bullhuss

what is the best type of location for bullhuss off the shore??? are they like dogs ie sandy ground or do they prefer mixed or rough ground?
do they favour areas with string currents?? deep water?? what are the best seasons etc etc

never had them from the shore only from the boat.

also any good marks on the east coast appreaciated

thanks
Paul

i get them at sandy weedy ground,a lot of the time in sand bars between weed or even at rouugh ground. fresh mack is the best bait followed by good frozen mack,sandeel and squid seem to work best. from late august to october even into november seems to be the best time. you can get the odd few before and after that time of the year but thats when i find there are the most around. hope this is some help.

chris

[eric]

what is the best type of location for bullhuss off the shore??? are they like dogs ie sandy ground or do they prefer mixed or rough ground?
do they favour areas with string currents?? deep water?? what are the best seasons etc etc

never had them from the shore only from the boat.

also any good marks on the east coast appreaciated

thanks
Paul

the forty foot in sandycove holds a few, there are rumours of them on the east pier and i know people who've had them at the tea rooms on killiney beach inc myself, for decent numbers i suggest a move
south west :lol:

like chris says rough ground with patches of sand seems best and mackerel being the best bait

Last edited by eric on Mon Jan 28, 2008 4:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.

what is the best type of location for bullhuss off the shore??? are they like dogs ie sandy ground or do they prefer mixed or rough ground?
do they favour areas with string currents?? deep water?? what are the best seasons etc etc

never had them from the shore only from the boat.

also any good marks on the east coast appreaciated

thanks
Paul

the forty foot in sandycove holds a few, there are rumours of them on the east pier and i know people who've had them at the tea rooms on killiney beach inc myself, for decent numbers i suggest a move down south :lol:

or even better... to the west!

ive caught way more huss on mack but some days they are only interested in squid alone nothing else - if i was going out after them i always try both

I got a big Huss off the rocks at sorrento last year during a late night session, It took a mackeral head might be worth a shot during the summer...

thanks for the advice lads. keep it coming please

one of the lads i sometimes fish with had a bullhuss off of colliemore a couple of years back (the pic is in my gallery i think) it was more of a pox than anything else.

dont like fishing there though due to the massive current

Sorrento's the same with fast current, Although the rubbish left by mackeral basher's put me off fishing there.....

the marks i fish for them tend to be very rough, generally in most sessions i loose about 6-8 sets of gear..i like a depth of 20+ feet with a good tidal run.my best mark is 40 ft deep with a ledge 40 yards out which shallows off to 15 feet.the fish tend to travel along the edge of this gulley, but are very difficult to land.. i dont target them over sand as you get plagued by dogs and the average size of the fish is much lower than their rough ground relatives.

tide wise ive noticed 2 major patterns, first is that over high water the will come on the feed quite aggresively from about an hour before to 1 1/2 hours generally with the best fish coming in the first hour of the going..low water is similar,i.e the last hour of the going and the first 2 of the coming, with the initial hour of the coming the best..obviously this is specific to different marks..

bait i have found that a mackeral(ive found frozen to much outfish fresh,happened too many times to be co-incidental) that has been cut in half and the head end made into a mini flapper scores best. ive had fish from 2 lbs too 13+lbs on this and i would guess that 80%of my huss in the past 2 years has been on this. i also like launce and herring cocktail, especially if i have to fish at distance,this gives you a nice streamlined bait.bunches of 4 or 5 normal sandeel also works but not as effective and tend to attract too many dogs...i rarely ise squid as my catches havnt been great on them and i find they loose there scent relatively quickly in the water.

pulleys in my opinion are the only rig to use.i like a2 ft hook length and a penneled 6/0 aberdeen as it gives the best bait presentation and hook up rate.i also like to use 100lb hook length as ive seen a few huss go through 60lb hook lengths, also alot of the groundi fish for them hold good conger so it increases your chances of landing them.

this is just from my experiences of west cork, i'm sure it differs for other areas.

oh and dont be afraid to cast close. a buddy of mine took an 8 pounder on a 10 yard cast into a gulley last year.

thanks neil, thats some good info there.

out of curiousity, if using 100lb rigs and snoods to you not have problems breking out of snags??

do you fish pennel or single hook??

what hook size do you faviour???

the marks were i fish for them are all the same, mixed rough/sandy. a pulley rig is ideal for them, as for bait it has to be the mac:/sandeel these work well for me.....

thanks neil, thats some good info there.

out of curiousity, if using 100lb rigs and snoods to you not have problems breking out of snags??

do you fish pennel or single hook??

what hook size do you faviour???

im happy using 3/0 short shank Aberdeen's pennel style but i have issues using hooks that are too small for the job :oops:. i heard a whole launce can be deadly for them

paul i like to use a 6/0 pennell. reasons are 2 fold, firstly huss have a habit of holding onto the bait without actually being hooked(happened me about 10 times last year) and will leave go when you get them on top of the water. 6/0's i find give me a greater hook up ratio, and as i like to use big baits they present the bait much better...i like long shank hooks as the keep the bait straighter resultng in a hook point that doesnt become masked.

i do find that the 100lb does increase my tackle losses but ive seen them go through lighter line (they sometimes spin when hooked and can wear through lighter hook lengths)so would prefer to loose some tackle than loose fish...ihave had a few fish go through 100lb mono but they mah have been conger.

thanks neil,

out of curiousity, how the fuk do you pull 100lb for a break??

i had 13 bull huss at Ennereilly last summer/autumn Paul, all came to mackerel fillets on a pulley rig... But as you probably no its a fairly clean sandy bottom down there and you have to be willing to fish through the dog fish. biggest was 6.5lb, as said above bigger ones to be had over rough ground. Have also fished a rough ground mark near Donabate in north co. Dublin. Biggest caught by a mate, a 9lb fish :twisted: , only got doggies there my self. All Huss iv ever caught or seen caught have taken mackerel baits

The pic(its not a great one) is the average size i have been getting off wicklow beaches. Hope this helps.

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ya dont, its just the hook length, mainline will go first, or if i'm using 35lb straight thru the hooks will straighten...also i always use a reliable rotton bottom

thanks all for the great advice


lumpy, what rotten bottoms r u using??? do you use junk leads as you expect to be loosing so much gear??

i used to use junk leads but i bought a 5 oz namix mould off ebay a few months back so ive been using these since. i like to alter them slightly by using very long wires, i find that this prevents them from rolling around and finding snags. i use stainless tig welding wire...

for rotton bottom links i either use the bemini breakers when a bit of distance is needed or links like the pic below, which again i make from stainless lire. havnt had a lead come off during a cast so far with them but you need to be very cautious with them and they are most definately not suited to any form of power casting

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than
ks for all the tips how all i have to do is find the ba5tard5

also one other point,....and this may be totally co-incidental but all the marks i have found or have been given for them the surrounding countryside seems to be very barren and mountainous, this may possibly be reflected in the underwater tapography........possibly it could have nothing at all to do with it