ballinacourty pier, co. galway, 03/02/08

People: myself

Duration: 1.30 - 4.30

Tide:

Weather: windy, then windy with hail, snow, rain

Bait: refrozen mack sandeel

Rigs: 3 hook flappers, hooked down pat

Results: zilch


Report: raging hangover so thought outside for a bit of fresh air - and my word how fresh it was!

had noticed it wasnt raining and decided to chance it

weed was fairly heavy in patches but no tackle loses - after about an hour a cormorant appeared and was feeding away 50 yards in front

the hooks were getting robbed - thought it was crabs - as i felt something on and then letting go

then another cormorant - the 2 of them feeding away in front of me - what torture

kept knocking out the bait changing distance and right were the birds were diving about - kept getting hooks cleaned honestly thought i was into fish a few times but they kept getting off

after 2 hours the rain/snow/hail started and after another fruitless hour i couldnt feel my hands - i decided to pack it in

and no it didnt get rid of the hangover

:lol:

anyone any idea what the cormorants were feeding on?

cheers

anyone any idea what the cormorants were feeding on?

cheers

your bait :lol:

anyone any idea what the cormorants were feeding on?

cheers

your bait :lol:

:lol: :lol: :lol:

:lol:

dont worry it had crossed my mind!

mind you with the amount of bait elastic i was sticking on in the end - i should have hooked them a few times

:lol:

:lol:

dont worry it had crossed my mind!

mind you with the amount of bait elastic i was sticking on in the end - i should have hooked them a few times

:lol:

one got tangled in my line before...two words.....green sh1t! :lol: :lol:

yea they seem to not be able to see the line from time to time - no more than myself!

where is ballinacourty pier? never heard of it?

its near maree south west of oranmore

o ya i no the place i think. thanks

Hi just wondering has anyone caught anything of Balinacourty Pier? I know there is good fishing off the spit of land past Balinacourty but its a 4mile hike unless you have a four wheel drive or a tractor. You also need to get the farmers permission to walk out on the spit and he is not the most welcoming. I spoke to one of the local oyster fishermen who operates out of Balinacourty and he gave me permission to access the back of the spit. He told me before its a waste of time fishing right in at the pier. So if anyones catching in off the pier let me know as it would save a lot of shoe leather!!

Thanks,

Conor.

only ever got mackeral off that pier - but only fished it twice - went further east about 15min walk and small pollack were got spinning and a huss on a mack flapper

never went west from the pier

did you get into fish at the back of the spit that time?
on another ocassion i went further up the estuary towards clarinbridge and got into mack - not the huss i was after

had it they were into double figures there - maybe it was further out that the huss were and perhaps those tope :wink:

i feel sorry for some of the west coast anglers .horror storys of blanks and bad weather ..... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I agree, the Galway lads do seem to have it though this time of the year.

Hi Corbyeire,
Yeah fished off the back of the spit a few times during august and sept macks dogs and huss were taken the huss weren't monsters the biggest 6.5lbs but there was a couple of blanks in there too!! which is a real killer after trekking all the way out to the other side of that spit. I've tried a few spots around Oranmore / Clarinbridge but haven't had much success. I've heard a few of the locals talking about fishing in around Tawin but i ended up at a dead end in a farmers field I got talking to him and he said he'd never seen anyone fishing in the area. Was it yourself that caught some nice huss over that way during the summer??

i feel sorry for some of the west coast anglers .horror storys of blanks and bad weather ..... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I agree, the Galway lads do seem to have it though this time of the year.

:lol: yea its all bad luck bad weather bad timing nothing to do with rotten bait broken gear brutal hangovers and being completely clueless :lol: :lol:

well salty credit where its due midget got a huss over 9lb there last summer and another mate of mine 2 years before that got 3 over 10lb down that side

have heard all the stories about huss, tope blues great whites and killer whales out at tawin - but like you said most people have never heard or seen anyone fishing out there

these shore caught tope round there are always someone elses story - ive only ever met one chap who was mates with a fella who had caught out that way - but it was years ago now

any huss i get are further south or back west from salthill

the only place i know a tope was caught rod and line was new quay and ive seen them up at parkmore pier once

i probably would be from the lazy academy as yourself - not prepared for 1hr plus hike on the off chance i might get a tope!

good luck