killybegs

Going to killybegs late July early August for a week or two. Any advice on skippers ect. would be gratefully accepted cheers geo.

Brian McGilloway and Adrian Molloy seem to be the 2 big names up in that direction...

Thanks k2 might have to go down to donaghadee for some shore fishing tips. geo

have fished with brian magilloway many times over the years he is first class -by the way i've been out with adrian molloy once - enough said?

Thanks Ray. That,s very helpful geo

You could always try Pat O Callaghan

never been out with brian but im told he definately puts you on the fish
was only out with adrian the once and 4 of the top 5 in the whole competition came off his boat, the winner was on a boat by himself!!!
adrian definately puts you onto whatever type of fish you are after, great fishing boat too.

oh don't get me wrong adrian will definately get you on the fish but when i was out with him one of the party was repremanded for not fully flushing the marine toilet after taking a pee and the damn boat is that clean you get embarassed if a fish bleeds on the deck! as for the cabin --its probably best if you dont go in (you might smell of fish!)
when i go out yes i want fish but at least as important is that i have an enjoyable day, a relaxing day, if i want to be told off for comming inside with dirty feet i'd stay at home and save £50!

In my opinion Adrian Molloy is arguably the best skipper in Donegal Bay. Michael McGettigan is good too but generally speaking all the skippers out of killybegs are of a high standard. Adrian knows the grounds intimately and like Phil says he is usually the top boat in the comps. He is also very much conservation minded which can't really be said for many of the skippers around the country. You must have got him on a bad day Ray because we were never given anything but a wholehearted welcome.

Pete

Thanks lads didn,t mean to open a debate. It,s just that I had a few trips with enda o callaghan a while back and on both trips we just anchored up on inshore marks. don,t get me wrong we caught fish, but I can catch pollock coalies macks on my own boat without paying top prices. Thanks for the info. geo

Geo

I think you have raised a fair point. I have been disappointed with the aattitude of some skippers who simply drift fish or anchor up on an inshore mark for blatantly average fish (that can be taken off the shore on off a dinghy) because it's easy and most punters are happy with that.

I think if you want to improve the quality of the fishing, talk to a skipper, give him (sorry Mary!) some loyalty over a period of years and as they get to know you, and see the business returning they will start to plan trips a bit better, ask what you want to do and deliver accordingly. We're now to the point with one skipper wherein we'll have a pint with him a week beforehand and plan the trip in some details, identifying options depending on weather, checking tide, local reports... so long as you do some of the groundwork and not expect a busy skipper to be doing all of it for you, I think you will find the standard of service improving...

People complain after a trip that they did not get what they wanted but did you state explicitly beforehand what you were looking for?

To be fair Kieran, no I didn,t specify what kind of trip I wanted. The reason was that we had four novices and four experienced anglers on b oard and the skipper probably was thinking of the novices geo p.s. was probably too hard on the skipper weather wasn,t great on both trips

if you are looking to catch more than pollock and mackeral then perhaps killybegs is not really the port for you as pollock are the reason that most people go to killybegs! if it is a good mixed bag that you are after i would suggest either culdaff (barracuda) or one of the swilly boats but tell the skipper that you are not targeting pollock as there is something of an assumption that people fish donegal for pollock. must admit that after about 5 years of targeting little else than pollock i too went out in search of diversity last year unfortunately i did not tell the skipper (it was my first trip with him)after a lengthy steam he poked his head out and said "you should get some first class pollock here lads" we did too- upto double figures so i did not have the heart to suggest a move! he thought that he had done well by us and on any other trip he would have done!!

Hi Ray I think you,re right about consulting the skipper regarding what sort of fishing you,re after, but I also think you should expect value for money. I fished killybegs a lot back in the mists of time (not telling you my age) and caught a lot of different species. So has it changed that much. I too would have been happy with double figure pollack, but what we were catching were schoolies and other small fish. appreciate you taking time to answer post cheers geo

that seems to be all thats left outta killybegs with the wrasse and doggies and the odd ling thrown in, ive been told that it used to be living with conger and now their numbers have gone badly downhill.
for a variety of fish id suggest taking your trip to culdaff or more so swilly or downings.

Hi Phil The cottage is based at killybegs but will be fishing all along the coast maybe meet with the fahan and swilly lads. geo.

More than welcome ... i'll be there most weekends during the summer


Andy

Geomac,
There are still plenty of species to be had in Donegal Bay just, as has already been said, tell your skipper you don't want to fish pollock all day. Couple of days last year we had megrim, brill, plaice, turbot, homelyn ray and tub gurnards in conjunction with the usual suspects.

Pete

I'd say if you've got a bunch of Newbies maybe best to fish out of Rathmullan, ask to fish the '16' if the drift isn't too stronger...

You'll get them Gurnards, Dogs, Flatties, and the like to keep them occupied while not risking too many tangles or tackle.

on a Swilly related note...
WHERE THE HECKS ARTHURG? :shock:

true, missed his craic and crazy reports and stories as of late! he ll maybe be back with us once the boat season gets into full swing again.