bait

help! big tides end of week, desperate to dig some razors for next big blow. been living here 4 years and only place i know to dig em is in kerry! first time doin this sort of thing, any ideas or is it a donegal secret! ps lost a submarine at rathmullen pier end of december while fishing for conger, couldnt do a thing with it, it ran and ran then came at me and smashed me under pier. big tope or seal?

hey pete where bouts in donegal are you based????

lifford border with strabane.

may be a bit late to tell you this but don't even try and dig razors . they live about 3 ft down and will go deeper faster than you can . Look for keyhole shaped hole in sand near extreme low water . Tip 1/2 handfull of cooking salt on top of hole and stay still . Razor will come to the surface .

Have no idea where to find them round my patch ( Sligo & west to Ballina ) . Very few empty shells to be seen . Good luck . Nick.

booner...i'm a fanad regular but have never tried rathmullan pier...is it worth a shot in the summer?

depends what your after, it has deep water, strong tides and is perfect for night fishing under light. as to what fish you can catch, pollack down the side( rag seems best), mackerel from may onwards last year late evening and night gives you dogfish a chuck and they can be both fun and then annoying! i have read that u could catch ray there and odd tope but the odd time i have fished it i couldnt get through the dogs. lastly, must be conger round the pier, as i mentioned in previous message hooked a submarine on whole mackerel down the side that ran straight out into swilly, almost emptied me reel, eventually smashed me under pier, when it was under rod tip i gave it everything to lift it from midwater to surface just to get a peek at it but could not budge it, still broken hearted today. ive had conger in kerry to 40 from pier, thiswas much heavier so maybe a seal? this is no b*lls**t. let us know if you fish it. PS. strong tide run so smaller tides maybe easier. any body else got ideas about loch swilly

Booner,
I'd say by the sounds of it you might have hooked a Swilly tope, strange time of the year to come across one but if it took you out into the channel then i'd nearly bet on it.

Pete

Hi Booner et al

If you want to tackle the big critters walk up the beach from the pier towards the mouth of Swilly and at the first elbow, or kink in the shoreline, around 300 metres up if I recall, wade out and cast out into the disturbed water. Big mackerel baits will take Tope for certain, with reports of Skate also and loads of thornbacks. Reckon you probably did haul into a conger, birng a boat rod loaded with 80 lbs braid the next time :wink: and you never know...

Hope this helps

Talkin Razors the salt technique is definitely best but the mistake most people make over here (Essex) is to try for them at the wrong time.

In the estuary here they can only be taken on a very few tides.

Wait for the time when the tide retreats further than normal (low water spring) and follow it out. The razors live mostly in that "dead zone" which is rarely uncovered. Pick the right time and tide, pour your salt in the keyhole and you'll get more than you bargained for. Pick it wrong and you won't even see a shell.

I guess Irish and English razors probably think alike.

John (Bigfoot)

:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

The Elblow of Rathmullan Beach!!!
:wink: Guess where I wanna go this Summer
Love Rathmullan! Great wee bars.

reckon you'll have to join a big big queue for this sounds like heaven, could it be? :shock:

:idea: