Ramore Head Sunday 2nd january

People me and da

Duration 12.00- 4.00pm

Tide LW 1230

Weather not much but was a bit chilly in the wind

Bait mackeral, bluey, squid

Rigs conger, free lining, float, 1 hook bomber

Results pollock, lumpfish, three bearded rockling

so after weeks of him complaining of the cold i finally managed to get me da out for a bash. landed down at 12 and were met by my brother and his 4 year old son whom i had bought his first fishing rod for christmas. he didnt have his rod with him but my brother just wanted him to see us catch a few fish to get him in the spirit of things. so i got freelining mackerel on the very light rod and was getting bites first chuck, no hook up (always good to get a fish first cast) but had managed 3 6 inch pollock within the first half hour. the wee lad was suitably impressed, the next half hour was quiet but then i got snagged in the weed, or at least i thought i had untill it started fighting back. was no real fight more just a dead weight and finally pulled a really odd looking fish to the surface. i had never seen one before in my life but my brother was able to identify it as a lumpsucker fish. first trip of the year and already a new species added to the list. WHOOP WHOOP. brother left as the wee man was getting cold and me and dad sat for the next 3 hours, i didnt get so much as a bite, neither did he but twice he reeled in and there was a 3 bearded rockling on his hook. squid and blueies werent touched by anything and all fish caught on the mackerel. come 4 o'clock dad cried out and wanted to go home. i tried telling him dark was upon us and the coalies are coming but he was having none of it so we went and got chips. numerically speaking it was a rather unproductive trip but i was really pleased as i have never caught a lumpsucker before and dad was really please as he hadnt caught a 3 beared rockling in nay on 15 years so a good time was had by all.

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nice lumpfish nice specimen for the start of the year

nice specimen to get indeed nice one,,,and fair play on the rockling,,,,well done,,

Very well done on that little beauty mucker

[chuckaroo]

two lovely lookin fish. the lumpsucker is a reasonably big male, the females are considerably bigger and bright green/pale blue!
think they normally feed on small jellyfish but interesting to find that you caught it on a bit of mackerel...
great start to the year indeed. well done

Edit: not sure that the females are necessarily bigger than the males. think that its the other ways round..!
see link further down

Last edited by chuckaroo on Mon Jan 03, 2011 11:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Fine fish lads & great start to the year

Never seen one of those creatures before, it looks like a feckin piranha!!

well done mate. never caught or even seen one before myself. nice looking fish

Well done on the lumpy man! Not too many of those about! Great to see!

Thats a new one for my ears never mind my eyes!

Very well done on the lumpfish. Still on my wish list.

good session and well done on the lumpfish never seen 1 before are thay common up there near you ?

good session and well done on the lumpfish never seen 1 before are thay common up there near you ?

they are not particularly common on our shores but are more common further north in colder climates, especially Norway.

more info for those who havent seen them before.... :
during the spawning season the belly of the male becomes red (a fine example caught above!) and the belly of the females a light blue/green. they feed on jellyfish, amongst other things, and their eggs are eaten as a cheap alternative to caviar.
in the photos below i am holding a big male (i think!) and a couple of wee females - caught off Norway in nets.

http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/Species ... T=lumpfish

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Nice catch man what a weird looking fish
are they a fish you can eat

Hats off to you man, dont see many of them about.

god u sure gt funny creatures up north

That is one mad looking fish, well done! A fantastic catch, what a great way to start the new year. I don't think we'll be seeing too many reports on here of them being caught. Well done to your dad too on getting his rockling. I hope your wee nephew has alot of fun using his new rod. Great report and pictures.

great session that and s nice new species.

nice looking fish never cought that before great start there lads well done

Interesting catch with the lumpfish, and the rockling is nice too, well done. The only lumpfish I saw before were caught in a net, NE Antrim, a coastal salmon net I worked on, they werent uncommon and it was during the summer months. Til now as I'd never seen or heard of them being caught on rod and line I thought it might not be possible.

Its a lovely coloured fish, and a rare feat I think. I wonder how many are taken on rod and line, this is the 1st one Ive heard of.

Well done and good photos too.