portrush 28th nov the nightmare before christmas

People: me and jordan

Duration: noon to 6pm

Tide: HT 4pm

Weather: calm, dry but freezing

Bait: rag, lug, mack and squid

Rigs: 3 hook flappers

Results: JORDAN 1 whiting and 1 codling. ME 5 codling and 4 whiting


Report:
we left belfast with the intention of fishing portrush until 6pm and then head on up to leenan to get in an overnighter. well that was the plan, what happened was this.

1. arrived to be greeted with freezing fog which dropped the temp to well below zero. so many layers went on to fend off the cold. but no matter how many layers went on the fingers were so numb i put a hook into my thumb while baiting up . thankfully the hook only went in a wee bit past the barb so it came out easy enough.

2. never got a sodding bite from any of our 3 rods until after 4pm when jordan got a micro whiting of about 4 inches and a codling not much bigger . he was frozen through and retreated to the car to warm up and never reappeared.

3. finally started to get bites but my hands were so numb i dropped the rod twice and put a scratch into the edge of the alu spool which cut off 3 rigs before i realized why it was happening. so 100 yards of my good 30lb braid is now plucked to hell . but i was getting fish with the 2 biggest below. went to the car to get some feeling back into my hands which was a bad idea as the warmth started to get back in them they felt like they were on fire never felt pain like that before just cos of the cold

4. while stiitng in the car i had one of jordans toffee's which yanked out a filling in my tooth that's only been in a month or so £90 down the pan

5. by now i was seriously miffed off and jordan wanted to go home and forget about the overnight session at leenan, i concurred and we packed and headed for home.

6. about a mile up the road i heard a funny noise coming from my wipers so i pulled in to check them and the driver side one broke off . and in true fashion my tool box was in the kitchen at home . so i could'nt even swap the passenger side one over . so we high tailed it home in quick time before the rain came on. i had to break the 60 mile journey up by stopping every 10 miles or so to get out and wipe the road spray off the window so i could see where i was going

all in all an expensive trip worth forgetting . the only high light was 2 dolphins or purpoises (not sure which) who swam about in front of us for a half hour or so before dissappearing. on the plus side i now have a load of thawed out bait to use up tomorrow night somewhere along the coast. just gotta get down to the scrap yard first thing on monday morning to get another wiper just goes to show we're as vulnrable to the odd bad session, same as everyone else

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fair play to yas lads, atleast yous got some fish in the end.

some days you better stay in bed, but as an old friend of mine used to say: better bad luck than no luck at all

fair play to yas lads, atleast yous got some fish in the end.

It's true; you might have blanked. Don't know how many times I came back from a session practically hypothermic, having lost all my gear, and with no fish at all. And then I'd have to explain to the wife just why, exactly, I find this enjoyable

Thats rough Al, a lot of things going wrong on the one day, but days like that make us realy appreciate the good days.

sounds tough, was out last night myself, freeezing fog for the whole session, thank god for floaties well done on getting a few codling though!

f..k sake Al thats one night you'll want to forget about least ye got some fish
Jordan had the right idea ,nice and snug in the car




LIFE IS FOR FISHING

jes' al that was a nightmare alright, and a costly one at that. but i'm sure it wont put you's off, just make you's more determined on your next trip out...

jez man that was a fecker of a night , if that happened to me i would be thinking about taking up golf

a day like that id be afraid to go to the toilet lol

That's what you call dedication or is it Madness

so...you will be out tomorrow so..

hard luck there you get bad trips it could be worst then that i mate of couple of years go had a hook throught his hand but he love me when i pull the hook out it wasnt bleeding but sore

OH PAL, you had a bad day but next good trip you'll laugh at that one.

Crap one Al. But as the other boys said a blank would really have put the icing on the cake. So be thankful you didnt blank.

I think Jordan is on to something there with the whole sitting in the car idea.....

You must have been one of the lucky ones who got bait. I had a trip to waterfoot planned for sat but couldnt get worms anywhere...

fair play to yas lads, atleast yous got some fish in the end.

cheers dan. a blank would have resulted in a couple of rods gettin chucked into the sea at that rate

some days you better stay in bed, but as an old friend of mine used to say: better bad luck than no luck at all

cheers man, i started to wonder if someone had a frigin voodoo doll of me on that trip

fair play to yas lads, atleast yous got some fish in the end.

It's true; you might have blanked. Don't know how many times I came back from a session practically hypothermic, having lost all my gear, and with no fish at all. And then I'd have to explain to the wife just why, exactly, I find this enjoyable

thanks man. i think if we'd have blanked that night i would have packed the fishing in well,,, for about 24 hours anyway

Thats rough Al, a lot of things going wrong on the one day, but days like that make us realy appreciate the good days.

cheers man. it was one of those sessions that just sapped the fun outta the whole trip. i was honestly expecting to hit a police checkpoint on the way home and end up getting a ticket for the wiper or something that would have topped the trip off

sounds tough, was out last night myself, freeezing fog for the whole session, thank god for floaties well done on getting a few codling though!

cheers chris. i'll have to remember to lift the gloves when i head back out tonight

f..k sake Al thats one night you'll want to forget about least ye got some fish
Jordan had the right idea ,nice and snug in the car
LIFE IS FOR FISHING

cheers ger. yeah jordan had the right idea alright. i'd dread to think what the wind chill was that afternoon i left a few lug out on the concrete and they ended up like twigs

:shock: jes' al that was a nightmare alright, and a costly one at that. but i'm sure it wont put you's off, just make you's more determined on your next trip out...

thanks don. yep the best way to get over a session like that is just to get back out there again

jez man that was a fecker of a night , if that happened to me i would be thinking about taking up golf

yeah man,, i was beginning to wonder what i'd done wrong last time i had a run of luck like that was back in march when i blanked 7 trips in a row

a day like that id be afraid to go to the toilet lol

it really was a "what next?" type of day . just glad they don't happen too often.

That's what you call dedication or is it Madness

yep madness,,,, no doubting there

so...you will be out tomorrow so..

hell yeah!! gonna try and get that elusive haddock tonight and i'll be on my own. so it will be a mellow session . where'd i leave me munchies

hard luck there you get bad trips it could be worst then that i mate of couple of years go had a hook throught his hand but he love me when i pull the hook out it wasnt bleeding but sore

cheers liam. hook came out handy enough. one good tug with the plyres. my hands were frozen so i did'nt feel it. different matter when i got home and gave them a scrub with some soap stung like a mo fo

:shock:

yep colin,, one to forget

OH PAL, you had a bad day but next good trip you'll laugh at that one.

cheers ivan. i hope your trip to teelin treated you better

Crap one Al. But as the other boys said a blank would really have put the icing on the cake. So be thankful you didnt blank.
I think Jordan is on to something there with the whole sitting in the car idea.....
You must have been one of the lucky ones who got bait. I had a trip to waterfoot planned for sat but couldnt get worms anywhere...

cheers man. i discovered early on in the week that sourcing worms was gonna be an issue. but i was lucky enough to get down and spend 2 hours digging. got about 150 big black and blow lug. and some maddies and white rag. should see us through to the end of the week when the tides will be perfect to stock the fridge again with king rag

hi al' the floatie suit and neoprene gloves even in the worst off weather you will be sitting like a pot roast they are a must in this weather

Fair play AnJ, hate it when luck and the elements conspire against u... At least u got a couple.

sessions like that make us stronger