Ardglass, Co Down - 13/04/07

People: Just me

Duration: 2 hours

Tide: rising

Weather: Warm and calm

Bait: Rag

Rigs: Various

Results: 1 small pollock (1/2 lb)

Catch and Release:: Yes


Report: Decided to hit Ardglass for a couple of hours at dawn. Flat calm seas made bites easy to see but the seals where taking the piss by nicking any fish before I could get them in (apart from the one pollock taken near the shore). I think I lost 3 fish to them before I called it quits. How do they manage to get the fish of the hooks without getting hooked :x :x :x

hi drewk, was it the pier u were fishing or of the rocks??

Off the rocks rab01. Nice spot, not to hard on the feet. Tried float fishing over the kelp which is where I got all the hook ups but moved to the gully and clean gound when I got fed-up with the seals

i never had any problem with the seals there. maybe u had a real hungry one in the swim! maybe when the mackerel shoals come in the food is so plentyful for them that they don't bother u. i'll maybe get down there in the next few weeks.

unlucky with the seal drewk ive hooked seals in the past nothing will turn a seals head lol the crack of dawn can be a productive time at venues but also for seals you were right to move on to another patch :lol:

Maybe next time :lol:

i never had any problem with the seals there. maybe u had a real hungry one in the swim! maybe when the mackerel shoals come in the food is so plentyful for them that they don't bother u. i'll maybe get down there in the next few weeks.

Rab, I never had any problems with the seals in Ardglass until last year; they are even worse when the mackerel are in...it's like a game to them.....on one occasion, I counted 8 seals within 100 yards of where I was fishing and must have lost 30-40 fish before getting fed up...they seem to watch you walk along the coastline, go deep and then wait for you to hook into a shoal........so what I've started doing is flyfishing for pollack/mackerel in the summer. Not only is it better sport but the seals can't get a trace of how you're fishing because the takes are so close in......

....the seal problem came about from people stupidly feeding them in the summer......nightmare!