off Blacksod Lighthouse, Sunday 24th July 2016

Hi all

I know a boat report from me, I wasn't expecting this either... !

We had originally intended to go fishing off the Glosh Tower but with the wind in the NW, it was very exposed. Ballyglass and all the northern marks bar Scotchport would have been similar and they're all fishing poorly this year. We were about to join a few human seals on Cross Strand, where there was a decent surf thanks to the rip when I go a call from a mate - Sean Lavelle the skipper of the Doloree and a new monster cat Kea Josh (stunning boat) who suggested a trip around in a curragh... we'd already driven down to the Black lighthouse and wandered around the pier at low water. Spotted a shoal of very fat (5 lb +) mullet cruising outside the walls... nice to see them.

So we were booted and suited (me) and oilskins (Sean K) by the time Sean L landed.

Weather was not too bad, dry, blustery and my recollection was HW was due in around 9 pm. We set off from Blacksod pontoon in a curragh with a 5 HP at around 4 pm, maybe 4:30 pm and ran out of the moorings and up south west around the point, over the exceptionally shallow breaker, and up around 100 metres back the lighthouse to a bizarre structure that had a deep hole on one side and another deep hole with a weird patch of sand on the other. It's within reach from the shore and must be the mark often described. According to SL there's another set of marks on the next point but we started a drift them there and never bothered motoring up against the current (swift)... anyhow a selection of Pollack up to 3lbs, most in the 1-2 lb range, some smaller, provided some sport over the kelp on short sets of feathers. SL got a fine hit but missed a better fish before we hit the macks - most of the way to the buoy. Good fish, decent size, mad shoal of them, waiting to haul up full houses. Had a bucket of fish after the first drift. Motored back and fished down a second drift with similar results, although with the tide strengthening the drift pulled us faster around the point.

At this stage, SL's wee girl was suffering from the wind so we wandered back and he put more petrol in the can and handed me the craft. It's been a few years since I was out in my own boat, and a curragh rides a lot higher in the water but we managed to avoid all the lines and boats on the way out and went back for two more drifts. These gave us about 30 more mackerel and not a single Pollack, again mostly a fair distance out, in fact most of the way out to the buoy. SK had some issues with the supplied Mitchel reel (our not having any boat rods) and I lost of set of feathers on a snag, but as the weather turned and wind freshened, we motored back to the pontoon well satisfied with a few hours out... It's put an awful gra on me for my own boat, especially when you compare what we managed in four drifts over average ground with what we might have picked up from the shore on the same mark!

Talking to another skipper, the macks were right inshore the previous morning... so they're up for grabs if you're out and about in Mayo.

I can see you're not used to doing boat reports, you posted in the wrong place! Fishing from a curragh, cool.

Hi John

Ah jaysus! It says it all...

I have been scowering the net looking for boat plans for a currach, ideally one a bit smaller than 19 foot. Any ideas? will post elsewhere too...

Kieran