co antrim beach. 9 species and BASS! 27/10/2011

People: me and junior

Duration: 4.30pm - 3am

Tide: LW 5.30pm HW 11.45pm

Weather: light winds intermittant rain

Bait: sand eel, razor, mackerel and king rag

Rigs: 2 up 1 down long snoods size 4 hooks. 3 hook flappers size 4 hooks

Results: coalfish flounder plaice 5 bearded rockling dab doggies pollack pouting and BASS!!!


Report: well jordan finished school at noon for the halloween break and we still had 2lb of king rag in the fridge to use up as it was getting a bit manky. so a wee trip to a local mark was in order to use up the worms and a quick rummage in the freezer had us sorted with the other baits we needed. we decided to go flattie bashing on a beach we have'nt fished in almost 8 months. and jordan has been bursting to get his wee telescopic rod into some flat fish action since he bought it at the angling expo in swords at the start of the year. so we loaded the wagon up and headed up the coast. i forgot that i needed to buy a new measure as i stood on the last one we had and shattered it into pieces . so we stopped off at the tackle shop in larne to see if they sold them. sadly they did'nt so it was back to the tailors tape measure we've been using lately. but i did get to catch up with mervyn in the shop as we had'nt seen him since last summer and all things fishy were discussed . good to get a yarn with you again man . so we got to the beach and thankfully the weed was'nt looking too bad, so we set up and i waded out to the far sand bar and started fishing away. jordan drew first blood catching the first of many flounder all in around the mid 20cm bracket. i had'nt got a nibble for almost 30mins before a little dab obliged and gobbled down some rag on my 2 up 1 down rig. having said that i was playing catch up with jordan as he was hammering the flounder on his little rod. just as the light began to fade i got a savage knock on my shakespeare estuary rod and struck into something decent as the fish got closer to me it took a mad dive back out to sea . i could feel it was pretty powerfull compared to all the 20cm coalies we're used to and reckoned i had a nice coalie on. i near cacked myself when i saw a bass break the surface!!!. i had no idea how well hooked it was and slowly pointed my rod tip into the surf and began slowly walking back up the sand bar. i had fears in my head it was gonna throw the hook and dissappear back to the big blue yonder . but thankfully it got all the way up the sand bar before giving a flip and throwing the hook
i was jumping about like a mad man and jordan came running over to see what all the commotion was about . i could'nt believe that after numerous trips to wexford, waterford and wicklow i got a bass on my front door step if i thought getting 4 of them in NW donegal at the weekend was a fluke, i would'nt begin to know where to start describing this session . we got him measured, weighed, photographed and returned within minutes and he swam off strongly. i was still in awe at how jammy i've been lately and jordan asked me that if he took £10 out of his piggy bank could i go and get him 5 lucky dips for the euromillions on friday
things calmed down for a bit and we got back to flattie bashing with flounder coming in by the brace and even a full house for me with the biggest of the 3 @ 31cm.
jordan even got himself a new personal best plaice and the winter 5 bearded rockling made an appearence . when i was photographing jordan's plaice i heard the bell on my big rod give a good jingle, so i ran over to see a load of slack line in the water. i reckoned a doggie had lifted my baits and moved off with them. but it did'nt feel like a doggie and there must have been 30 yards of reeling in before i felt something tug back on the other end . i have'nt had a sea trout this year so i was wondering could i be xtra jammy and have one on . but another smaller bass broke the water at my feet!!!
this was something else!!. we must have fished this beach 40+ times in the last 3 years and we've never had a bass off it before. so 2 was taking the mickey we got him unhooked, weighed, measured and photographed and returned quick time. i have to be honest now and tell you i was bloody tempted to keep 1 of them for the pot. but these things are as rare as hen's teeth around our shores in the north. so i reckoned i best put them both back and do my bit to let the species gain a bit better foothold before taking any. after all jordan is only 12 and i would like to think that when he has kids of his own they can share adventures like we have these past 6 years. so it might have only been a small gesture, but a guesture to future stocks none the less .
by now jordan had given up on his beachcaster and was getting great sport with the flounder on his wee rod and resorted to standing knee deep in the surf getting fish after fish. by 12.30am the fishing died a death with nothing coming our way. but we did notice that the lads fishing the harbour across the way had packed up and went on. so we moved over there to see what was about and use up the last of the bait. as we left the beach the scores on the doors were
JORDAN - 1 coalfish, 1 plaice and 25 flounder
ME - 14 flounder, 1 dab, a 5 bearded rockling and 2 bass !! (49cm 3lb3oz) and (44cm 1lb 15oz)

we got to the peir and the wind had picked up quite a bit, but i was into fish from the first cast. i was on fire pulling in full houses on the 3 hook flapper rig. i had barely time to unhook the fish on 1 rod before the other rod was nodding away furiously. this was great. but poor jordan found every crab within casting distance it was a mental hour or so for me but by the time we called it a day at 3am jordan had only 1 coalie to show for his efforts where as i had ended up with 2 doggies, 7 pollack, 9 coalies, 13 dab, 4 flounder and 2 pouting. a great end to a great night's fishing

now i know that some of you lads who fish out that way are gonna know the mark due to my description and the fact i can't use photoshop on my pics to hide it . so please do me a favour and don't blab it out in a reply to this post. if you know it, then have a crack at it yourself, but please don't name it. it would be childish and would serve no purpose.
cheers.

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

some more pics

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

last pic

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

great stuff lads your starting to get a nice run of bass

[yngkmd]

im jealous, in fact im extra jealous as yesterday i wanted to go there but dad refused and we only got as far tildarg trout fishery...AND I BLANKED!!!!!

good fishing though, even without the bass it was a good session

given the increase in the weight of the bass 2 inches makes a lot of difference.......thats what she said

couldnt help it

Last edited by yngkmd on Sat Oct 29, 2011 10:57 am, edited 1 time in total.

great stuff lads your starting to get a nice run of Bass

SO THATS WHERE ALL THE FISH HAVE GONE WELL DONE

a very well done AL a great report and great fishing by the other man. congrats on the basses and i hope the lines stay tight over the winter.

superb report as ever Al
well done on the bass, I gave them a few go's this year with no joy
super fishing overall 9 species is great

Cathal

You boys are really pulling them in at the minute, super fishing

brilliant fishing Al, --- any chance you'd pic up a few of those lottery lucky dips for me too

Nice work fellas, especially on the bass, it's a cracker.

Excellent report again Al, one of my best sessions this year was on that beach and it was because merv and mike (ye know who im talking about) was on a mark i had planned for and gave me a heads up to try there.. Like i said on another post, the fishing has been so bad on the louth/meath beaches for the last while, i'm gonna start heading north again, great fishing...

omg
ive heard of the very odd bass being caught from there mate but wtf..!

serious session.
i'll be down the mora!!!!

hey. not only 2 bass but that bigger one is a fine one! great report Al. and good job in puttin them back - IMHO anyways.
and i have never seen the pier fish as well as that either. its another place where its all or nothing (usually nothing. or very little... )
well done lads.
im sure jordon will have his comeback/revenge in due course, soon enough.
nice pics too
cheers

Well done Al! You're sure getting the bass now a few times in those northern climes....a great achievement.

some great session there lads, thats realy good load of fish, i bet it was great sport
and seems bass are looking for you not you for them
well done boys lovely one

Great session Al, well done to all,, and the Bass - what a bonus.
Good report and photos as usual.

Mick

Great report. Cracker bass.

nice session lads!

Nice one Lads!!! Here do me a fav get yuor butts down to the Mad Haddocks thing on Halloween ....AND BRING THE FISH WITH YOU!!!

Good session lads!