Species caught from around the Co.Kerry Coast - May 2010.

[KERRY1]

People: Myself and K2

Duration: 12 days (8th May – 19th May 2010)

Bait used: Freshly dug lugworm, razorfish, sandeels, live hard-back crabs, peeler crab, mackerel & squid

Methods used: Spinning, plugging, fly-fishing, float fishing & bait fishing on the bottom

Tides: All different tides depending on location ranging from high to low

Results: Bass, thick-lipped mullet, ballan wrasse, flounder & pouting


Report

It had been six weeks or so since we last went down to Kerry on a fishing trip so we thought we were due another one, the withdrawal symptoms where setting in so we had to get them sorted.
So, without hesitation, another trip was planned, this time for 12 days. Expectations were high following on from out last trip down but we knew that it would be hard to beat but that wasn’t going to stop us trying! So – we where off!

K2 picked me up at my house at 6.00am on the morning of our departure and after a 7 and a half hour’s drive including a couple off quick stop offs to re-fuel both the car and us we had arrived.
With the bass ban looming on the 15th we knew we had less than a week to fish for them and so we decided to concentrate our efforts on targeting them for the first few days.

We fished for the bass up until the day that the ban came into effect and then after that stopped fishing for them completely, turning our interests to the other species available to fish for such as mullet, wrasse, flounder .
The bass fishing to start with was abit slow, with any fish we caught being quite small. The biggest fish where caught by K2. We also noticed that our sessions during the day on the plugs and spinners was more productive and produced more results for us than the night time ones did using bait which was strange cause this is when we have had most success in the past.

When we first arrived we were greeted with a strong North- Easterly wind which made fishing some or our plugging marks quite difficult and un-pleasant with the wind blowing right in on your face and when trying to cast plugs out that is not great at all!
However we stuck at it and just changed venues that where more sheltered and it paid off and we ended up catching a total of 15 bass before the ban on the 15th which we were pleased about considering reports from friends who live down there of very little bass having been caught before we came down had not give us much hope of catching any at all!

We worked out each morning where we were going to go that day. We ended up fishing a variety of different locations, each one suited for different states of the tide.

We dug fresh lug worm every other day to add to the other baits we had down with us to give us as much of a variety of baits to use as possible. I managed to break K2’s fork while out digging worms on one of the days. It just broke straight in half! Of course the jokes started between K2 and our mates down there about how I done it deliberately to get out of having to help dig for the rest of the holiday because if you don’t already know – I hate digging worms. That wasn’t the case at all, as if I would do something like that, but even if that was my plan it wouldn’t have worked because a friend lent me his fork for the rest of the time I was there – drat! That’s friends for you!

We did go and fish for the Stingray and Tope (two of the species on my wishlist for the year) one afternoon as we had planned but sadly we didn’t catch anything. We thought we might have even caught something else when we where there but no which was a shame. There were four of us there with four beach casters out altogether. We used big baits to try and entice them in - mackerel as our main bait for the Tope and peeler crab and mackerel as the main bait for the stingray. We made sure that we cast our baits well out into the channel to reach any fish that may have been there but there was nothing showing. I finished our session feeling abit disappointed that I didn’t manage to catch anything but sure that’s fishing for you. If you caught all the time it would be called catching not fishing!
I think from now on in I’ll put easier fish on my wish list to catch such as mackerel and Pollock. I had to pick two of the hardest fish to catch from the shore in Ireland didn’t I!!

The mullet fishing was brilliant fun again for us. There was alot of mullet about, the water was bubbling with them, and it was a great site to see. We found a small lagoon type place where they came in over high tide and sat for a while and it was there that we fished for them. This time I fished for them as well. After a few frustrating sessions trying for them I managed to catch my first mullet of this year which made my holiday. It was caught on a float set –up with bread. K2 caught 7 mullet altogether all again on bread however he did try fly-fishing for them one afternoon and had two on. If he had have had his net with him he would have landed them. It was great craic!!

On several occasions a fellow member of this site came over and watched us to see what was happening and twice when he was there K2 caught a mullet. I told him he was our lucky charm. I was away one of the times when K2 caught one and the guy kindly took a picture of K2 with his mullet on our camera which was great, if you’re reading this – thanks and hope to see you again sometime.

It wasn’t all good news though as a few days into the holiday disaster struck for me – while wading out plugging in a small bay at dusk one night I forgot that my digital camera was in my bottom pocket of my wading jacket and I got it wet – and no, it’s not waterproof. As soon as I got out of the water and realised what had happened I checked it to see if it worked and it didn’t. I couldn’t believe it. Luckily enough my memory card wasn’t affected so any photo’s that I had taken up to that point where saved. The very next day, after an early wrasse session (where I was the only one to catch a fish) I went out and got myself another camera so that I could take pictures of the rest of our holiday. I’ll not make that mistake again I can tell you!

We put in alot of hours, over alot of sessions and we’re pleased at how we did. On the last couple of days before we went home the wind turned back round to the south, the conditions where perfect, that’s just typical. When you’re going home the weather improves.

That’s the end of my report – finally. We had a great time as we always do. I think I’ve managed to tell you most of what we done during our time there, it’s not easy trying to recall 12 days of fishing but I did my best. We’ve only been back a week and already it feels like months ago!

Now we’re looking forward to fishing for the mullet up here at home. We can’t wait for that!

Below I have put up some pictures of our time down there for you to look at.

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Last edited by KERRY1 on Thu May 27, 2010 12:29 pm, edited 2 times in total.

[KERRY1]

Some more pictures....

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Last edited by KERRY1 on Thu May 27, 2010 12:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[KERRY1]

Some more pictures.....

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Last edited by KERRY1 on Thu May 27, 2010 12:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.

At last, the last picture!!

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Nice pictures and fish

well done kerry and company.nice fishing and pics u got there

great report well done the 2 of ye, your very lucky to able to head off for 12 days pure fishing , was that a zziplex i seen in one of the photos

Great report Paula as usual and some great fishing too

Excellent report and pictures Paula, smiling faces despite the mishap with the camera . Stingray and Tope, hmm, I'd say for tope you have to get on a charter, time to grow sealegs now . Stingray might turn up in the Shannon Estuary when the water warms up a bit if I hear something from the lads down there I let you know. Big well done on the nice fishies

Great trip lads no shortage of fish down that end of the country,you seem to have it well sussed in Kerry.. enjoy the coming weeks

cracker of a report paula and some nice pic's was a very good read, but did giggle a bit when you said about the camera, bet you wont make that mistake again

cracker of a report paula and some nice pic's was a very good read, but did giggle a bit when you said about the camera, bet you wont make that mistake again

nice one paula.. sounds like ye had a ball and some good fishing too.....pitty you where so hard on the fork,, how is k2 head. did it hurt ....only joken...

Nice report and pics Paula!

Good to see you both are on the mullet.

Grtz, Paul

Great report and photos.
Well done on your first mullet.
Sounds like a great holiday apart from the wet camera - one of the hazards of fishing, I have got through about 4 cameras over the last two years.
I am off on a bit of a fishing holiday myself - but abroad, Croatia. The first week just travelling around, then the second week will be purely fishing off one of the islands with a local guy and his boat.

Excellent Report, pictures and fish.

Looks very picturesque down there from your pictures.

Fantastic report and photos there Paula, looks like you both had a great few days fishing down there, well apart from the broken fork and the soggy camera. I'll be making my annual pilgrimage to Dingle in July and I'm already counting down the days, can't wait.

12 days of fishing great report and photos paula well done

great stuff folks brilliant report and pictures, hard luck on the camera im sure you will get your tope and stinger in the near future, well done:wink:

what a great report , nice mix of species too , and well done on the mullet ( is that a cousin of the Loch Ness monster in the background ? )