Galway Bay SAC Outing on a Clew Bay Island 06/10/07

People:Galway bay SAC outing 13 members

Duration:9:30-17:30

Tide: mostly rising

Weather:vary calm and mild

Bait:various

Rigs:various

Results: dogfish, huss, pollock, garfish and mackerel

Catch and Release:: Yes/No (a few garfish and mackerel were kept)



Report:
after meeting up in wesport the members of GBSAC headed to a pier where a boat was to take us to a mysterty island (i.e. most of us hadn't a clue where we were heading).. on arrival we unloaded what seemed to be a large tackle shops worth of equiptment, the island could be walked around in half an hour(maybe less for those who are fitter than me), some stayed close to the drop off point while others went exploring the shore..

the water was very deep very close to the shore in areas and casting far wasnt an issue, doggies were at the forefront of the catch, with reports of huss from the intrepid explorers via phone calls, seeing as the water was deep in front of me i decided to put a float out with a whole sandeel and try for sea trout and pollock, to my supprise a splash near the float summond my attention and a long silver flash revealed that it was something new to my species list, i knew straight away that it was a garfish, the hook was deep but i managed to get it out with ease but many failed attempts to revive the fish saw a little knock to the head, measuring 56cm long is was a beautiful fish that wasnt going to waste(i've heard many times that they are absolutly yummie to eat)..
with doggies comming in around me attention focused on catching garfish, i soon had a second garfish which was released with care and a third fish slightly smaller happily released.. a few of the other members joined in in the fun of catching garfish for the first time ( its always good to add a new species to the list).

a couple of doggies later i resumed float fishing and managed to land a nice 67cm garfish, yet again failed attemps to revive the fish saw it end up in my coolbag..

A GBSAC outing isnt the same with out the obligatory BBQ of sausages and chicken nuggets, many appitites were quenched and back to fishing for the last while before packing up.. this saw me land yet another garfish for the day, not bad considering that i have never caught one before and ended up catching 5 in total..

at the end of the dai i totalled with 5 garfish 4 doggies and a mackerel.. i was extremely happy with the outing..

had one of the garfish for dinner.. baked in tinfoin with water lemon and butter.. what can i say.. it was absolutly beautiful.. i know i'll be having that again.. funny thing is.. they have a strange green coloured backbone..


view a video of a garfish jumping as it is being landed and a photo here
http://www.geocities.com/galway_bay_sea ... /shore.htm

Well done. Anyone drop a line over board on the way to the island.

Eating garfish!! have a good look around Cromwell is gone :D or did you know something about the sausages no one else knew about.

7 doddies a small Pollock and a garfish for me
garfish was a new all time species for me so i was happy out

doddies lol that was ment to be dogies and a tip for anyone dont spend all day on a rock mark in thin soled shoes

ah was a good day...i suppose( i broke a few things). those gars drove me bonkers and i failed to catch one in the end.

i finished up with 12 dogs, 2 mack and a small dog sized huss. pic below.

[img]http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/2912/img0443yr6.jpg[/img]

Great picture FM 8)

2 dogs

lost numerous others in rocks/weed - and rigs

:x

had bradan to my right reeling in doggies (5) at one mark on the south and i getting zip

then moved 300yards east - he was to my left bringing out huss for fun

was time to move again (for grub :D ) and i saved the blank on the last cast

near the lighthouse - it was plenty of dog bites but treacherous ground - got one in and then lost more gear

fair days fishing - no ray happening

nice location and weather

nice fishing lads, maybe a place for an overnight stay. Stevecrow the garfish have funny green bones and it doesn't look appetizing but they taste great. Nice photo Alex and what did you break this time?

erm...it begins with a "z" two "z"s attually

erm...it begins with a "z" two "z"s attually

oh dear, i hope its fixable

erm...it begins with a "z" two "z"s attually

it was so funny to see the tripod literally 'lift off'... first cast wasnt it ???

well it picked up and ian golds tripod with the second eye and tossed it about 20 feet and it is still fine. amazing rods.

P.S. i know it is fine as i indulged in some power casting today(smashed my pb) and if it was cracked i think it would have snapped. only a bent eye and some out place whippings.

P.P.S. the reason i hit the tripod in the first place was because i misjudged some distances and screwd up a cast all at once.

and no steve it wasnt funny.

i dont even know why i still come to these meets, all i get is a never-ending amount of slagging from everyone :evil: :cry:

Great day out, bagged my first huss (4lbs) then 2 more, one of about 5.5lbs. Sorry corby, next time I'll try to blank if I'm pegged beside you! :wink:
Disappointed not to get any ray, was out in a RIB today and saw ray landed from not far outside casting range from the island.
Headed back in to Westport afterwards, the skate festival was on and a couple of guys (Roger and Barney) from Total Sea Fishing were giving a casting demo outside the Helm - amazing stuff! One cast of almost 275 yards :shock: - the local golf pro hit a driver and couldn't reach it! JP got a lesson and had a few casts, acquitted himself very well. There were far too many people around for me to embarrass myself... :lol:
BTW there were 4 skate landed for the 2 days, as well as hundreds of doggies and a good few ray and huss. Looking forward to fishing the bay myself next week...
Oh, and Steve wouldn't know how long it takes to walk the island as he never left the lighthouse area, lazy bugger! :roll: :lol:

I t sounds like you guys had a good session down there ,I stayed on one of the islands a couple of years ago but the red tide had been in and wrecked the fishing ,its good to see there are actually fish around the place .
Well done on the gars steve ,their good craic on the spinning rod when they start tail walkin .

aye they sure are good fun... here's the video that i put up on the [url=http://www.geocities.com/galway_bay_sea_angling_club/]clubs website[/url]


http://youtube.com/watch?v=Xys8otN9IDs

4 dogs, 2 mackerel, 9 lost rigs but hey, what a day! Congratulations everyone on their fish, especially to those who put a new specimen on their list.

ah was a brilliant day! i ended up with 7 doggies and my first garfish! was delighted! didnt break andthing , although my tripod nearly got tossed to sea(thanks alex)lol!

very good day i got 6 dog's so happy with that

Ahhhh...so it wasnt even your own tripod :lol: :lol: :lol:

Alex, your a gem on the forum, you must be even better in real time, a few have said you are a great guy.....your mixing with a bad crowd, come away from those Fenian's, they will get you into trouble :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Tom.