CAUSEWAY COAST SPECIMEN ROCKLING MARK 2 tue 16th feb

[Al and Jordan]

People: ME AND JORDAN

Duration: noon - 9pm

Tide: LW 2pm HW 8pm

Weather: calm, dry but freezing

Bait: sand eel, mack, rag, lug, razor and squid

Rigs: 3 hook flappers

Results: ME: 4, 3 bearded rockling (SPECIMEN 1lb 13oz!!) 1 codling and 1 coalie. JORDAN: 3, 3 bearded rockling




Report: with jordan off school for half term we decided to try a few of our summer marks to see what was about. we had intended to fish white park bay, but as we walked half way down the path to the beach we spotted that there was a massive surf rolling in with waves breaking a good 300 yards off shore . there would have been no chance of getting a rig to hold bottom in those conditions. so a re-think was in order there is a little harbour close by that we always said we would try some day, but just never got round to so we went back to the car and made the 5 minute trip to the harbour and got set up. we fished 2 rods each with one in close and one at distance. the next 6 hours were fishless without a single bite all day . the only thing that kept us hanging in there was the knowledge that as soon as we lost the light, the fish should come on the feed . and just like some one had flicked a switch, the sun went down and the bites began i decided to let the bites on my spinning rod develop for a bit until the rod almost doubled over . i lifted into the fish and was dumbstruck to discover i was reeling in not 1, but 2 chunky 3 bearded rockling!!! . and if that was'nt amazing enough, the biggest one tipped the scales at 1lb 13ozs not only a new p.b. but a specimen to boot . so after many photos they were both released to fatten up a bit to be caught again in the future . over the next 2 hours i got another 2 but not to the same size as the big specimen. i also got a single wee codling and coalie on the rod at distance, nothing of any great size, but i was just glad to be catching . odd thing was that jordan still had'nt got a fish i could tell he was beginning to loose interest in his fishless session, so i let him swap places with me and he cast his gear to where i had got the rockling. but things had died off a bit and neither of us were getting bites any more. by 9pm i had stripped my rigs and started to pack away. but i noticed that jordan had his back to his tripod stripping a rig and his other rod was bouncing away like a mad thing . so i shouted over to him and he dropped everything and struck into something with a bit of weight . i asked him what he thought it might be and his reply was " a huss ". but we were both stunned to see that the jammy git had managed a full house of big 3 beardys . a fish on every hook of his flapper rig!!!. and better than that the biggest one was larger than my specimen from earlier . so they were all carefully unhooked and photographed. we released the 2 smaller ones and got the scales out to see what weight was on the big fella. jordan's p.b. was 1lb 13oz and this guy was well fatter than that one . but disaster struck,,,, we just could'nt get the scales to work (and these scales were only a week old ). i tried everything. quickly replaced the batteries and everything, but no joy. they just kept reading 0lb 0oz . this is the second set of berkley digital scales i've purchased that have let us down all we had left was a cheap set of scales that only go to 2lb and the rockling maxed them out . but on reflection jordan decided it was'nt worth killing the fish just to find out what weight it was and released him. his reasoning was that rockling are territorial and if we fish that same spot again we stand a good chance of hooking into him again in the future when we're better prepared with decent scales to get a precise weight . so jordan was beaming from ear to ear with his rockling treble and i finally got my first specimen seems that the 3 beardys are following us around that stretch of coast . we can't seem to go wrong with them at the moment . we thought that first mark we found them at was good, but this mark was unbelieveable not only did it hold specimens, but 2 and 3 at a time was something i've never heard of before. needless to say we'll be camped out at that mark for weeks to come . and i can't help but wonder what the possibilities for a record at that spot might be we'll keep you all posted

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Last edited by Al and Jordan on Thu Feb 18, 2010 5:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Good report and nice pics. Good to see people getting results as some places are hard going at the mo. Well done

wow, well done lads on that sess! some fine fish there, such vivid colours! If only they were good eating, you could feed for a week off them, the size of them1

Wow lads Nice little spot you've found there Al.

Well done again Al. Your on a roll

god but ye are having great sucess with the rockling three specimins within a month lovely fish too,great markings on them,and nice to see you get one al first time you outfished jordan in ages

Nice catches! good to see plenty about.
pity with the scales, think its time to get the salter electro samsons!

thats some good fish there guys,just tryin to work out which harbour you were at now

Great stuff lads!
As a matter of interest: did ye weigh on a registered scales? The IFSC may accept good pictures where all the ID attributes are clearly shown. It would be nice to get a badge and cert for the effort!

My goodness they are a stange article. Are they any good to eat? Either way al it is always good when a plan comes together.

Good session as usual

Thats some serious rockling fishing Al, you'd be better borrowing my scales for the next session you's are out, at least they are certifyied and a couple of good pics of jordans fish showing full body and a close up of the head area to the dorsal fin should be enough to get you's a specimen certificate.

well done lads, serious rockling there well done!

jes' guys you's are doing great at them rockling just a pity about your scales al' for it looks a cracker great report again al an nice pic's

Well done on the specimens lads .
That,s top class fishing.As you say they are territorial,
and well done Jordan for returning the fish i hope you
get a chance to catch it again. Cheers.

that is some serious rockling fishing you lads are having up that way, i have never seen anything like it give yourselvs a pat on the back well deserved for the amount of time and effort you lads have put in to your fishing.
it's great to see jordan with such consideration for the fish as not to kill it to get the weight of it, well done young man
congratulations on your pb specimen AL well done lad

Brilliant fishing and excellent report and photos as usual well done Al and Jordan

Thats a fine Rockling nice one, well done guys great session

Thats super fishing lads well done 2 speciems thats some going
there lovely looking fish .we dont see anything like that down here looking forward to your next report

well done lads super size rocklings , if they get any bigger ye may start using wire traces

Good report and nice pics. Good to see people getting results as some places are hard going at the mo. Well done

cheers man. thankfully the rockling made the trip as there was diddly squat happening out at distance apart from the wee codling and coalie.

wow, well done lads on that sess! some fine fish there, such vivid colours! If only they were good eating, you could feed for a week off them, the size of them1

thanks man. you can eat them,,, but in all our travells we only know those 2 marks where you can catch adult 3 beardys to that size. so we have great reverence for them and treat them with respect. just to think of all the hurdles in life they have went through to reach that size is pretty mind blowing . and besides,,, they are very territorial fish who live inside a set boundry. so you always stand the chance of catching the same fish a few times over if you fish the same spot so a specimen who weighed in at 1lb 13oz this feburary could be a 2lb'er by next feburary

Wow lads Nice little spot you've found there Al.

cheers man. it's great when a bit of scouting around a new mark finally pays off

Well done again Al. Your on a roll

thanks paula. all i gotta do now is get a decent set of scales and get them certified

god but ye are having great sucess with the rockling three specimins within a month lovely fish too,great markings on them,and nice to see you get one al first time you outfished jordan in ages

thanks noel, we'll have to get you and john up for a couple of days in the summer when you get the wagon sorted out i have so many marks i could think to take you's too that you'll need to make a week outta it to get round them all can't remember the last time i outfished the wee man

Nice catches! good to see plenty about.
pity with the scales, think its time to get the salter electro samsons!

thanks phil. with the money i've spent so far on crappy scales, i could have got the samsons already . looks like i'll just have to bite the bullet and fork out for them and get them certified. and just to rub some more salt in the wounds, i just checked the 2008 irish fish committes booklet and there were only 2 3 beardys claimed in it for the whole year . we could have had 3 by now

thats some good fish there guys,just tryin to work out which harbour you were at now

cheers man. ayee,,, you and quite a few others going by my PM inbox

Great stuff lads!
As a matter of interest: did ye weigh on a registered scales? The IFSC may accept good pictures where all the ID attributes are clearly shown. It would be nice to get a badge and cert for the effort!

thanks jim, but sadly no . i'll need to fork out the cash for the samsoms and get them certified. good to know we don't have to kill the 3 beardys to claim the cert thow . like i said we have great respect for them and we would'nt kill a fish of that stature just for the cert. so the pics would'nt be a problem thow as we always take a good few for the album at home. i've also discovered that if you give their belly a wee rub between the pelvic fins it makes their dorsal pop up for a good photo

My goodness they are a stange article. Are they any good to eat? Either way al it is always good when a plan comes together.
Good session as usual

cheers man, they're keeping us busy seeing as fishing for the round fish has died off at the mo

Thats some serious rockling fishing Al, you'd be better borrowing my scales for the next session you's are out, at least they are certifyied and a couple of good pics of jordans fish showing full body and a close up of the head area to the dorsal fin should be enough to get you's a specimen certificate.

thanks ronald that would be great . jordan would be made up to get into the 2010 specimen book . only problem would be that he'd end up hogging the good spots at our 2 marks and i'll not get a look in

well done lads, serious rockling there well done!

thanks chris, they're crackers alright

jes' guys you's are doing great at them rockling just a pity about your scales al' for it looks a cracker great report again al an nice pic's

cheers don. those marks a'int too far from you might have to get you out with us for a session to one of our marks for a change . good to return the favour

Well done on the specimens lads .
That,s top class fishing.As you say they are territorial,
and well done Jordan for returning the fish i hope you
get a chance to catch it again. Cheers.

thanks man. he'll still be there when we get back just letting him fatten up a bit

:shock: that is some serious rockling fishing you lads are having up that way, i have never seen anything like it give yourselvs a pat on the back well deserved for the amount of time and effort you lads have put in to your fishing.
it's great to see jordan with such consideration for the fish as not to kill it to get the weight of it, well done young man
congratulations on your pb specimen AL well done lad

thanks john. no sense in shooting yourself in the foot for future sessions there if the big chap was 2lb on this occasion, just think what he'll weigh in a years time

Brilliant fishing and excellent report and photos as usual well done Al and Jordan

thanks tom

Thats a fine Rockling nice one, well done guys great session

cheers FK. catching the usual 20cm ones just wo'nt feel the same anymore those 2 marks are spoiling us at the mo

Thats super fishing lads well done 2 speciems thats some going
there lovely looking fish .we dont see anything like that down here looking forward to your next report

thanks ger. at least you have the bass and smoothies to console yourselves with down the east coast

well done lads super size rocklings , if they get any bigger ye may start using wire traces

thanks man. some of them put my PB shore caught ling to shame