sat 5th feb co antrim beach. not just tiddlers

[Al and Jordan]

People: me and junior

Duration: 6pm - 11pm

Tide: LW 6.20pm HW 1am

Weather: calm 5mph westerly. occasional light showers

Bait: rag, mack, lug, squid and cooked peeled prawns

Rigs: 3 hook flappers

Results: coalfish, 5 bearded rockling, codling, flounder, whiting and a sea trout




Report: i got a call on friday night from saltydog letting me know the connaught lads had made it up into the digs in coleraine for the comp but were short on worms. i had some in the fridge but set the alarm for 4.50am to get up in time to get to the lough for a bit of digging as LW was around 6am. so an hours digging had enough worms for the lads and for an evening session for me and jordan too . we left belfast at 1pm to head up and meet the lads at ballycastle, but i got stuck behind every tourist doing 20mph on the coast road so we were a bit held up . the lads had already finished the ballycastle leg of the comp so we decided to meet salty in the mariners bar in waterfoot which was handy as the rugby was on and i got to see a tight match played out down to the last few kicks with ireland thankfully getting the win . added to that i got the chance for a bit of a gum bath with few jars of the black stuff . just as the match finished salty popped his head in the door and the usual greetings were exchanged and we went round to the carpark to meet up with the lads. it was great to see some old friends again and get to put names to new faces. thankfully conditions had calmed right off and it looked like the lads were in for a good evenings fishing. salty mentioned that ballycastle did'nt fish too well, and to be honest i did'nt expect too much from it during the day. but was glad they changed the evening venue to waterfoot as it always fishes well. and seeing as it was a youth comp i was sure the kids would clean up catching plenty with no fear of any one blanking which is always important with younger anglers. we said our goodbyes as it got close to the beginning of the comp and wished them all luck before heading off to our intended mark.

thankfully no one was fishing our hot spot and we got set up in the usual fasion with a beachcaster at range and spinning rods in the surf just meters in front of us. the first few casts were a nightmare with kilos of weed dragging our gear 30 yards to the right. hatefull stuff that . but as the tide turned the weed dissappeared and to our relief and the bites started in earnest. we opted for bigger hooks on this trip with the flapper rigs tied with a 3/0 on the top, 2/0 on the middle and 1/0 on the bottom. we knew this would reduce the catch count but we thought it might at least hold the micro whiting at bay long enough for something bigger to find the baits as jordan was on a doggie hunt. as the tide began to flood the 30cm coalies came on the feed and that was pretty much it for the first few hours. i did manage a flounder and a few codling before the 5 beardys came up the beach into the filling gullys. the prawn was working well outfishing all the other baits even if it was a bit fiddly binding a bunch of them on the hooks with bait elastic. the only down side to this, was that while i was re-baiting by distance rod i got a smashing thump on the spinning rod that almost bounced it off the tripod. but by the time i dropped the bait and elastic and got the rod into my hands, whatever hit it had cleared off and thought better of it. to say i was gutted was an understatement . but sure, you can't win them all i suppose. so another hour passed and we both managed a few wee codling and whiting who seemed to have no problem impaling themselves onto the 3/0 hooks . i turned my back to go to the tackle bag when i heard jordan let out a scream. i'd no sooner turned round to see him run up the surf with the spinning rod arched over in his hands pointed at the sea. so i dropped everything and ran to him as he beached a big sea trout in the shallows!!. it was flipping and flapping about all over the place, but safely landed jordan was estatic to say the least, even breaking out into the fish dance which i have'nt seen him do in a while . he has always wanted to catch a trout as it's been on his wish list for the last few years. but we were gonna wait until later in the year to have a bash at them in donegal. we quickly got it unhooked and popped onto the scales. it was a beaut weighing in at 2lb 10oz. not a bad way to get your first ever sea trout. what was really odd was that it had munched a calamari with the head removed on a 2/0 hook. i did'nt think they went for those sort of baits . but as ever with sea fishing, more often than not fish seem to have a mind of their own and don't always do what they are supposed to . thankfully jordan had paired up his spinning rod with his 525 mag. so he had the sense to set the ratchet. so when the trout hit it and ran it did all the work hooking it's self up in the scissors which made for easy unhooking. now i'll be the first to openly admitt that i know diddly squat about game fishing. but this thing gave jordan a really good scrap on his 30g cast weight 5 foot spinning rod. it must have taken a good 20 yards of line tearing up the surf before the got the rod and hit into it. it went back strong too splashing all over the place scooting straight back out to sea. the only down side to it's return was that jordan filled both his wellies and submerged both his arms in the sea to his elbows . so we packed away and headed back to the car to get junior dried out.

so the end results were,
JORDAN - 7 coalfish, 1 whiting, 1 codling and his sea trout
ME - 15 coalfish, 4 five bearded rockling, 2 codling, 3 flounder and 3 whiting

another great trip out with another milestone chalked up for jordan on the species front and i was absolutely made up for him. he also took great pleasure in reminding me that i travelled the length and breadth of ireland to get one last year and it was under 30cms kids,, eh

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Last edited by Al and Jordan on Mon Feb 07, 2011 6:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

last pics

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thumper of a report as always al' i can picture the wee man doing his dance well done jordan, out fished you da' again

his ears look a bit red how many clips around them did he get class fish jordan

That is one brute of a seatrout, well done Jordan!

Great report Al & fair play to ye thats a fine Trout well done Jordan

fine seatrout jordan well deserved for your efforts

sounded like a good session lads,always great when you get something your not expecting.
beauty of a fish jordan
you must record one of these fish dances al ,without him knowing of course ,and then let him read the report

super fishing well done on a fine seatrout

Beautiful sea trout Jordan, what a great first fish, Ive caught quite a few over the years and my biggest 2 ever were both 6 ounces lighter than that one, well done, another great report Al. Nice one.

i got a call on friday night from saltydog letting me know the connaught lads had made it up into the digs in coleraine for the comp but were short on worms. i had some in the fridge but set the alarm for 4.50am to get up in time to get to the lough for a bit of digging as LW was around 6am. so an hours digging had enough worms for the lads and for an evening session for me and jordan too

Many thanks again Al much appreciated by myself and the lads, I'll return the favour and remember my door is always open for whenever you fancy another trip West

Really good to see you guys again that was great fishing ye had and that's super trout Jordan well done

Looking forward to getting a few sessions in up there over the coming months...

well done alan nice fishing and a big well done jordan thats a cracker of a sea trout i not to sure but it looks spent wounder what it would weigh if it was not anyway great fishing keep it up

Nice few fish there Well done lads,fair play to ya

Well done on the fishing guys, and a big well done on that trout, that's a real fish to be proud off!

A fantastic result wow. In benone on sunday my friend caught one of the very few fish on offer a sea trout too! Ye'll get a few back on him never mind that my goodness was so close only twenty yards away in glengariff were the fishing internet supremos in the mariners we just headed for the saffrons! Theres dedication on such short notice to dig bait the fish gods would be proud of you well done!

great ereport al and big well done to jordan thats a fine trout

great sea-trout jordan, well done. hopefully i'll find out what they're like myself some day soon

Really nice trout Never caught one myself

Excellent report and a fantastic trout well done Jordan sounds like a good session all round
Mike

Great report and pictures, well done Jordan , fine trout there