Predictably difficult

I’m off for a few days now so looking at the forecast I decided to fish yesterday afternoon into darkness. The calm spell was coming to an end overnight Wednesday into Thursday and I intended to be fishing when that happened.  Despite the tiny tides I thought this would present an opportunity as I’ve done well in the past when after a calm spell of a few days, the wind kicks in.  Possibly one of the hottest afternoons I’ve fished in Scotland at 28c, predictably the fishing was rock hard, but I had a couple of small fish.  As the sun went down, I managed two school Bass on the Autowalker as well as a couple of Mackerel.  If Dimitrios @Lurmaniac looks in, that’s the lure christened!  I switched over to a Dolive when it was dark and had another couple of fish just as the wind picked up and the tide dropped. I was feeling positive that the prospect of a better fish was on the cards. A couple of flashes of lightning put an end to that and my first night session for years ended abruptly just as I was getting into it.  Being on the rocks at night alone, with a rod, didn't feel like the right place to be in those circumstances.  I’ll get a few sessions in somewhere Friday to Sunday on the kayak, not sure on the prospects to be fair but I’ll have a go.  I’ll check the forecast, load the van up and see where it takes me.

Nice weekend

We dodged through the thunder and lightning on Friday night and just before we set up the van it came to an end.  After a bit of a lay in on Saturday morning and two of the finest bacon rolls ever made, I picked up a few fish in a 45 min session.  I wish it was always that easy, the best one might have made just over 2 pounds but a handful of school bass and a mackerel was a nice way to get to lunchtime before breaking camp and moving on.  

Saturday night saw the wife and I eat out together for the first time in 6 months which was nice. It still feels a bit odd to be honest, people are still cagey.  Shortly after we finished we just decided to go back to the van for a few drinks and a movie. The overnight rain was pretty heavy and it kept me awake, there were a few growls and some snoring, the dog made a few noises as well.  Sunday morning arrived and we slung the door open and had a coffee as the sunshine poured in.  The three of us were a bit lazy and we didn't get moving till late morning. Two hours fishing was agreed as a trade off, for what I'm not sure yet but I had pretty much the same result.  I just had to work a little harder to get them in the gin clear water and early afternoon sunshine.  Sink and draw with a FBM in deeper water did the trick.  I also managed my first Bass off the surface, tragic as that is with it being August.  We had a great weekend despite it starting with a burst valve while checking the spare tyre pressure. The to do list for this week includes that and a decent windbreak.

Lucky old boat

It was nice to see Paul getting amongst the fish from my old boat in NE of England.  Nice one, good to see it getting a run out.

Catching on a catch up

It was great to see Sam and as usual, we caught a few fish. My Perch gear took an absolute hammering, lures, weights, jig heads and leader. If there was a snag Sam would find it, good to see you again but let's make the social on a weekend.  Today's been a challenge! 

Slow day on the bay

Being a month late to the party and looking at reports from last week, I wasn't optimistic about catching a Tope. I wish I'd been wrong, we didn't get a run all day.  In fact, the fishing was slow and it was a day of picking up bits and bobs, for Jamie at least. I was left with the bits as he caught  a few species more than me.

An early Smoothound on last years crab, great fun on the 6 pound class rod.

As usual we had a few laughs, most of which were on me as I was having an absolute shitter of a day and wasn't sure what was coming next.  The most positive thing I can say about yesterday was that I didn't end up falling out the boat...

We contemplated staying out to fish the start of the flood but decided against it. About an hour after this picture was taken  the wind picked up and it was a sea of white caps from the NW.  I hope I'm on better form on Tuesday, back to freshwater and hopefully some Perch with my mate Sam.

Back on the Revo

At long last we were back afloat. Our chosen venue is always a challenge and given we were not match fit it was a tiring day. We battled against what is a heavy flow of water, even on yesterday’s tides, for most of the day. The fishing was a little disappointing and I averaged about a fish an hour, it was a long day. It was the kind of day for me that every fish felt like a fluke and I was working out nothing as I was going about it, if that makes sense?  There was hardly any sign of baitfish and nothing happened that would lift our hopes too much that things would switch on. We also gave the surrounding area a good look over as well. It was interesting to note a spot with 5 seals lined up feeding near the shore over the top of the tide. I’ve not had shore session with lures at night for a while, this area is most definitely worth a look.

My intention was to target Tope the next day, the weather window to do this comfortably was about 4am to about 9am. It was hard to leave the van after Saturday’s effort, so I made my mind up and had a few beers, a chat with a couple of anglers I had met, and a lazy Sunday morning on the beach. It was just nice to wake up to a view when I opened my van door.

Hitting the road

We thought we would be on the road by Easter but then the world had  the handbrake firmly applied. Over the last three days we reconnected with old friends, got lucky with the weather and visited a beer garden that had just opened.  It was an enjoyable and long awaited start to van adventures. Life's just got a little better.

Walkabout

I was feeling motivated yesterday, walking, climbing and casting in new areas.  I’m actually aching today and opted to have a solpadol  with my breakfast.  It was an interesting day where I had decent numbers of fish at points then didn’t have a touch for 3 hours straight. The highlight of the day were 4 fish caught sink and draw in about 30ft of water, unusual for me. The only lure they were interested in at that point was a khaki FBM which had seen better days.  Funny how the fish appear to know you don’t have a spare.

A good Friday

Despite just being back at work on Monday I took a half day, it was a good call.  I'm loving fishing weightless at the moment. My old Century HPR is just a great rod for this type of approach, it's a joy to use.

Nothing off the top yet which is odd. I tried the Autowalker, casts well, love the action and I did lose a fish on it. I also had my first Bass on the FBM this year, pictured below.

I managed to hang the lure up and I didn't expect to get it back. When it came free I cranked it in as fast I could to check the leader and this little fish wolfed it. A further 2 Bass and a stray Coalie  followed in 6 casts retrieved at top speed., whatever works I suppose...

Shambles

For business, for the economy, for outdoor pursuits. I said at the start of this our FM would never walk any of this forward, despite her statements it would be considered. As we move into phase 1.5 the virtual borders continue. I'm classed as a tourist in my own country if I wish to travel responsibly more than 5 miles. It's increasingly difficult to understand where the guidance which is riddled with contradiction comes from.  Some good work has been done and I feel for those that still have to shield, but Sturgeon is moving at a snails pace. A lot of it makes no sense and the little smirks  where we are fed the odd crumb of freedom is sickening to watch.

Thankfully I'm back at work, my employer is not based in Scotland, just as well really.

Ambush anti climax

A dour session to be fair, but I managed to find some fish where I expected them to be as the tide dropped. I’ve tracked baitfish and bass from my kayak at this spot and set up an ambush from the shore. I caught three in about 10 mins, then nothing for the next 2 hours. I expected the last couple of hours to be reasonable as the fish passed through but hey ho, that’s fishing. The DoLive quietly flicked into their path did the trick. The rest of session I had been tramping over boulders without a touch, kayak time soon, hopefully for some Tope.

18 Bass from three sessions and apart from two, they could have been the same fish, we can but try.

Dimitrios kindly sent my two new lures to try. These were designed by a mate of his from Cyprus, no doubt they look the part. The Autowalker at 115mm and just over 20g should cast like a bullet. They look to have Decoy hooks and being through wired, up to the job. I’ve not had a fish from the surface yet this year but I’ll give them a run out on my next session and report back. There's been some nice Bass caught on these having had a look on YouTube.

Hot hot hot!

Jamie and I had our first joint session of the year yesterday. We travelled in two vehicles for obvious reasons and chatted on the phone about where we could have been today, but that will come soon enough. One thing I pointed out was at the minute, this area was on top of the highest water temperature for ten years for this day in June. Probably not too surprising given we’ve had the sunniest May on record and possibly explained what happened later in our session. After Saturday I was dressed for the weather, wide brimmed hat and sun mitts that I usually wear when I’m abroad, it was just great to be back out again.

After a couple of blank hours Jamie opened his account with his first fish of the year, a nice little Bass of about 1.5 pounds as a breeze picked up putting some movement on the water. Until that point there had been no seals, birds and the sea was oily calm with no signs of life.  What happened next was unusual, for about an hour, on every other cast, I had Garfish follow and nip a variety of lures. Some were big, some were small and in between them I caught a few school bass. Jamie who was 30 yards away didn’t see one, bizarre given what was happening in front of me. I caught one here 6 years ago on a Mag Popper and I was wishing I had a small sea trout metal with me. I’m certain I would have landed a few yesterday. There’s no doubt we have them in Scottish waters, but I’ve never come across so many before. Maybe it was the unseasonal weather we’ve been having?

I picked my way through some small Bass here and there, the DoLive’s which were effective on Saturday were redundant yesterday. As we moved, I changed to the Wexford Worm AKA the Wave Bamboo Stick and picked up two better fish around 2.5 pounds from two gulleys as Jamie watched while taking a break. It’s a great way to fish just rolling these around, nice on a warm afternoon, minimum effort then “dink” fish on! It was good fun with the fish taking some line as they tore down the gully with my rod high to keep the line away from the rock ledges. We called it a day shortly after that, another super day where you appreciate freedom even more.

Unlocked!

Me smiling again, with not a beer in site as well. 

A magnificent day back on the shoreline, fantastic weather and some Bass caught weightless and weedless on a DoLive. It was such a nice way to fish today I eventually just stuck with that, working the gulleys, breaking waves and any tide I could find. It’s good to be back! Let’s hope the worst is behind us and we can move on with our lives in general as well as fishing.

Nearly June and the first fish of the year. I was certainly pleased to see it.

The chunkiest of the day, this one and three of his little pals came out a classic gully scenario. I had a little spell where if I managed to line the cast up and drift it along on the correct line I knew I was getting a hit.

Hello!

For anyone who still occasionally looks in on Tide Lines I’m still alive! Like lots of people I’m furloughed at the minute and facing the same uncertainties as most of us. I’m doing alright and hope you are as well.

This is the first time I’ve logged on to my blog since November last year, it’s also the longest lay off I’ve had from fishing that I can remember. Not that it’s been too far away from my thoughts. The ideas and plans that I started to think about around September last year have kind of came to fruition. It is also fair to say that executing them completely is on the back burner till further notice.

I looked for a van for around five months and went from considering a VW Caddy Maxi to T5 during the process. The change was mainly driven to accommodate weekends away, not just for myself, but also my wife and our dog. I eventually bought my T5 in January and have been getting it set up since. The money pit is now ready to hit the road. Being able to make the most of the better spells of weather and do long weekends trips or longer should add another dimension to my fishing. If it all goes wrong in the year ahead, I’ve always got somewhere to live…

My gear is ready and so am I, lets see what Sturgeon says in the weeks ahead. The fish have had a decent break, as have I, game on sometime soon. I’ll leave you with a quote from The Old Man and the Sea. If you’ve read it, you’ll see the link to the name of my boat.

“Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is.”

If you’re struggling things will get better, if you need help, talk to someone.

Last minute trip

I looked out the window as I had my coffee on Saturday morning, too good to be sitting at home I thought. An hour later I was packed and in the car. In short, lots of fish, particularly in the first three hours. The average size I would say is way down given the numbers of fish I caught, I might have expected one or two much better fish. To me, the demise of what is a small area is clear to see, changing baselines, the average size of the fish is getting smaller. This in my opinion is not down to the seals but social media driven angling pressure. Well done if you read this. I’ll try it again between now and December, but I doubt I’ll be seeing any fish knocking on for double figures again, hope I’m wrong.

A happy Monday

Opportunities to get out have been few and far between and being off work on Monday the forecast was too good to pass on, so I got my kit ready late on Sunday night. It was a pleasure to be afloat again, light winds, cloud cover and hardly a sign of anyone else afloat. It was certainly more relaxing than my last trip here. There were also plenty of fish around, Pollack, Bass, Cod and Gurnards. Being a small tide with light winds it gave me the chance to fish weightless in an area I’ve wanted to try. One of the challenges I’ve found is that on a kayak, fishing weightless, with control, on specific drifts isn’t easy. From 14 Bass the 2 best fish came via this method using a Wave Tiki Stick, food for thought. It’s much easier to fish with some precision using tide, waves or wind when your feet are planted in one area while shore fishing. I’ll probably make myself an anchor set up with no chain, on a short rope, that I can deploy quietly and quickly in shallow areas for this in the future.    

Little white Pal

I got the conditions so wrong it wasn't funny last Sunday. I expected it to be hard going in the strong offshore winds but the sea was incredibly lumpy. 2 hours was enough. My little white pal, worked slowly, induced a lot of plucks and a few Bass in three foot of visibility. I should have known better, trying to make up for lost time this year had the better of me, I expect it will again, it will be a long winter.

Kerry by Kayak

At start of my holiday I managed a couple of trips, but I felt I needed a few days away to reset the clock, so to speak. The forecast for the remainder of my time off was looking grim, there was little prospect of getting afloat anywhere that interested me. I had a look on Windguru and XC Weather and set off for Co Kerry at 24-hour notice.

It was a fair old road trip, a ferry, three countries and three tolls roads. I actually arrived in Ballinskelligs at 5pm after a few comfort breaks.

 I stayed at the Skellig Lodge, hosted by Freda. I can recommend the lodge for budget accommodation and location, as well as Freda’s hospitality. It’s a great spot to explore the area and it suited me for the coming and going at the hours an angler keeps on these kinds of trips. If you book, try and do this with her directly, the cost will be less than using a booking platform.If you are a Star Wars fan you will probably recognise the rock which sits imposingly just off shore. Another time, I would liked to have made that trip.

I had a cracking view across the bay. After a couple of glasses of wine and a social with a few of the other residents, it didn’t take long before I was ready for bed. I could hear the waves on the beach about 500 yards away and I was glad I had made the effort to get away.

I had three days fishing planned with the option of a fourth if I decided to arrive home and go straight back to work the next day. I knew next to nothing about the area, but I had fished the wider bay area for two days a few years back. To be fair, I was relaxed about the prospects. I opted for here for a chance of some Bass and Pollack, but as much as anything, just to get away from it all.

Day one was forecast to be bright and flat calm. I opted to launch at the castle beach area in Ballinskelligs, about 500 yards from my bedroom. That certainly beat my normal two- hour drive, this put a smile on face from the get-go as I got my gear ready. I was straight in to fish, albeit just small Pollack, on the weed line across towards the pier and I managed a 40cm Bass before the tide bottomed out and the sun hit the water fully. The fishing wasn’t great, but it was a good day to get around and have a look at various spots. I didn’t look at my mileage log when I was on the water but by the end of the session, I had done 12.9 miles! In hindsight, I should have spent less time trying for Bass at the head of Waterville Bay, towards the abandoned hotel. I chased Gannets and Terns, trolled and drifted in the tide and threw every lure in the box. I was also out in the centre of the bay, by mid-afternoon I was at Horse Island looking for Pollack. Even on a calm day the swell was a challenge at that spot. I spent the last few hours between Horse Island and the main harbour. There was a stack of bait and I took countless Pollack to about 40cms. The interesting thing for me was how fussy they were. 

Poor conditions for Kerry Bass. Right about here, the little Pollack were smacking the SP's in 5-10ft of water, good fun.

The FBM’s that had worked in the morning were totally redundant, in any colour. The only thing that would work were soft plastics in natural sandeel or pearl, with a thin profile and fished on the lightest jig head I had, which was about 8 grams.  Not the worst start on a new venue and an enjoyable day afloat. I was asleep by 9.30pm.

Day two saw me launching on the opposite side of the bay. I took a wrong turn while exiting Waterville, but I had fantastic view of the bay from the high road that heads south.

There was an increase in wind strength and the slip had a slight swell landing on it, but the direction was fine being from the SW. This was good news, more movement as well as some cloud cover improved my prospects for Bass. I had some fantastic drifts along the shoreline where I expected to get hit on every cast. I started to pick up the small Pollack but nothing of any note. As the tide turned, the wind increased, as did the swell, my legs were over the side constantly while on the drift. I was travelling across a rocky point in 10ft of water when my rod bent over, it was heavy with slow, solid head shakes, it felt like a Bass and a good one at that. On the previous drift I had caught a few small Pollack, pretty much what I was expecting again, but this felt odd. It was coming in like a heavy wet sack. Despite me thinking it was a Bass I still surprised when a lovely fish of 7/8 pounds appeared.The drag was clamped down tight as I was in Pollack territory, I backed this off a bit and grabbed the net, as I did this, the fish at last realised what was going on. It made it’s one and only run and kelped me. Normally backing off with slack I would be getting the fish to swim out, but the drift had taken me around it and it felt like I had put a further loop of braid around the kelp. I waited ten minutes, when I came tight, I could feel the fish occasionally lunging and the braid slipping against the kelp, a horrible feeling. The fluro eventually broke. I pedalled off swearing and cut off 20ft of braid and tied a new leader.

I started to pick up the odd Wrasse, about the only things there were interested in the FBM's. This one darted out from below my boat following the lure, which I  duly dropped down again. It then rearranged my deck space, FBM and put my reel in the water. Aggressive Irish Wrasse indeed!

About an hour, later I was drifting about 80 yards off the surf line, 12ft of water and was just thinking how good it looked, yet again…. As I tapped my lure along the bottom, I had a solid take and a nice couple of runs, thank goodness. As I was netting the fish, I backed out with the 180 drive, took a few quick snaps and set myself up for the next drift, bang! It felt like I had found them, maybe they found me? With four fish in 30 mins, it was done. I fished hard for a good while but couldn’t locate them again, tired, it was time to hit the beach.

The camera gremlins were back, this pissed me off, my fault entirely . I had the sun slightly behind me.The Revo is a long unit to manoeuvre so I paid the price and lost the quality of the images.

 My final day, the wind 15-20mph, rain, a good day for Bass in these here parts I’m told. Due to the swell, I didn’t fancy yesterday’s launch site, possibly a mistake on my part. Despite a hardcore 5 hours constant effort all I had were Mackerel. I hit the areas at the head of the bay hard where terns and gannets were at it constantly. I did some chasing, but there was one area that had almost constant activity, absolutely nada, Ready for a change I headed off to a spot I had marked on the plotter on the way out. I put away the light rod, picked up the Morethan and tightened the drag down as much as I dared, I needed to. 

This went home to Freda.

Great fun, with the reel only giving the slightest of ground in very heavy cover, the curve of the rod was alarming. Just what you need on a dour day. I was wishing I had done more of this, it was feet over the sides job in the choppy waves and swell. It looks OK in the images, but it took some attention.

The average stamp of fish was good, mid 60’s and a few that were probably over 70cm. 

The forecast was good for Monday and I could have stayed another day. Having clocked up 26 miles in 3 days I was feeling a little jaded. I did however think about it when I woke up to another Kerry sunrise. I really enjoyed this trip, I'll be back here at some point.

Who caught who?

It was calmer than we expected, maybe too calm as they say.  About half an hour from our chosen launch site Jamie checked the forecast, still looking good. There was a change in direction around mid-day with an increase in strength for an hour. It was forecast to drop off again late till afternoon, all was good. This spot is better left to the smaller tides when you’re on a kayak, even today, with next to no wind we were drifting 1.5-1.8mph and with a sketchy looking swell against the tide the big guy let me have the honour of the first drift through. I opted for an FBM with a 25g offshore head which looked and felt about right. The first fish of the day thought so as well, a solid start.

I was just dealing with unhooking the fish when I heard Jamie on the radio saying he was hooked up behind me. I had a look round and could see him playing the fish which he had hooked on the troll.  I took a pedal over for a look and to reposition myself for the next drift.

It was feeling like the choice of venue had paid off. The next couple of hours were busy, Jamie mixed it up with trolling and casting and picked up another decent fish along with some Pollack and a few Bass.

The bait at times was thick on the ground

Bass snacks

Bass at work. I picked two of these off from below the Revo

I was having a lot of success sink and draw so stuck with that, great fun mostly 45cm fish with a sprinkling of mid 50’s the radio banter was in full flow. We could see in the distance the sheets of rain heading our way, we debated how long it would take to hit us. It just happened that these black clouds were bang on que with the forecast change,you could feel the conditions changing, bigger swells, more wind and a few white caps. After about an hour I decided to check the forecast update and got Jamie on radio, we need to go, sharpish. He agreed, we both knew it would be a rough ride. XC Weather was a nice shade of yellow, in the mid-twenties, for the foreseeable. The squall we could see coming earlier and expected to pass, didn’t.

The journey back for me was a lot faster than Jamie’s. His was clearly more comfortable but harder work. The difference between the boats was noticeable. When you’ve got tide and waves building out of deeper water into 5-8ft in depth it gets nasty. I also had to take a longer route, with a view to spending less time side on when making the turn to the launch site approach. Jamie was about ½ mile behind me as I did my first surf landing on the Revo. It was edgy, that  trip back was the absolute limit for me. I wouldn’t be keen to be doing that again in a hurry. I was glad to be back on the beach, I’m not going to lie.

. 

What a day....

Multiple pieces of kit failing, some it my fault, some just bad luck. I wasn't really comfortable fishing here without a sounder as the area is completely unknown to me. It's also not without some risk while fishing alone, a large swell, tide and  reflected waves kept  me on my toes. It certainly isn't Skye but it has potential. I had about a dozen Pollack but cut my trip short, it felt like the right thing to do after nearly being run over by an arsehole in a RIB. Even when they did see me in the swell, while on the way to Specsavers, Mr McGoo powered on past and didn't come down an inch from the plane. A flag  on my boat certainly might help. When it whispers, listen, my two day trip became one, some repairs are required as well as a new rod .....