causeway coast rock mark wed 9th june 2010

People: me and mark

Duration: 3pm to midnight

Tide: HW 7pm

Weather: dry 15mph NE and a 2 meter swell. but flat calm and breathless by 11pm

Bait: 2lb of rag 2lb of lug and mackeral

Rigs: sliding float, feathers, single 1 hook rotten bottom rigs and conger gear

Results: ME 14 ballan wrasse to 3lb 14oz, 8 pollock, 1 pouting, 1 ling and 1 three bearded rockling. MARK 8 ballan wrasse, 8 pollock

Report:

with jordan dropped off to school and a few bits and bob's cleared away by lunch time i gave mark a call to see if he fancied a rock session today. with 2lb of rag and lug in the fridge to use up it was time to annoy some wrasse and a plan was hatched . we high tailed it up the coast and were fishing by 3pm. we sorted the conger gear out first and dropped them down into the kelp forest at our feet, not really knowing if we were ever going to see the rigs again. but that's where the fish are at so we just took our chances. we had intended to fish 2 rods each on the bottom, but from the first cast it was apparent it was gonna be a one rod affair as the fish were about in good numbers and very eager to munch the worms we were throwing at them . this mark is a bit of a snaggy old hole, but that's why the fish are there. so it was rotten bottoms all the way and a good supply of leads at hand. i'd just cast out to a spot where i know there's an underwater ledge that the wrasse seem to hang to and i was getting bites before i'd even set the rod on the tripod. good stuff!. so within 2 mins of fishing i had already landed my first fish, a wrasse of about a pound. the only problem was that the ledge i was casting to was over 100 yards out so you had to hit them quickly on the first twitch or you lost the lot to the kelp . it was one of those sessions where you expected to loss 3 fish for every 1 you would land, but thats the price you would have to pay while in search for a specimen . i decided not to bother with the second rod and did'nt even bother with the rest either as the hits were coming before you could even wind in your slack line from the cast. but mark was adament that he'd just chuck out a sliding float rig on the other rod and just set it down on the rocks between us and who ever noticed that the float was sank could hit it. he kept the drop from the float to the feathers short to try and target any fish that were higher up in the water column. this worked well with a steady succession of pollock up to about 30cm coming in all day. there was a brave swell for most of the day so there was plenty of movement from the feathers bobbing up and down attracting the fish. things were a bit frantic all day but mark was having a bit of a nightmare as he was getting dragged into the kelp by the wrasse before he could lift them out so lost a brave bit of gear and fish. i was having better luck up until i got hit by a wrasse who weighed in at just under 4lb. in an attempt to get him out of the kelp my reel gave up the ghost and the gears stripped. over the last 40 yards the spool stopped bobbing up and down and the line just layed in one area of the spool, but i did land the fish . so after a few pics he was returned none the worse. sadly i could'nt say the same for my reel which was well and truely knackered . thankfully the other rod was there and already set up so it was'nt a total loss and i was back to fishing in no time. as the light began to fade and the rag was all gone i decided to bait up with lug and tip it off with a healthy sized chunk of mack to see if i could tempt something different onto the hook. i got a good knock and reeled in what i thought was gonna be a doggie, but i was chuffed to see a ling break the surface we got him in and weighed him and he was just under 2lb. good stuff!. then a cloud of midgies descended on us in plague proportions and the 2 of us started the midgie dance christ only knows what anyone who would have saw us would have made of us flailing our arms around our heads and running in circles waving like mad men . if we had turned our headlights on it would have looked like we were having an illegal rave on the rocks . we tried to ignore them the best we could and fished on for another hour with me getting the best pouting i've had in a while and a wee 3 beardy. but the cloud of midgies was serious and we admitted defeat and headed on home happy with one of the best days fishing that we've had in a good while. still no specimen wrasse from this mark, but i have faith that it will throw one up soon enough . mark would have had the biggest fish of the day but it had other ideas and tore off into the kelp at only about 20 yards away from us. needless to say it got away but there was a fair bit of weight to it and at a guess i would say it was a nice huss, but we'll never know . i was gutted for him and could sympathise as i lost a heavy fish out this way a few weeks ago myself. but thats fishing for you

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some nice pics of wrasse there al.it turned out another good session for u and mark.well done.keep the good reports coming

Fine session lads some lovely Wrasse great scrapers, only getting a few around my mark yet but it should be in full swing in the next couple of weeks

Have not even read the report yet. But had to say that last pic is just beautiful Al!

That was a magical session with some fine wrasse despite the midges Al. Well done mate.

Well worth a trip up the rd there Al!! That big wrasse is a beast!! Your lucky Jordan wasn't up with you as he'd have pulled in a bigger one for sure!!

ah jesus al,that second wrasse at 41cm is a cracker! right,thats it,were coming up!!

Well done on the shore caught ling. Some fine wrasse there too and a nice mix of species. Lookes like a cracking session.

Savage! And great pics!

sounds like a great session. pics look great and im sure some of those wrasse were great fun to catch, well done on the ling.

Nice fishing guys.

We're still struggling to get out much as I'm snowed under at work. (recession?, What recession?)

woo!!! fantastic fishing there guys , you and mark must be on one hell of a high after that session, and the pic's are cracker's, the last one is a real buet al'

lads, what a session and some excellent photos and even a shot for Martin King . Well done

nice one al, lovely shore ling and some cracking wrasse. well done

Well done Al,,,,,,,some fine wrasse there,,,well done on the ling also and that poutings a decent size too. Great photos. The midges story reminds me of a trip I was on to Glenveigh in Donegal and they bought 26 cans of insect repellant,1 for each person,,,,guess what ,,they left them on the bus and we were ate alive

Top fishing , top photos , top report . What more can i say . I always enjoy reading your reports . Keep up the good work

brilliant report and pics and some fantastic fish and well done on the ling too

some nice pics of wrasse there al.it turned out another good session for u and mark.well done.keep the good reports coming

will do brian. i just hope we can keep up this recent standard of fishing man

Fine session lads some lovely Wrasse great scrapers, only getting a few around my mark yet but it should be in full swing in the next couple of weeks

cheers man. funny thing is that our co down rock marks seem really slow to come on so far the temps in the irish sea must still be down a bit on what the causeway coast is at the mo

Have not even read the report yet. But had to say that last pic is just beautiful Al!

cheers man. i took a series of 4 pics of the sunset all within a few seconds and they all seem to have different colours to them, but that was the best one

That was a magical session with some fine wrasse despite the midges Al. Well done mate.

cheers tom. them things are serious when they're out in force at one point mark was stood only 12 feet from where i was and he looked hazy as there were so many round him . honest to god, i don't know how those fly fishing boys put up with them. i had no midgey spray with me only the midgie wipes which were bloody useless . i think i'll keep a tin of deodorant and a lighter in my bag from now on and nepalm the buggers

Well worth a trip up the rd there Al!! That big wrasse is a beast!! Your lucky Jordan wasn't up with you as he'd have pulled in a bigger one for sure!!

cheers mike. i'm pretty sure that mark holds a few specimens. so if it does i think it's a safe bet that jordan will be the one to get them

ah jesus al,that second wrasse at 41cm is a cracker! right,thats it,were coming up!!

no probs noel, your more than welcome man. any word on what the plans for the van and the summer are yet?

Well done on the shore caught ling. Some fine wrasse there too and a nice mix of species. Lookes like a cracking session.

cheers man. one of the best in a while we were so busy from the off that we did'nt even have time to get a brew on. if only all our trips were like that one

Savage! And great pics!

cheers donny

sounds like a great session. pics look great and im sure some of those wrasse were great fun to catch, well done on the ling.

thanks mark. the ling was a welcome surprise i might give my co down ling mark a go now to see if it's fishing too

Nice fishing guys.
We're still struggling to get out much as I'm snowed under at work. (recession?, What recession?)

thanks alan, daniel must be crawling the walls to get out for a session .

woo!!! fantastic fishing there guys , you and mark must be on one hell of a high after that session, and the pic's are cracker's, the last one is a real buet al'

thanks don. now we gotta do it all over again with jordan in tow to get him in on the action

lads, what a session and some excellent photos and even a shot for Martin King . Well done

cheers mate. that wee camera from lidle has really paid it's self off over the last 4 years . it's been dropped on rocks, bounced around the boat and got wet a few times and it's still going strong . i think we'll have to call it arnie!!

nice one al, lovely shore ling and some cracking wrasse. well done

cheers chris, still not as good as your pouting, but the ling and wrasse made up for it

Well done Al,,,,,,,some fine wrasse there,,,well done on the ling also and that poutings a decent size too. Great photos. The midges story reminds me of a trip I was on to Glenveigh in Donegal and they bought 26 cans of insect repellant,1 for each person,,,,guess what ,,they left them on the bus and we were ate alive

cheers dave. i woke up the next morning with wee lumps all over my arms and head . those bloody things are ravenous mark made a wee fire pit with some rocks and got some smoke going with dry sea weed and that did'nt even seem to put them off . i might have to invest in one of those hats with the net attached for the rest of the summer. only thing is that you would look like a lost bee keeper on the rocks

Top fishing , top photos , top report . What more can i say . I always enjoy reading your reports . Keep up the good work

thanks very much peter . will do

brilliant report and pics and some fantastic fish and well done on the ling too

cheers kaylem. we had a great day