mackeral

Mon Sep 01, 2008 11:09 pm

fishing between coombe and carnsore point sunday evening,difficult conditions blustery sw wind.dispite this still getting 2-3 mackeral per cast had about 15-20 for an hour or so,reckon the would be solid if weather was right.

Re: mackeral

Tue Sep 02, 2008 10:35 am

Have you ever thought about leaving the feathers in the box and trying a large german sprat or shallow diving plug..?
I wonder if there arent larger fish in that area tailing the mackerel shoals....! :wink:

Re: mackeral

Tue Sep 02, 2008 5:41 pm

Eoghan wrote:Have you ever thought about leaving the feathers in the box and trying a large german sprat or shallow diving plug..?
I wonder if there arent larger fish in that area tailing the mackerel shoals....! :wink:



Susssh or you will wake the children :wink:

Re: mackeral

Tue Sep 02, 2008 10:40 pm

ROFL ! :lol:

Re: mackeral

Wed Sep 03, 2008 4:12 pm

Just trying to convert a mackie basher...! (Nothing I hate more) Surely a guaranteed place in heaven for that...! :D

He might even catch something worth talking about.

Re: mackeral

Wed Sep 03, 2008 6:04 pm

Eoghan wrote:Just trying to convert a mackie basher...! (Nothing I hate more) Surely a guaranteed place in heaven for that...! :D

He might even catch something worth talking about.


Seems a bit OTT there :wink: .

One of the tastiest fish in the sea and one of the great starter fish I must say I got a great kick out of my 7yo boy landing his first "full house" last year, it thought him to cast and spin feathers - nearly as much as watching him catch and land a (just short of specimen weight) Trigger (along with some good size wrasse) on light gear this year!

What does get me going is the type that can't cast, tangle neighbours gear dump their catch with their beer cans and other rubbish etc......and they are not all like that......well some aren't! :mrgreen:

Re: mackeral

Wed Sep 03, 2008 9:54 pm

Agree totally, marno.
My young lad uses the bashing season as 'practice', as do I.
Not many times a year can you go to a shoreline with bare hooks and wrench out fish - regardless of the specimen.

Whats MOST annoying is when you finish work early and head down to the 'practice' ground for a few hours and get a nice handy spot close to the car... first few bashers arrive and give a good 100-150yrds between you and them. You turn around after your next cast, and WHOOOOO! - there's 50 of them after arriving in a Coach! - four squeeze in either side of you and think they own the beach. Too bloody lazy to walk - then your there, trying to cast straight out without moving your elbows in case you bump off one of them!....
Some days, more time can be spent untangling spaghetti than actual fishing!

It's similar manners to you waiting & indicating to turn into a carpark space - then the guy coming in the opposite direction (who your waiting for to pass by) stops and turns into it and laughs at you...
Roll on the 'Beach Rage'..!! :lol:

Re: mackeral

Wed Sep 03, 2008 11:29 pm

marno wrote:
Eoghan wrote:Just trying to convert a mackie basher...! (Nothing I hate more) Surely a guaranteed place in heaven for that...! :D

He might even catch something worth talking about.


Seems a bit OTT there :wink: .

One of the tastiest fish in the sea and one of the great starter fish I must say I got a great kick out of my 7yo boy landing his first "full house" last year, it thought him to cast and spin feathers - nearly as much as watching him catch and land a (just short of specimen weight) Trigger (along with some good size wrasse) on light gear this year!

What does get me going is the type that can't cast, tangle neighbours gear dump their catch with their beer cans and other rubbish etc......and they are not all like that......well some aren't! :mrgreen:


I have a lot of time for catching mackerel on light gear, it can be great fun and they usually fight pretty hard. Definitely a great fish to introduce beginners to the sport as they usually aren't to difficult to catch and put a good bend in the rod, if only they grew to 5lbs or more they'd be some fish. Mackie bashers on the other hand, I don't have so much time for. Even thinking about it now conjures up images of a six ounce lead and a string of feathers whizzing by my ear whilst being elbow to elbow with drunken eijits that keep tangling in your line and leaving their catch to rot along with all their empty cans. They don't exactly give anglers a good name now do they?

Re: mackeral

Thu Sep 04, 2008 8:49 am

A wee bit sensitive ladies...??? :lol:

It was just a bit of fun. You know the type of mackie bashers I am refering to.
The ones who show no respect to the fish they have caught, litter the place, etc etc

I myself learned the trade so to speak catching mackerel as a kid, thats not what I am having a go at.

Re: mackeral

Fri Sep 05, 2008 12:20 am

Eoghan wrote:A wee bit sensitive ladies...??? :lol:

It was just a bit of fun. You know the type of mackie bashers I am refering to.
The ones who show no respect to the fish they have caught, litter the place, etc etc

I myself learned the trade so to speak catching mackerel as a kid, thats not what I am having a go at.


Ah I know it was just a bit of fun Eoghan and I know how much you like your bass :wink: but bass and particularly Mackie bashers were both touchy subjects for me yesterday. You see after spending yet another unsuccessful day trying to catch a single bass, I ended up being elbow to elbow with feckin mackie bashers on Brandon pier trying to reassure myself that I can actually catch the odd fish or two. :oops: As much as I dislike the Mackie basher, this bunch weren't actually all that bad, well bar the usual idiot who decided he'd cast where I was casting and walk under my feet every time I went to cast, you know the sort. That wasn't really the worst bit, no the worst bit was the fact that despite all I may say about them they seemed to be catching a lot more than me. :( Ah well it was a bit of fun all the same but as much fun as a full set of mackerel on a light spinning may be, it isn't really the same as a nice bass :cry:

Re: mackeral

Fri Sep 05, 2008 2:32 pm

Dave wrote:
marno wrote:
Eoghan wrote:Just trying to convert a mackie basher...! (Nothing I hate more) Surely a guaranteed place in heaven for that...! :D

He might even catch something worth talking about.


Seems a bit OTT there :wink: .

One of the tastiest fish in the sea and one of the great starter fish I must say I got a great kick out of my 7yo boy landing his first "full house" last year, it thought him to cast and spin feathers - nearly as much as watching him catch and land a (just short of specimen weight) Trigger (along with some good size wrasse) on light gear this year!

What does get me going is the type that can't cast, tangle neighbours gear dump their catch with their beer cans and other rubbish etc......and they are not all like that......well some aren't! :mrgreen:


I have a lot of time for catching mackerel on light gear, it can be great fun and they usually fight pretty hard. Definitely a great fish to introduce beginners to the sport as they usually aren't to difficult to catch and put a good bend in the rod, if only they grew to 5lbs or more they'd be some fish. Mackie bashers on the other hand, I don't have so much time for. Even thinking about it now conjures up images of a six ounce lead and a string of feathers whizzing by my ear whilst being elbow to elbow with drunken eijits that keep tangling in your line and leaving their catch to rot along with all their empty cans. They don't exactly give anglers a good name now do they?


Eoghan I did add a smilie :wink: and as you know most peoples first sea fish would be a Mack and then if the bug bites they move on to other things so rather than try to convert why not encourage to progress (if there was a tounge slightlly in cheek smilie I would stick it in here :wink: (close enough)) coming to this site is a great start for anyone looking to improve his sea angling skills.

My latest close shave with the bashers was of crowded rocks, I was stocking up on bait (with a free lunch thrown in) and left my spot for 30secs when I came back the line of a bloke (standing 20M to my left) was crossing my spot, I would hate to think what I would have been like if I was still there as the lead that preceeded that line flew through where I would have been standing. He had tangled me twice already and had never even said sorry, the third time rather than spending 10 mins untangling the mess I just shredded his gear. I just wanted bait and go not spend the hour at 'knot practice' or puling a weight out of my noggin!

Re: mackeral

Fri Sep 05, 2008 3:03 pm

Yeah can get a bit hectic not to mention a bit heated in situations like that.

Re: mackeral

Wed Sep 10, 2008 2:53 pm

Hi all,
I have to admit I love the craic going after a the Mack's and I have brought a little lad I know out a few times over the summer. We have had great fun beach fishing in Wexford and off the rocks in Cahore and Howth. We have even been boat fishing in Dublin (Bullock Harbour)

While we have had huge success over the summer with some beaut's, even a lovely thorn back in Wexford the Mack's aren't biting. I thought that a good Mack session for Fun and some bait would really do down a treat we have had no luck.

Can someone PM me if there are any hotspots in Dublin at the moment? Iknow this is a big no no but the little fella is really getting into fishing. Plus his sister works for me and covers me for going fishing lol

Anyway he caught a nice Pollock there last week, here is a pic.

Image