antrim and down something a bit special 17th & 18th sep

People: me and a mate

Duration: 2, 7hr sessions

Tide: fished over HW

Weather: 17th great dry and settled. 18th torrential rain and 15mph NE

Bait: rag, mack, sand eel and squid

Rigs: 2 up 1 down and flappers

Results: coalies, pollock, mackeral, flounder, dab, whiting, ballan wrasse, corkwing wrasse and a john dory!


Report:

FRIDAY 17TH SEP WATERFOOT PIER NOON TO 8PM

with work, weddings and a dose of the flu and a chest infection my fishing has taken a bit of a hammering over the last 3 weeks . so a session at a tried and tested venue was on the cards to get back into the swing of things again . i also had a new toy to try out as i treated myself to a salt long surf 3 piece 14ft rod recently . so no better way to christen it in with a few fish than a trip to waterfoot . we arrived at the mark to find only 2 other anglers at it, so there was loads of room for us to set up a rod each at distance and a rod each just flicked out over the edge. from the first cast it was apparent that the shoal of wee coalies were still swarming the end of the pier. so i decided to have a bit of craic with them on the spinning rod letting the drag right off so these 6 inch wonders could strip some line off and put up a wee fight . this was great right up to the point when i got hit by a mackeral who tore off out to sea with my rig. it was great fun playing it on the light gear and good to get some fresh bait too . the wee pollock and coalies were hammering any bait within 40 yards of the pier and we must have had 60 between us in the session. there were a few times when something else got a chance to hit the bait and a few flatties were landed, nothing big. but still nice to get something different. i was really impressed with salt rod and could add a good 20 yards on top of my usual casting ability. i was fishing it with a reel loaded with braided line and even at the extra distance i was impressed with the bite indication. now i don't know wether to put it down to the extra range or pure luck. but i noticed a few good knocks on the rod and connected into a fish that turned out to be a john dory!! i could'nt believe it when it came to the surface and my mate safely netted it and got it up on the pier. really amazing looking fish, and spikey too . when i went to unhook it i noticed that it had taken a 3 inch whiting who had managed to impale it's self on the bottom hook . so i was live baiting without even knowing it . so another new species for the list . needless to say i went home very pleased with myself

SATURDAY 18TH SEP DONAGHADEE HARBOUR 1PM TO 7.30PM

we decided to stay local this time to use up our left over bait from the day before. with torrential rain forecast i reckoned the harbour would be a safe bet as surely no one else would be mad enough to be out in it. sure enough we arrived to find an empty harbour and got set up with 2 spinning rods each. there were loads of bites but nothing was hooking up so i dropped down from 1/0 hooks to size 2 to see if i could nab one of culprits and sure enough a steady stream of wee coalies, pollock and wrasse all came in falling to the rag. nothing of any size, but good craic any way. i think the biggest fish was a 1lb ballan wrasse and a few of the coalies were nudging a pound. about half way through the session wee dan from millisle and his mate turned up and had a good run of wrasse and coalies. i think he's fishing a comp at benone today, so good luck kid .
not a bad weekends fishing at all. but the john dory was the icing on the cake for me (on the new rod ) as i'm sure it will be a few years before i see one again.

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Nice one

How the Fuh...............? Al I'm and calling you every bad word I can think of! That's a real special catch man well done and a nice way to break in a new rod.

Merry christmas al great catch mate

thumper of a catch al' nice one mate.
great reading report al' and photo's, we were out in that rain as well and it never stopped, we were drowned
from now on the floatie suit is coming with me

Wow mate that is special, nice to get amongst those coalies!

thats the coolest ugliest fish ive ever seen.
ive never heard of one caught round here (round here? round anywhere more like) before. well done.

Top class Al, well done chum.

Congrats on the John Dory Al. No better way to christen a new rod. Well done.

Thats a great catch Al, nice way to make a comeback. Had 3 weddings in a row myself, followed by a dose of flu too so I can sympathise. Those weddings seem to play havoc with the immune system (if you do them right)

well done mate with the john dory i heard a guy caught one from that pier before but did not know weather to belive the stories now ive seen the proof that pier will be even more crowded after seeing your photos lol

what a way to break in a new rod well done al thats
a beautiful and at the same time odd looking fish

well done nice fish great to see

class looking fish there al, ment to be nice to eat too.

Nice fishing Al.

I like the look of the Salt 13' er.

However, currently I've got the Salt Bass rod, Salt coat, Salt rucksack & Salt Shoulder bag.

I can't buy another Salt product.....or can I?

Nah, seriously, I'm thinking of getting the Sonik SK3.

Super catch Al well done

what the hell! only two pics!! great pics all the same..........bet jordan wants kill you mate! well done on the dory!

Thats terrific Dead jealous so I am, still waiting to get one off the boat never mind shore....

Congrats on the fantastic catch Al ,,,i've got a top and bottom section for that new rod of yours , i broke the middle one so you can have it as spares the next time you're down

Nice one

cheers man

How the Fuh...............? Al I'm and calling you every bad word I can think of! That's a real special catch man well done and a nice way to break in a new rod.

i know, i should have gone out and got a euromillions ticket with luck like that

Merry christmas al great catch mate

thanks billy. felt like christmas and birthday all rolled into one

thumper of a catch al' nice one mate.
great reading report al' and photo's, we were out in that rain as well and it never stopped, we were drowned
from now on the floatie suit is coming with me

cheers don. yeah winter is deffo on it's way almost time to get off the rocks and back onto the beaches again

Wow mate that is special, nice to get amongst those coalies!

cheers paul. messing about with the puckers was good fun, but the dory made my day

thats the coolest ugliest fish ive ever seen.
ive never heard of one caught round here (round here? round anywhere more like) before. well done.

thanks man. there was one taken from the same place a while back. but i never heard or should i say, seen one from the antrim coast before other than that. so i was well made up

Top class Al, well done chum.

cheers fenton. i was due a good one after my 3 weeks away from the sea

Congrats on the John Dory Al. No better way to christen a new rod. Well done.

thanks tom. the extra 20 yards seemed to make the difference

Thats a great catch Al, nice way to make a comeback. Had 3 weddings in a row myself, followed by a dose of flu too so I can sympathise. Those weddings seem to play havoc with the immune system (if you do them right)

yeah, and havoc with the cash flow too . but back on the mend now so the fish can live in fear again

well done mate with the john dory i heard a guy caught one from that pier before but did not know weather to belive the stories now ive seen the proof that pier will be even more crowded after seeing your photos lol

cheers man. i saw that guy's pic of the dory from before and it was a stunning gold colour. but you could fish 4 rods there for the next fortnight and not see one again i just happened to be in the right place at the right time thank god for bait robbing pin whiting if it had'nt have impaled it's self on the hook the dory might have turned his nose up at the rag i had baited the hook with . you can beat a good angler. but not a lucky one

what a way to break in a new rod well done al thats
a beautiful and at the same time odd looking fish

cheers ger. i could'nt get over the size of his gob i did'nt even notice the whiting at first as it was almost in his belly it was like a fishy version of those russian dolls with a fish inside a fish

well done nice fish great to see

cheers stef. that mark is known for throwing up the odd strange and unusual fish from time to time

class looking fish there al, ment to be nice to eat too.

i'll let you know later how it tasted 2 lovely thick fillets off it man

Nice fishing Al.
I like the look of the Salt 13' er.
However, currently I've got the Salt Bass rod, Salt coat, Salt rucksack & Salt Shoulder bag.
I can't buy another Salt product.....or can I?
Nah, seriously, I'm thinking of getting the Sonik SK3.

always room for more gear alan i have to say i'm really impressed with the rods from the salt range i've tried so far. good mid priced rods with great bite detection yet still a strong backbone to them i might be increasing my collection myself soon

Super catch Al well done

cheers brian. the water temps must be up enough at your marks to encourage the trigers and gars by now man . you just never know whats out there

what the hell! only two pics!! great pics all the same..........bet jordan wants kill you mate! well done on the dory!

cheers noel. batteries were'nt charged at waterfoot. so i only got enough life outta them by rubbing them in my hands for a few shots and then i forgot the bloody camera at donaghadee but i'm allowed to be a bit dozey at the mo cos i'm still not well cough,,, cough!! . jordan was missbehaving and got himself grounded so he missed out. he's kicking himself now thow

Thats terrific Dead jealous so I am, still waiting to get one off the boat never mind shore....

thanks hugo. my luck was deffo in on that session . just makes me wonder what other strange fish are lurking out there

Congrats on the fantastic catch Al ,,,i've got a top and bottom section for that new rod of yours , i broke the middle one so you can have it as spares the next time you're down

thanks very much dave were you not able to get a replacement section for your one?? i'm still holding out hope of finding a replacement top section for my salt 12ft fs beach rod well they say god loves a trier