portrush rock mark sun 14 sep

People: me, jordan and mark

Duration: 11am - 6pm

Tide: low to high

Weather: calm with light rain, very little wind

Bait: rag, lug and cooked peeled prawn

Rigs: 2 hook flappers and float rigs

Results: over 30 ballen wrasse, 20 odd pollock 16 coalies and 1 doggie




Report: at last we got back out to fish after a fortnight of me being stuck in bed loaded with the flu and a chest infection. man it's sooooooo good to be fishing again we arrived and got set up with a rod each for conger and one for wrasse and pollock. jordan and mark opted to fish the float with instant success getting into a dozen small pollock and coalies before i had the conger gear tied and baited i decided to fish the bottom on 2 hook flappers loaded with rag and lug tipped with prawn. the bites were fast and furious pulling up ballen after ballen up to 2lb. jordan spotted that all the fish taken on the bottom were considerably bigger than the wee hook strippers that were swarming the float rigs and duely changed over to fish the bottom. he hooked straight into a nice 2lb ballen while mark persevered with the float. around 3pm mark went to get some burgers and returned to see all the rods were getting hits so we decided to take a break for a munch on the thought that any fish would hook it's self and still be there when we were done. this was the theory but it did'nt quite work out that way. i had my back to my rod happily scoffing down my burger when both mark and jordan screamed at me that my rod got smacked and near trailed over the rocks. now it was time to get priorities in order. the burger was dropped and the rod grabbed and struck into. all i could feel was slack line and then out of nowhere the head of a nice 2lb pollock broke the surface. he must have been swimming straight at me as i was reeling him in then my conger rod got a hit and up came a nice 1lb 11oz doggie. the only hit any conger rod got that day the day was cut short when a freak 30 ft plus wave swept over where we were fishing washing away our bait, towel some gear and almost took the 3 conger rods all we could do was to honker down and hold on for dear life as it washed over us. for me it was too close of a call and we packed up and headed for home

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Sounds like you had a decent session al ,though the freak wave sounds a bit dodgy , was there much of a swell running beforehand ? did you lose much gear as I have a few bits and bobs kicking around that you could use if required .

scary stuff there alan. had a couple of those nasty waves myself in portstewart during a gale. I think I would do the same after witnessing a wave that size.

If you're fishing any of the rock marks on the north coast always keep an eye on the water mate, these waves are more common than people think. I've had that happen loads of times and its real scary at night! You don't even have to have bad weather on the day you're fishing as these things come from way out in the Atlantic.

There are some great fish up there. Me and a mate fished near the tennis courts recently and had loads of fish. Some great Ballans and i had a pollock of almost 5 lbs

cheers ronald, thankfully we had most of our gear up the rocks a bit and only lost bait tubs, a towel, 2 packets of prawns and a couple of cups of coffee. thing was there was still about a lb of rag and 30 to 40 lug in the tubs . gear can be replaced but my mate mark was fishing in the spot you were fishing that day we got the conger and i half expected to turn round and see him gone. we were in the same spot up from him we fished the last time you were with us and it hit me in the back. it was pretty calm too before it hit. i just saw the water being sucked away from the rocks at our feet and i knew what was coming. so i shouted to mark and grabbed jordan and legged it on up and it still hit us. floatation suits are now on the shopping list

Nice looking fish there.

A bit bigger than at the Dee!

Scary news about the big wave.

and the waves were bigger too

Yeah alan a floatation suit is definitley a great investment. great for the winter as the keep the heat in really well.

Sounds like an eventful session! I'll have to invest in a floatation suit this winter myself. It would't be a ferry wash causing the odd freak wave would it? We had a monster wake from the HSS at wilsons point, bangor, while diving there a few years back, aint been back since
Saying that though, the atlantic can just throw up something like that out of the blue and I'm not sure on any ferry operating near enough...
Safe fishing everyone!

Al,

I have seen those freak waves there also. Last summer fishing the exact same spot out on the point and had been there a couple of hours. Another guy was fishing beside me when i deep hooked a small Pollock. I climbed up the rocks a few feet to get the forceps when i heard him shouting. I turned round to see him waist deep in water. Scarry luckily he was able to grab onto the rocks to stop the wave pulling him off the rocks. The other guy packed up and headed off soaked but ok. I got my gear together and sat back up the rocks for a while and no more waves but didnt want to chance it on my own. Just shows you can never take your eyes off the sea!!

Jonny

Great session lads very busy Shame about losing the gear but like you said it can be replaced. Floation suits definatlly a must have for any rock angler, as even without freak waves its easy enough to slip on wet rocks or lose your balance whilst on the move. Tight lines

Al great report as always, sounds an eventful day, I'm sorry I missed out. Some nice fish taken lads. I bet that freak wave left the young' un a bit shaken or was he lapping it up

good session can be a good swell running at times

cheers guys for the replies and advice. it was scary biscuits alright, near had a brown heammorage in the back of my wets and jordan thought it was great fun. he was straight on his mobile texting all his wee friends about it must be great being 8 and fearless

hello alanandjordan, i know exactly were you were fishing at
without dought one of the most dangerous marks along that coast-
line, would not go near it , far better mark further round to youre
left ,cross over the pipe, walk 150yards along the rocks you will
find a flat rock with a large rockpool behind it , great fishing there
and far safer , be safe stay safe.

regards steve.

cheers steve, we fished that mark before and found it to be a bit of a tackle graveyard our friend who was fishing with us could cast a good distance and seemed to clear most of the snags but we lost a trace each cast i think we need a bit more pratice at this old casting malarky

nice fishing lads.
very happy yous made it off the rocks 2 tell the story.

hi alan' nearly the same type of story with me, only its the missus one of my sons and the daugher that is bad with the flu, so i have not been out for a good few days. but heading down to fahan in a couple of hours time for another go at the rays, cant wait !!!
that was some nice fishing you's had there, and them freak waves can catch you out big time. great report and nice pic's too....

cheers lads, we live to report another day allbeit by the skin of our teeth going green with envy here fishermannum1. we were out on the boat at the weekend and i got my first ever ray, a 14lb blonde. would love a crack at the thornies. i think we will get a race up your direction in the next week or so before the winter closes in as jordan is busting to get a ray of any description or size

hi alan, went to fahan yesterday and got a wen' of thornies and doggies, but an hour or so before low tide (best time to fish fahan ) i took sick and nearly passed out on the beach f**k'en flu but ful or not i will be back out at the weekend.
if your coming up let me know and i'll take you to a spot for the rays, cheer's!!!