Bray Head 7/05/2008

People: Myself and Corbyeire

Duration: 18.30 - 20.30

Tide: Full out at 19.15

Weather: fine, small swell, extremely hazy out at sea - was a real stunning sight

Bait: lures

Rigs: n/a

Results: eventful but no fish




Report: Was desperate to get out and enjoy some of this fine weather, too nice to be stuck in the office !!! So rang Corbyeire and out we headed.

After finding a decent looking deep water mark with lots of kelp, we started to throw a few lures in. Myself and Corbyeire had not fished Bray Head before and were not too optimistic with it being low water, but there seemed to be plenty of deep water in front of us so defo worth a shot :wink:

The first hour passed with out much incident, a few small snag's, but nothing that resulted in lost lures :)

Decided to change to a smaller/heavier lure to hit a bit more distance and get the lure deeper for the retrieve as there was quite a tidal pull from right to left.

I moved to a small outcrop of rocks 20/30 yards to the left and after 5/6 casts missed what I though was a couple of hits (felt like a pull rather than snagging weed), and expectation was now rising.

Saw a small Armada of Kayakers coming in from the left and it looked like they were paddling right into our casting line....bang.... into a fish, I was a little hasty in the retrieve due to the onslaught of the Kayakers (thats what Corbyeire said I should use as an excuse rather than incompetence :roll: ), and lost the fish right by my feet. A pollock of around 2 - 2 1/2 lb I would estimate.

To say I was disappointed would be an understatment to say the least, I keep promising my housemates that I am gonna bring something home for the dinner table, only to let them (and myself) down :oops: - However worse was to come

It was only 8pm so still had a bit of time left to catch a few, or so I thought..........

Cast out again, snagged :!: gave it a bit of a tug, no joy, let the line slack, no joy, gave it another tug..... Crack, rod snapped right on the joint, I was mortified, only had the rod for a few months and it wasnt cheap either :cry: :cry: :cry:

I have had a bad run with tackle this last week, backwind broke on my main reel last weekend (for the 2nd time), and now my spinning rod busted, whats next I wonder, they say bad luck comes in 3's - I was 1/2 expecting a fall into the sea, or a slip down the pathway on our exit from the mark, that would have just about finished me :roll: :roll: :roll:

Anyway, I shall be heading off to the tackle shop this afternoon to see what they canm do about this rod, I have only used it around 10 times and its only had very light use. I wasnt even pulling it hard to release it from the snag, so hopefully the tackle shop in question will do the decent thing and replace it :idea:

Not much in the way of action for Corbyeire I am afraid, the odd moment of incident with the slippery rocks thats all, but I am sure he can/will add any extra info he see's fit.

I am defo gonna try and hit this mark on an incoming tide at the weekend, if my rod senario is sorted :roll:

NB : Sorry about the rant, but, what the F**K is it with watercraft users, they seem to think they own the rights to use whatever bit of water they like, irrespective of who else is using it!, or who was there first!

The Kayakers could quite clearly see our range of casting yet proceeded to paddle straight throught our line, surely common sense would suggest that they paddle an extra 40/50 yards out to sea to bypass our area of fishing(the sea was certainly calm enough for this to be done safely).... I shall have the last laugh however, I am going armed with a catapult and some rotten, sticking rubby dubby next time 8)

Sorry to hear about your rod. Good to get out all the same.

well mark

seriously unlucky both on the fish front and the rod - it was amazing down there you would never think bray was round the corner bar the dart going by - and all those kayakers

looks a great spot with easily 4meters depth at high tide - sand out further all kinds of fishing to be done there!

hope the fish show for you at the weekend and the old tackle dealer sorts you out

some beautiful spot - and bizarre haze that had boats looking like they were in the air!

another blank but im getting very used to it now - probably have a heart attack if i get a fish!

8)

Any chance of letting me in on that mark?
Hoping to get my fly rods shipped here for the weekend. Need deep kelpy water.

Wasn't a Wychwood rod that bust on you, was it?

Any chance of letting me in on that mark?
Hoping to get my fly rods shipped here for the weekend. Need deep kelpy water.

hows your rock hopping, abseiling, mountain climbing, hill rolling/slipping - swimming etc.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Tanglerat: It was a Predator Advance3 10ft, Was in the shop for €120, but reduced by 50%, so cost me €60. It had a lovely action to it, great for a bit of distance, very sensitive and extremely light.

:D Good news, just arrived back from the tackle shop(henrys in Nth Dublin), and he had no prob's changing the rod. Had my pick of others in the same price range, and came away with a Cormorant Black Star 11ft reduced from €175 to €90, so just had to pay the difference.

Anybody any experience/comments on the Cormorant rods, I forgot now which model it is, but think its the Hypertec Black Star 11ft, lure rod, the guy in the shop said it would be ideal for salmon/bass/pollock?! - I have checked Cormorants own website, but cant find the 3.3M rod so it may not be the very lastest model?!

Corby... Yeh I had forgotten about that rib helicopter type thingy that was flying through the air :shock: :shock: The most bizzare thing I have seen fishing yet (thats while I have been fishing rather than the rib helicopter thingy fishing, obviously) 8)

I am gonna hit that mark saturday and sunday I think, just about to check the tides, arrange some bait, buy a few more lures and plan my weekend fishing in the sun :wink:

Anthony2carr, pm on its way, and if ya wanna meet sometime this weekend friday-sunday let me know, I can show you the mark, probably a bit easier that way :idea:

Good luck tonight Corby, if your fishing into darkness either the south beach or the rocks will throw you a few fish up I reckon even with LW, but I wouldnt be too hopeful if your just fishing daylight with low water aswell :(

The south beach will be plagued with tourists/dog walkers I reckon so the rocks would give you a bit more peace :wink:

Anthony2carr, sent you a pm with directions, but dont know if ya got it, its not in my sent box, but i defo sent it, let me know if it didnt arrive.

I got it cheers.