Chuckaroo had come UP with a plan to head DOWN to Kerry to try for a few rays etc so I put my name DOWN to make UP the numbers. He duly arrived at my place where we packed UP all the gear and headed off DOWN the long road to Kerry. We eventually arrived at Tralee Bay and having checked in at the b’n’b headed out to try a couple of hours SWFFing for bass. Not much action there but it stretched the legs after the drive. The wrong stage of the tide didn’t help either.
Saturday. Next morning we were UP bright and breezy, wolfed DOWN our breakfasts and headed off for some “proper” fishing. The route brought us DOWN an extremely narrow, overgrown lane and despite the heat we wound UP the windows for protection against the brambles and branches, my poor paintwork, fingernails down the blackboard all the way! I would swear that lane was trying to eat us. Another car was already there but we got parked comfortably and loaded UP, we trudged DOWN the remainder of the lane just as a third car arrived. A popular spot; there would eventually be a total of 9 anglers at the mark. Settling DOWN at our selected spots, we tackled UP and mackerel baits were soon flying. This trip was to consist of long periods of waiting with an occasional burst of activity though to be fair Chuckaroo had a nice 33cm flounder on his first cast. But we hadn’t come all this way for flounder as the 4/0 hook with matching substantial bait would testify. A burst of activity and now a couple of hours of waiting. It was getting very warm and as the cloud thinned it was time to break out the SPF 30, and No Chuckaroo, I won’t do your back! As my wandering attention returned to my rod tip I thought there was more of a bend in the tip than I usually fish with. Then it definitely nodded UP and DOWN a couple of times. I picked UP the rod and reeled DOWN to take in the slack and leaned back into some resistance. A few kicks confirmed it wasn’t weed or shells and the fish came in fairly easily. Once into the shallows it became a bit more lively as Chuckaroo waded out to ensure a safe landing. “Undulate” he called out. We got it ashore and as I turned it over the pennel hook rig just fell out of its mouth; no proper hookhold. A few photos of my new species (and P.B. all in the one day!) and a quick weigh (7lbs on the dot) and back it went, flicking its tail in a final act of indignation. I was so pleased I could have jumped UP and DOWN with joy, I’d have been quite happy to jump in the car and go all the way home. Another burst of activity, then after the obligatory quiet spell the tide was starting to push us off the mark. Time for some grub and a new mark.
By the time we reached the new spot the weather had changed, a cool breeze coming in off the sea brought some rain with it so we picked a sheltered spot and fished out of the car. We were a bit higher UP here and looking DOWN into the water we could see shoals of small fry drifting by in the flow with occasional signs of bigger fish attacking them but by the time Chuckaroo was ready with feathers they were gone. Several hours later we were thinking of calling it a day when Chuckaroo’s rod started bouncing a bit, fish on! With the fish in at the edge the problem was how to land it, rocks are slippery in the rain! Fortunately another two guys fishing along from us had a landing net and could reach DOWN and Chuckaroo’s fish was soon in the net being hauled UP, another undulate and Chuckaroo’s first. Another happy customer needless to say. He took that many photos he forgot to weigh it before returning it so had to estimate it at 6-7lbs. The rain was now coming DOWN hard so after 9hrs fishing, i.e. more than a day’s work, we packed UP. So endeth the day.
Sunday. Today was Brandon Bay day and a drive through some stunning scenery brought us to our chosen venue. We soon had 4 rods fishing bait on the sand and I settled DOWN to “mind” them while Chuckaroo wandered UP the rocky shore to try some lures for bass. This was a long quiet period with no occasional burst of activity, the sea was almost flat calm with no surf on the beach and no “fizz” around the rocks so we cut our losses and returned to base where we were to meet Corbyeire for something to eat followed by a few hours on yet another mark. We fished this beach for several hours, the only bite came to Corbyeire and was a 36cm freshwater eel (well it was 36 when he got the knot out) to a small bait from almost under the rod tip, competition angler tactics? There were signs of garfish as the leads hitting the water surprised a few of them into taking to the air. Time to try one last roll of the dice, some good expert local knowledge was sought and got so a night session was on the cards. It’s a while since I watched tiplights against a night sky but as we took our places on yet another beach and awaited the ebbing tide to ebb a bit more, we would soon be doing just that. It was a flat beach and the water was receding quickly as we launched our baits out. I had the first bite, a couple of non-committal tugs which was probably a dogfish. I hope it was as I missed it! Corbyeire weighed in with a doggie shortly after and Chuckaroo had a rig-wrecker aka small conger, neither species being on the “Wanted” list. Then I had a good solid bite and I tightened into something which thumped and resisted until just over half way in when everything went light. Probably a ray which was what we were targeting. Chuckaroo had the same experience shortly after but Corbyeire showed us how it should be done by reeling in his first ever painted ray. He was using a 3 hook flapper with smallish hooks (#2) with matching baits while Chuckaroo and myself were using 3/0, 4/0 single and Pennell rigs with substantial baits. I had another good bite with the same result as earlier, the fish shedding the hooks about ¾’s of the way in. Chuckaroo followed suit, another fish lost on the way in. By now the tide had turned and was rapidly pushing us back to where we had come from, time for home. Well, it was 2.30am.
Monday. We had a slightly later than usual breakfast as there was no rush, we would fish the same mark as Saturday but the tides had advanced giving us a bit more time. This time there were no other anglers so we had the mark to ourselves. It was very slow but eventually my rod tip gave a few good shakes as a thornback found my bait and rushed in to jump on the scales and weigh in at just over 4lb, my second and final fish of the trip. Long periods of quiet with bursts of activity I wrote earlier; so it was today. A mere 10 mins later Chuckaroo hauled in a fine undulate ray at 9.5lbs, a nice end to the trip.
Looking at the trip overall, on the DOWN side, two fish for three days hard fishing, and a lot of time and distance in the car. I think when I get home I will have to do some homework on my Pennell rigs, one fish just about landed with the hook falling out, two other fish lost on the retrieve. On the UP side, the three of us had managed a new species and we tried and were given a few new marks (in case there is a next time).
Oxford English Dictionary;
Undulate, to move with a gentle UP and DOWN motion.
Johnwest Glossary of Angling Terms;
Undulate, to catch a ray of the species Raja undulata for the first time.
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