2/6/07 Fahan. Co. Donegal
Mon Jun 04, 2007 12:31 pm
2/5/07 Fahan. Co. Donegal
People: Me, Drew and Stevie
Duration:5 hours or so
Tide: lw 2pm
Weather horizontal rain big winds
Bait:Mack, Sandeel, squid and razor
Rigs:Pulley 3/0 , 2 hook clipped
Moon: Full Moon
Results:3 dogfish and 18 million tonnes of kelp
We had been planning this meet for sometime to target the infamous thorn back ray. A couple of the other members from the forum had great success on the same beach landing a 7lb ray.
As usual the night before I was tying pulley rigs, 2 hook clipped down rigs. 3 hook clipped down. Loop rigs. With all the bait ordered and got that evening I planned to leave Belfast around 8 and be in Donegal for around 10am.
It had forecasted for wind and rain, but when I woke I got a shock to see what looked like a miniature tornado at my front door. But being the resilient fella I am I heading on to destination Donegal.
After a drive of around an hour and 45 minutes, I arrived at fahan. Thinking that fahan might have had a little shelter I couldn’t be further from wrong. It was worse up here that it was in Belfast. The others had slept in and informed that they would be at least another hour. I sat in the car and sulked at the weather and starting ranting about driving this far and I’m not driving back without out a fish.
So I got out the car and walked to the waters edge with all my gear in hand turned looked around me in which it felt like an eternity. I blurted out ‘’ well ray this’’. No sooner that I had started to set up I looked around and seen the other two lads informing me I was about to set up in the wrong place. We walked around to the right of the marina and set up to fish about 40 – 100yards out. The sand bank was visible on the other side. By this stage it was a full on gale and driving straight at us (thank god I brought the float suit).
http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/3158 ... 009td7.jpg
I set up the AA Match and Penn Extreme match 2. Both were set up with pulley rigs with clipped down rigs to be prepared for the next cast and so forth in sequence.
I had brought every ray bait I had heard of working of including mackerel, squid, sandeel, fish oil, razor. With both rods down low to try and avoid the wind I knew this would inevitably pick up a load of wind. So I tried to find a happy medium. After about 45 minutes. I saw the line giving a very distinctive slack line bite (‘heart pumping, thinking to myself could this be my very first ray). Keeping the line tensioned and trying to battle the weed at the same time I had help from the other boys. What seemed like forever I reeled in a very cheeky dogfish.
With the wind being so strong the rods had to be watched so closely because I had heard of the rays picking up a bait and running and knowing if there hooked the will chew the line right off.
I quickly baited the rod again and sent the line about 100yards trying to avoid the dogfish. I heard an almighty yell ‘’I’ve got a ray’’, speeding over to stevie to try and remove the mountain of weed while he kept the tension on. Another dogfish broke the surface.
Stevie got another dogfish about an 15 minutes later. I stayed on for a further 2 hours at which time I was soaked tired and felt defeated. I packed up and headed for the car and said my goodbyes to the other two.
With reels, rods and tripods smacking into the sand and hauling in a tonne of weed every cast I think it may be 1-0 to the fahan rays but by goodness me I will be back to lift my prize of a cheeky ray. So until next time, when I hope to be reporting of a ray.
Good luck and tight lines
Stevie
Last edited by round_ourway on Tue Jun 05, 2007 8:53 am, edited 2 times in total.
