First Dibs

i would not worry at all about the safety of this trip in calm weather. Does not carry any of the same risks as commercial work. Shore angling, especially from rocks seems much more dangerous. Nobody drowned charter fishing last year, compared to several shore angling.

Hi all
Just got in.
A few questions.
Is it a 7.30 start.
Have fished plenty in shallow water.
Got some 6.0 hokkias. was given some pirks,have some shads and aquired some more.
Will a 12-20 lbs rod with a6500 abu reel do for a 12oz lead at that .
will also bring a 20-40 lbs rod with an abu big game.
Have heard no mention of pirks are they any good.
My Mack supply is running low. have squid any other bait to bring razor etc.
Ferg

ferg,

I am waiting for the skipper to return my call to confirm the meeting time. As soon as he does I will post it, but we expect it to be 7:30am for 8am departure.

Mark doesn't have flotation suits

He will have life jackets though

NOTE:

8 o clock departure it is. Please be at boat by 7.30 am.

Are we still all on for this???
jd

Yes.

Mr Greene has opted not to travel so we have one place free if anyone is interested.....

You couldnt keep me off that boat.... :D

I think I'm it Pete.

Kev

|Kev had been first reserve, so boat is full.

See ya all Sunday am

sorry lads...mrs had me under hectic stress... safer for me to stay on land lol ...

Anymore dropouts put my name down.

ferg,

was waiting for someone more expert to reply. I have found that pirks for general reef fishing can pick up cod for some reason. Certainly must be worth trying.

The other thing that seemed to work really well in the autumn was muppets. Not sure how they will work out in January at 110 meters?

Stick a muppet on the treble + good fillet of mackeral (or even a flapper) for some ling.

Is anyone else just a small, teeny little bit excited...... :D

Tell me about it
Looks like a great call by jw!

lads what is a muppet.
Is it green and looks like a frog.


ferg
PS Excited am I What, Reels cleaned (long overdue), New line on reels and even more excuses for visiting tackle shops.

Hi all
Just got in.
A few questions.
Is it a 7.30 start.
Have fished plenty in shallow water.
Got some 6.0 hokkias. was given some pirks,have some shads and aquired some more.
Will a 12-20 lbs rod with a6500 abu reel do for a 12oz lead at that .
will also bring a 20-40 lbs rod with an abu big game.
Have heard no mention of pirks are they any good.
My Mack supply is running low. have squid any other bait to bring razor etc.
Ferg

Hiya Ferg,

My apologies for not responding to the above post sooner..... I must have missed it somewhere along the way. Pirking in 350ft of water is going to require firstly heavy pirks, braided line and a stiff rod. You will need quite a few if its something you plan on doing for any length of time as wrecks can be sore on them. 12-20 seems to be what most people are using, it would be a more sporting set up. 6500 size reel is a little on the small side to be honest, if you have something like a 525 maybe bring that instead, if not, dont worry as Ill be bringing a quantity of stuff and we should be able to sort you out. My feeling is that a 6500 size multiplier will have your heart broke fishing in that depth due to the slower retrieve. I wouldnt abuse one by using it for handling both large weights and hopefully large fish. If your BG reel is the BG7000 or similar then use that.

Shads, make sure you bring some 4-6" blue ones preferably with the mack pattern on the back. Some other colours will be useful too. Shads are a much cheaper (and easier) alternative to pirking.....if you take a look through the specimen book and see what the VAST majority of specimen coalies were taken on....it was shads. Your 6/0 Hokkais are a good bet, but you will need to bait them for best results. Try and buy some frozen mackerel from a tackle dealer. I'm going to make a phone call this morning and see if I can get a box someway reasonable, I'll post up here if I do and it will save everyone having to bring it down, we can just split the cost. Bait is essential if you want to try for Ling or if we (hopefully) get the chance to anchor for an hour or two for the monster conger. Bring plenty of leads....at least a dozen. Dont forget your booms, the 12" plastic ones should be ok but the metal ones are much better...theres less flex in them so less chance of tangles.

As JW says, Muppets did indeed work well in the autumn, indeed they outfished the plastics I was using by a long, long way. Again though, they will need to be baited for best results. A point worth remembering when buying any rigs etc, you will be fishing in 100m of water for LARGE fish, make sure the hooks and rigs will stand up to winching fish through that. Dont forget to bring some smaller scratchy stuff, small hokkais etc in case we run out of luck and end up fishing inshore. Some conger traces (just in case.. :D ) and some large (6/0-10/0) hooks may be useful too for Ling should you wish to tackle them.

Dont forget the hats and gloves lads....its gonna be c c c c c cold!!!

as good as it gets :)

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Todays Weather Watch....

Vertical smoke..... :D

Lads, I have a fairly large quantity of blast frozen Mackerel on order to save any hassle with fellas trying to source it and store it. 30 packs at 2 euro a pack (2-3 mack per pack) works out at a tenner apiece. Everyone OK with that? If you're not and want to bring your own thats perfectly Ok too.