Two Specimen Weekend Co. Clare

I am not getting out as much as I would like but so far this year I have yet to blank which goes to show Napoleon's preference for a lucky general over a good one holds for fishing too 8)

Fished a favorite pollock mark in Kilkee (South) in the evening (Sat 12th) as the light was fading using a selection of jellys - Black red tails and a mad looking green thing from the States that looks Sci-Fi on land but swims incredibly fishy in the water. Landed 2 good sized Pollock, one of under a pound and one monster - so four in the hour. I was traveling light and didn't have a scales with me but he just broke 25" in length and as I spared him I am going to say he beat the 8lb specimen weight for shore caught pollock (as per this site) BTW would my estimation be far off in the opinion here?


Sunday the 13th I fished Seafield Pier for some of the Mullet I have seen there when I fish there with the kids. When I arrived there was a man with his daughter gutting a mackerel catch and throwing the waste in to the sea - this is a good start I thought the sea full of mack guts should bring in the mullet.

So to cut a long story short I landed my first mullet - the second (unofficial) specimen of the weekend, to give an idea of the size he was caught on a size 8/0 meat hook with a 1/4 side of Mackerel :!: :!: and at 18"quite easily broke the 4lb specimen weight. I had no Net with me and the line (20lb) broke off as I got him on the pier. I was embarrassed by my poor handling skills first letting him snap the line and then dropping him (both only from a foot, but still). This fish was as much a hand full after he was landed as he was while in the water there was a lot of scales flying so a quick photo and marked the length and got him back before I did any more damage, he powered away looking none the worse for ware. How does losing scales affect the fish, are they more open to infection/parasites? How long does it take to replace them?.

I must explain the catching method, I wanted to stick lump of mackerel to the line to bring in the mullet to the baited size 4 hook, and so I tied on the size 8/0 to attach the 'ground bait' to the line, soon after the big mullet arrived and started gnawing on the big lump of fish when I tried to lift the the lump out and leave the bait in the water but he had no interest in the little scrap on the small hook (and was probably spooked too) anyway on his third passing he ended up hooked on the 'conger gear'. got to try this again they sure do get you going as you sit there watching them feeding but not taking your bait, luckily there were no children about to listen to the language.

Picked up a few macks to keep the bait in stock but left them in the garden overnight by mistake nd they were gone in the morning :oops:

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Nice goin der :lol:

Nice goin der :lol:

Thanks, very enjoyable i must say. And whatever about size that pollock was a beautiful looking fish. Deep copper coloured beauty. I had tried to fish this mark the last couple of times I was over that way but the weather was too much, I will be back again some evening it is a spectacular place to fish and watch the sun go down. Don't mind the pollock holes, you can never cary enough gear to lose there.

Agreed, that is one good looking pollock and you must have the record for the biggest hook used to catch a mullet,
i have been fishing around kilkee for the past few weeks and have tried around for mullet in kilrush and carrigaholt and only ever seen very small mullet playing about,

next time i will give seafield a go,
Well done,

you must have the record for the biggest hook used to catch a mullet

I wondered if it counted as a catch and not a foul hook but he was hooked throught the mouth by a baited hook so I recon it counts :D

you must have the record for the biggest hook used to catch a mullet

I wondered if it counted as a catch and not a foul hook but he was hooked throught the mouth by a baited hook so I recon it counts :D

Of course it counts,

I will agree with anything you say from here on in,

I went to sea field and not only caught my first mullet of the year that brings my species list to 20 but I also caught my first ever specimen mullet of 5.23lb on the fly rod and I got it all on video, :D :D :D

So I would like to thank you for the info and wish you the best of luck,

Thanks again,

Loverly stuff mann...... I didn't have my scales to hand but I am sure my fellah was 6lbs +, but you would never know it may have been the same fish, did he have a scar from a meat hook through his nose? :wink:

I am bringing down my fly rod next week, I have never SWFFed would intermediate line work? I suppose you could use floating line as mullett will feed on the surface, though I have haven't seen this a lot, what did you use?

I am bringing down my fly rod next week, I have never SWFFed would intermediate line work? I suppose you could use floating line as mullett will feed on the surface, though I have haven't seen this a lot, what did you use?

Marno,

I thanked Murdock for telling putting me onto the mark for my first mullet :oops:

About the line.. I used floating on the first day and caught 2 the biggest being under 3lb, :D :D :D
Went back next day trying for a fatter fish and had to use sinking line to hold the fly over the fish.. as the wind was a lot stronger and was blowing the line into a bow and dragging my fly away from the fish I was after.

I been back twice since then and blanked.. First time they didn’t show or maybe they did but not where I was… second time I seen them in small numbers but they seen me before I seen them and they shot out well away from me.. I hung around for some time but they didn’t show again,

I will stay away from the mark until you catch your fish on the fly and in the mean time if I spot any other marks that look the part I will let you know,

Must add that I used a size 12 hook with a very narrow gape on 4lb fluorocarbon.. Also hung a well sliced frozen mackerel and a small fruit net filled with bread / porridge / chopped up mackerel and guts.. To this I added fish oil mixed with cooking oil and it seemed to hold the fish in the area a lot longer then just mackerel,

I’m thinking that you may well know all of this already but my fingers just got carried away,

Good luck to you when you try for them on the fly as they cant be beaten when it comes to fighting,

Thanks for that info. As I have never SWFFed it is all of use to me.

David