bray, 16/02/08

Sat Feb 16, 2008 8:57 pm

People:me on me tod (billynomates :roll: )

Duration:7am-11.30am

Tide:falling

Weather:cold, dry, breezy

Bait:mack, 2 lug, squid.

Rigs: :oops: , tangled mess.

Results:4 whiting, 2 dab.




Report: Hadnt much money so I scrapped plans to go to the Angling Show and decided to play it safe (again :oops: )and headed to Bray Harbour. Reversed the car down the pier and set up. Didnt use the lamps for long as it was getting bright .Fished 2 rods, one at approx 100 yds and the other 30-40 yds out (dont know what that is in euros :? ). First fish was the smallest whiting i've caught yet, but I knew i'd escaped the dreaded blank once again, touch wood! 9 trips since Xmas and no blanks, wonder how much longer my luck will hold out? It was quite breezy and hard to detect bites but I got 4 whiting altogether, one of which was my biggest yet, tipping 30 cms, (dont laugh you seasoned anglers out there :roll: ) I met a guy out walking who offered me great advice on knots, he probably felt sorry for me as he watched me reel in my tangle, i mean rig (with crab and whiting attached). He took some of my line and gave me a lesson on tying some really handy knots, grinner, i think. Under his gaze, with freezing, chapped fingers, I was under pressure , but thankfully was able to tie the knot myself. This knot is for tying hooks to snoods and the advantage is that , if tied correctly, you can slide the bait, eg worms, over the knot easily, and it also stops the bait sliding back down the hook :) . Thanks, Neil?( i think!) Some other guy came up to me asking for advice. He must have thought i was some kind of expert, he was from Moldova, which doesnt have a coastline. Anyways I showed him how to hook up his worms and he caught a small dab and a whiting! During this time i hooked into my biggest fish so far, a very large coalie. I nearly collapsed when it broke the surface, i reckon it was 60 cms, but you guessed it, it fell off the hook as it left the water :( I never felt so alone as I looked around for someone to console me :cry: . Never mind, I caught 2 small dabs, which i had been after, so at least i got another species :lol: I left soon after, sorry to the two guys who were trying to talk to me before i left, but i dont speak russian :oops: . Its been like the United Nations the last few weeks on that pier and I have to say that despite what ive read in some reports, I've only seen good things, mostly catch and release, no litter, and friendly anglers.
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Sat Feb 16, 2008 10:32 pm

your putting in the hours eyesreilly - fair play to you

a 30cm whiting is good from the shore in the light in my book - pity about dropping the coalie - thats the gamble you take at piers

good to hear the eastern boys are well behaved

when im fishing on piers no one ever really talks to me - must scare them off or something!

Sat Feb 16, 2008 10:56 pm

Thanks Corbyeire, guess i've been bitten by the bug alright :) . As for talking on the pier, the way I look at it, it doesnt cost anything to say hello, and if you strike up a conversation and learn something new, all the better :wink: .As for the one that got away, I guess he wont be the last one either :cry: .
Dave

Sun Feb 17, 2008 10:07 am

Nice wee dab too......... 8)

Sun Feb 17, 2008 10:50 am

you did well getting a coalie i have never had a coalie off the harbour and i have fished it for years :oops: must say not all non nationals are fish walloper,s and some irish lads i know would make you blush when you see the fish they take home , as for litter i think thats more to do with brain cells than what country you where born in :roll:

Sun Feb 17, 2008 11:10 am

roger de dodger wrote:...as for litter i think thats more to do with brain cells ...


Or lack thereof! :lol:

Sun Feb 17, 2008 3:39 pm

roger de dodger wrote:you did well getting a coalie i have never had a coalie off the harbour and i have fished it for years :oops: :


Hi Rodger, this is the fish that i caught a couple of weeks ago off the harbour. I think its a coalfish, but im not perfect at identifying fish :oops:, maybe someone could clarify? The one that got away yesterday was well over twice the size :cry: , i'm judging it by the size of some of the larger dogfish that i've caught.
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Sun Feb 17, 2008 4:27 pm

coalie alright

Mon Feb 18, 2008 8:47 am

hi Neil here. no i did not feel sorry for you, acctually i felf a bit sorry for myself as i had to go to work , would have perferd to be fishing. glad to here you liked the knot. are you still on for coming to wicklow to fish. e-mail me and we will make arrangements for same :lol:

Mon Feb 18, 2008 7:51 pm

fishface wrote:hi Neil here. no i did not feel sorry for you, acctually i felf a bit sorry for myself as i had to go to work , would have perferd to be fishing. glad to here you liked the knot. are you still on for coming to wicklow to fish. e-mail me and we will make arrangements for same :lol:


Hi Neil, nice meeting you, told you i'd make you famous :lol: . I retied all my rigs with that knot when I went home so now I know 2 knots :wink: . Cant remember the name of that line you told me to use., think I must have Amnesia :roll: /. I'll defo email you re fishing in Wicklow.
Dave

Tue Feb 19, 2008 10:21 am

well well my daughter nagged me so much i finally took her fishing but she insisted on going to greystones ,BIG mistake 2 hours down at the stream on the south beach produced one tiny bite ,we had fresh lug squid mac and razor ,bray harbour for her next time at least you are gonna get a few whiting and be kept busy :( this frosty weather has killed the fishing off the beaches stick to harbours and rocks )
dodger