyage. I fed the Mullet for 40 minutes before they decided to play.

Cork Harbour

The Irish are lucky in many ways as we we know. Cork Harbour what a place! So many options and angling possibilities. I spent a morning afloat and then in afternoon in Cobh when Jim attended a fisheries meeting the Mullet whisperer's idle hands were at play.

Wexford plastic fantastic

What can I say about this place on my first visit? Tough fishing, tough weather some nice fish on a new method in tough conditions....


I visited Jim and took part in the Hendricks experience. The man does not stop. Miles we drove miles we walked covering the water and what water it is. I had the pleasure of visiting some interesting and varied Bass environments that even when the prospect of a fish seemed distant the possibilities kept us both focused as Jim knew and I was aware what might happen next.

Jim talked me through the use of soft plastics and how to fish them in the strong tidal environment with some success on my virgin Irish Bass outing.

Starters orders

Bags packed of a fashion, weather playing up and I hope the Bass are playing as well....

Somersualting Sea Trout

Hooked up with my old mate Rodney tonight for a long overdue session for Sea Trout. It has to be said that Rodder's mood was less than positive for some reason. But it is amazing what a take on on your first cast can do to lighten the frame of mind....I've got one, he says in the most surprised manner...

We had some fantastic fun, lost more than we caught and also had these two cracking fish of 2.7 and 2.5. My fish will stay in my memory for a long time,superb scrap with 6 or 7 high jumps and screeching runs on a light drag, happy as Larry as the man says and a satisfying way to hit number 30 in the species hit list. Really pleased with this one and Rodder's was the cheshire cat at the end of night!

Rock Goby & Common Goby

Another one for the species list.... 28, edit from Monday 29 another addition on Wednesday without too many posts about Goby's had a few other Rock Goby's and three Common Goby's..

First Mullet of the year!

Imagine trying to sleep in a caravan with a Harley Davidson ticking over 3 ft from your pillow? So off I went as a result of Les and his snoring and landed on the chosen spot at about 5am. Having spotted the fish on a scouting mission the previous morning they were there in the same spot at roughly the same time. Having fed them with an offering the previous day I was optimistic about my chances. With the forecast being what it was for Sharkatag I had packed my Bass and Mullet gear planning this as a possible back up. Anyway, had an offer on my second cast and missed it and then struck at a line bite so when the third offer came along I was now warmed up and off the fish went. Nothing like it at that time of the morning to get the adrenalin going, better than an espresso! 5 minutes later my first of the year was beaten and some pictures taken and the fish returned. I then headed to Ardwell to meet with Gordon for the next leg of the Sharkatag but the weather unfortunately beat us on the day with a straight southerly no good to anyone. So...will post some pictures shortly but in the meantime here is a shot from the caravan with Michael and Jason's pup (which was seasick on Saturday) Its doesn't seem to have put Sinbad off by the looks of it !

The fish above shows some conflicting ID points according to the National Mullet Club site, the jugular space under the chin too wide- not a Thick Lip as well as the lips a being different, gold spot behind the gill like a GG but no slime, no black patch on the pectoral fin like a Thin Lip ??? Watch this space this needs further investigation, better pictures and a closer look the next time I'm in the area.

Sharkatag Event

Home early due to the weather today...lousy too much wind in Luce Bay. I did manage a 5am start this morning thanks to big Les and his snorning but more about that later. It was worth it but with 4 hourse sleep on Saturday night I'm a tad tired today as the troops rocked in a 3.30am to start a snore fest!

Thanks to Gordon for another good day aboard Tickety Boo, Tope, Smuts and Thornbacks with more Scad than Mackeral as they were very hard to come by we still managed on frozen baits and fresh crab.

Another local session

Works was grim today so I required to empty the head went in search of another addition to the species list specifically trying for a Rockcook ( sad but true). These as well as any form of Rockling seem to avoid any offering cast forth for the time being, anyhoo added this meagre Pollack but caught lots of fish nevertheless but only this was a new one for me this year.

Back to some real fishing this weekend if the weather plays ball...

So so far this year 24 species to date

Bass....about time

Decided to scratch the itch and eventually focus on getting a Bass this morning. Went to where I caught my first Bass ,cut my teeth on them and also had my PB. Some things you don't forget.... decent fish as well,really thick set.

Thanks to Rodney for taking me there many years ago.

Self timer picture here so not the best, also need to remind myself to iron my face before I leave the house.

Been getting around..a Turbot here and a Smoothie there

Up in Aberdeen for a few days so packed a rod with the intention of targeting Turbot. I headed north after work tonight with some mackerel for bait to the Pirates Graveyard area, nice surf, incoming tide but lots of weed and thankfully some fish...two Turbo's and five Flounders. The best Turbot was 1pound 1oz not big by any stretch of the imagination but a welcome site as its zipped across the sand in the clear water. This is also a new club record as we don't seem to get too many down Ayrshire way or possibly not to date yet...

Will post a few pics od the Turbo when I get home.

We also had a club shore match last Sunday in Luce Bay despite favourable conditions the fishing was lousy. I managed to get lucky and catch the only Smut of the match(34 inches) to add to some Dog's. It provided a nice little russel on my light BTB amorphous rod. The Bass were strangely absent and Ian dropped a nice Huss estimated at 12 pounds. No pictures of my Smut which is a pity, it was raining heavily,I had a bitch of hangover and Jamie is still limping around. We gave it about five pounds and was the real point scorer that counted on the day with Dog's only worth 10 pts.

Prestwick

Monday night is not normally a night where I do much so Jamie and myself had a short session locally. The beach had a decent enough surf running initially but this flattened off as the light faded and the tide started to creep in. We both had a couple of small bites on crab baits and Jamie had a decent rattle as we were packing the rods away which resulted in this small Bass. They seem to be avoiding me for the time being and although I've not really tried for them serioulsy this year yet there have been a few around in the some of the places I've been so its time to get a couple of proper sessions under my belt but the fishing/social diary is pretty full at the moment.

Mooching around

Had crack at the mini species last night and got a nice surprise into the bargain. I started trying to catch some Gobies but only managed a bag of nine common Blennies, pretty funny watching and them and sadly quite addictive. I then moved on to the Wrasse, Corkwing, Goldsinny and amongst them a nice Ballan of just over two pounds. I was using my Mullet gear and had four pound line on the reel, just as well the drag was set as when I hooked it as comparatively this was like an express train and was a nice surprise. I also equaled the club record for Corkwing but this was about 2-3 oz lighter than the one I caught in April. As the light faded so did the bites and I changed tactics and threw some lures for half an hour without success, no joy yet for the elusive( for me so far) Bass. I caught another fish which I need to confirm regarding its ID so we will wait and see about that one.

The sun's here and the winds gone!

I took the opportunity to get afloat with Jason on Tartan Spartan accompanying him and Gordon we set off early doors on Monday morning. We managed to eventually get enough Mackerel and I also fluked a solitary Herring. The targets were firstly the Smut's then the Bream, followed by a shot at Bass and all things being equal some Tope. I put out a two hook rig with some fresh crab and picked up a few doggies which were soon followed by a couple of decent smoothies and a smaller one about three pounds. Off to the Bream mark- no show but Jason got a small Huss- off to the Bass mark- no show. The weather was glorious so we set off to find some Tope with Jason eventually getting a good run on a live Whiting but the Tope then dropped the bait and disappeared. In total we had 9 species including a nice Tub Gurnard for me, stacks of whiting and Grey Gurnards, Dab's, Mack's and the usual Dog's

Jamie's first Bass of the year

After a pretty miserable time at the match yesterday Jamie got a lift today with his first Bass of the year, two Bass in fact. We ventured south again to an area that would provide some shelter from the horrendous wind which at times was so strong it almost lifted me me from the rocks I was casting from. Jamie's fish came as the tide turned and my reward was an 8 inch Coalie...

We probably overstayed our visit but in the absence of another suitable venue which would be reasonable comfortable to fish as well as safe we stuck it out. The Gannets worked the bay for 5 hours solid and as the tide rose they were hitting the water 30 yards from shore, it looked like both the Gannets and Jamie had their tea in the bag, for me it was the walk of shame up the beach and a chip butty on the way home!

Carrick in a hooli

We braved the elements today rescheduling the club match to a venue which was less dangerous than the proposed mark. Conditions looked promising for Bass at least and with a decent turnout hopes were high that we would pick up a few with the chance of a Smut or two on the cards. The first half of the match worked out well for me in terms of numbers of fish, the second part was well... crap! There were only three Bass caught two of which came to Will right at the start but there were reasonable numbers of fish and each angler had something on the score sheet. For me it was Eel's, Flounders and Doggies- 8 fish and 4th place. I didn't add any decent scoring round fish to my tally but there was also a Cod and a Huss caught and Stu ran out winner on the day with a total of 16 fish including the Huss. Jamie had the Cod and Malky the other Bass ,Will did well with his two good scoring fish and Stevie plugged away on the Flounders.

Species caught today were Bass, Cod, Flounder, Huss, Eel, Rockling, LSD and Dab so most anglers added a few to their list for the year.

The weather was bang on for the last hour but is not forecast to last. I'm heading out on Monday again as I've plenty of crab left over. Monday ain't looking good but I've taken a day off so I will be trying for my first Bass of the year! I will post some pictures from today shortly.

Double Shot Day

Busy day today, plenty of fish over two sessions which was nice. Tried Creetown got there a little late but it didn't matter,the fish were in the right mood straight from the off. I fished to two rods with crab resulting in 13 Flounders in about an hour and half. Having had enough of the sinking mud as the tide dropped I took the notion to put my feet on a beach with some surf.

I arrived at the beach in the picture to be met with the Dumfries & Galloway air force pounding the channel between the receding tide and the reef, the usual in fact for this mark. This is where the Bass generally work as the sandeels have nowhere to go at that point in the tide so my hopes were high for my first Bass of the year. I fished a rod short in the channel and another on the edge of the reef hoping to pick up a Pollack ,then the hounds arrived and pretty big ones at that. Three double shots later I had a decent bite but when I picked the rod up it was solid, with some coaxing it came free and delivered me a nice little Ballan Wrasse and another Dog. With the tide now well on the way in I was expecting a Bass. On my last cast the rod nodded nicely followed by a slack liner, bingo, but as it happens not a Bass but the best Flounder of the day. It was good to get a few fish today.

Micro Smoothies

The forecast for the weekend came to fruition with strong SE's which duly led to the cancellation of the club boat competition. With some nice fresh crab burning a hole in the fridge myself and Willie decided to have a shot at some early Smut's. We eventually found them, for me it was left to the last cast of the day to land one having had three delicate bites on my last three casts as the tide dropped away about 2 hours after high water. At the same time Willie managed two Dog's and two Smut's. They were indeed certainly small and could be described as micro Smut's but my fish saved a blank and both myself and Willie added another species to the tally for the year. All in an enjoyable day with the sun shining on us again, life aint that bad and the fish will be bigger next time.

The end of the decent weather for the moment

I have a club boat match this weekend with the potential for Smoothies, Bass and possibly an early Tope. The weather has different plans, at the moment it looks like 20-40mph SSE's, hope it changes but I don't see a lull in on Winguru with more of the same for around a week. I can see a shore session on the cards, with some nice fresh crab it might be an option.

Pint

Had a few tonight, Aloe Blacc in Oran More, good night. Fish can wait for a while...