Thu Mar 18, 2004 1:11 am
Split Rock, Howth, Paddy's Day 2004, 12.00am-5.00pm, Bait: Mackerel, Mussell, Ragworm
Fished the Split Rock today in Howth. The weather was good and it wasn't that windy, both essential for fishing this mark. Also the time we were fishing allowed us to fish for long enough and still make it back up the cliff before getting cut off by the tide which circles around the rocks. I decided to fish off the right hand side of the spilt straight out at about 50 yards.
I tried tipping baits with mussell which had worked well around the Ballscadden area and sure enough it did the trick and on my first reel in I hooked a whiting which was a real suprise, to see them here so late. My second reel in came to nothing and on my third, up came another whiting. I clipped on a new trace quickly and cast out only to see a big bite on my rod tip. It looked like a doggie bite but to my amazement it was a huge whiting. I tried to reel it up the rock but it decided to swim under the rock ledge and broke my line and I watched the biggest whiting I've ever hooked swim away.
In between fishing we had some craic doing some mini-species fishing in the pools in the spilt using hand lines. Gobys and Shannys darted at the bait but our hooks were a bit too big. I finished off with a double shot of fish, a whiting and a good sized dab. I hadn't expected to catch anything at this time of year but it just shows how good this mark is , overall I caught five whiting and a dab. The biggest whiting was a good one by Howth standards, a plumb one measuring 25cm.
I would recomend this mark to anyone as even though no other mark in Howth is producing much fish at this time of year this one still throws them up. Yet this is probably one the most dangerous marks I have ever fished so be careful and watch the tide. Thanks to Kieran for the info :D
(P.S we tried the trick using the bottle tied to mackerel to keep the seals busy. After a few minutes it dissapeared so it must have done the trick or either they didn't enjoy the constant screech of the bird colony who didn't shut up all day :lol: )