Garryvoe - 24th October 2008

People: Me

Duration: 11.00 pm to 3.30 am

Tide: HW at 3.40 am

Weather: Light southwesterly at first, strengthing considerably later, clear, dry

Bait: Rag, razor, mackerel, mussel, oyster

Rigs: 3/0 pennel pulley, 3 hook flapper, 2 hook flapper, single hook flapper (size 4)

Results: 2 coalfish




Report:As the forcast for Saturday was not good I was determined to get out on Friday night. However the winds were forecast to gain strength during the night so I reckoned the fishing on my usual beaches would be difficult so opted for Garryvoe as that would be less exposed. I was also encouraged by "Thescotsmans" report on fishing there Monday night when a codling was caught. I was hoping that the foul weather on Thursday would bring them in close again.

I set up about 11.00 pm just as the tide was starting to rise. Initially weed was a problem - I had the three hook flapper on one rod and that just acted as a weed magnet so I switched over to a single hook flapper with a small hook (size 4). The other rod had the pennel. It collected a bit of weed but not nearly as bad. There was just a light southwesterly breeze initially but by 1 am it was getting much stronger - by 3 am it was a full blown gale - glad I opted for the relative shelter of Garryvoe, my usual beach would have been unfishable.

There wasn't much biting at all. At first I had rag tipped with mackerel on the pennel - there were a few hints of bites but nothing hooked, although the mackerel was pulled off the hook a couple of times.

About 12.30 am I got the first bite - a 34 cm coalfish on the size 4 single hook flapper baited with mussel.

I changed bait on the pennel and put on an oyster (last winter I found it to be a good coalie bait and had a codling on it too). Something took a fancy to it but managed to pull it off the hook without been hooked - probably a coalfish.

About an hour later I caught a second coalfish, 35 cm and again with the size 4 hook baited with mussel.

By this stage a good surf had been blown up as the wind strengthened so I was hopeful of getting something worthwhile in the couple of hours leading up to high tide but had no more bites. But as the wind grew steadily stronger my 5 oz gripper weights were also having a problem holding bottom and the lines were getting dragged to the left.

At 3.30 am I decided I had enough - it was close to high tide at that stage and I was up against the coastal defense embankment with the occasional wave crashing in over my knees.

A guy fishing 50 m to the left of me had two dogfish - he called it quits at about 2.30 am - I should have followed his example.

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well done Rockhunter, i guess its going to get tougher out there from now on weatherwise. 2 nice coalies there, i'll be trying mussel for the first time tomorrow so hopefully it'll work for me also. Went to dig rag yesterday and got the tides wrong so i collected some mussel to try to salvage the situation . I see the small hooks worked 4 you again

well were seen the the first of the cold water fish making a return down south hopeful the cod will follow with the drop in temperatures lately .i know you can get sick of them in the winter but better than blanking

Thanks Dave,
I have found mussel to be a good bait -although I didn't use it much over the summer. The main problem is trying to secure it on to a hook, definitely a bait suited to small hooks, you just need plenty of elastic thread. Good luck tomorrow.

i know you can get sick of them in the winter but better than blanking

I was saved from many a blank last winter by a bunch of coalies and for their size they are good little fighters.

a guy who uses the mussels the whole time was telling me he gives them a quick dip in boiling water to toughen them up a bit, was waiting for him to say then pour garlic butter over them but he didnt,he was serious

The best way to use mussel is to salt them in a coffee jar. Not only does this toughen them up but they can keep for months and you are still presenting a bait as natural as possible.

That's interesting Pat. Never thought of salting mussel.
So all you do is take it out it's shell and tip them in a jar with salt? How would you store them after that, freezer?
I suppose most shellfish, and other baits, can be preserved like that.

thanks,

-F

Lovely quality of coalfish on those Cork beaches, compared to the 20cm pests up here

inside the English market you can buy a bag of mussel already shelled and frozen for 5 euro use them plenty of times a combo of a squid hood stuffed with mussel for cod .

Lovely quality of coalfish on those Cork beaches, compared to the 20cm pests up here

beats blanking

anything beats blanking ,even a weaver !!!!!!

So all you do is take it out it's shell and tip them in a jar with salt? How would you store them after that, freezer?

No need to freeze them. As you're shelling the mussel put in a layer of salt on top of them every so often. They keep for months. We used to use this as bait all the time when we were young fellas fishing off the quays. Can be dynamite for cod at times.

Thanks for the tips on the mussels.

I have salted a bunch that I collected this morning - so it will be interesting to see how it toughens them up.