wicklow pier, light house side 29-12-08

People:me, fishface, and shamoo

Duration:me, 6pm-2am

Tide:high at 00-40am

Weathercalm, slight breeze,:

Bait:lug,mack,squid,crab,razor,kitchen sink

Rigs:flappers

Results:whiting, shore rockling?




Report: After last Saturdays blank I needed to get another session in before the New Year as I didnt want to end 08 on a blank . Managed to get a few lug along with an assortment of frozen baits and settled on Wicklow Harbour as the venue. Fishface and Shamoo came along also and when I arrived at 6pm approx Shamoo was hauling in the whiting by the bucketfull (he had a bucket with him). Shamoo was the only one there when i arrived and i set up at the end of the pier in front of the lighthouse. It was a lovely evening ,with southeasterly breezes, not very cold at all, although i was getting shelter from the wall, around the corner it was a bit nippier .

First cast for me had barely hit the water when i had a rattle which turned out to be a shore rockling (i think ,, theres always a bit of confusion going on in my head whenever i catch one of these or similar species), around 25cms. I'm reckoning a shore rockling ,,,as the 5 bearded ,to me, are much softer in the body,if that makes sense . As usual when I get off to a great start, the fishing slowed down for me, but Mark(Shamoo), was pulling them in every cast,,,whiting that is. Fishface arrived and the usual banter ensued . As the tide rose we were expecting better fishing,, maybe a codling or two, but it didnt happen . We were catching whiting consistently all night, singles and doubles, with lug tipped with squid working best for me. The two lads headed off around 10ish???,, but as there were some other anglers there and i wouldnt be on my lonesome in the dark ,,,i stayed on .
Two Polish guys were fishing rods with very light tips, every time they reeled in the bend in the rod was incredible and i thought they had monster fish on, but it was just the lead bending the rod ,,what would have happened if they'd got a double of doggies (though theyve disappeared off the scene).Thanks to Neil (Fishface) for leaving me his ( Northstar) lantern, you get spoilt with the light it gives out . I had been used to my battery operated one, but there really is no comparison. The other anglers left ,one by one, as it crept towards midnight, leaving me and another guy from Clonsilla, didnt get his name , but he was good company into the small hours and seemed to be on the same wavelength as me (whatever that says for him ). We said we'd stay on for an hour past high tide but it just wasnt happening. He got a small dab which was a change to the whiting. He left about 1-30am and i started to pack up,,with the usual last cast keeping me there till 2am. I left happy enough with my night, though i probably stayed too long ,,but who cares ,,,didnt end the year with a blank

Well thats my last fishing session of the year,,,,,been out over 60 times with only 3 blanks (touch wood ),. New to fishing this time last year, i owe a lot to what i've learned from this site and the guys i've met along the way, who were good enough to share their knowledge, marks, etc, with me,,,THANKS. Didnt really have a target for this year but i've managed 21 species, so i suppose i've got a target to beat for next year. The only real target i had was to get a record of my trips for the year and i've done that in my shore reports, which i saved to a folder and i'll be able to look back through them next year. Looking forward to more fishing in 2009, Happy New Year to everyone
Dave

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As Dave said, it was a pleasant, if uneventful nights fishing.

Had whiting galore myself, 2's and 3's every cast, with a few small rockling aswell.

Got sick of catching the whiting after a couple of hours and packed up myself by 8.15pm.

Was cold enough outside of the shelter of the pier wall.

yup its a shore rockling... nice sized one too..

Well at least you over ruled the blank Dave. I agree with what you said about the site everyone has been so helpful in my first years fishing. I picked up a lantern today (still hidden in boot from the misses ) I'm looking forward to getting to use it. I hope you have a successful new years fishing and the best to you and yours.

Well at least you over ruled the blank Dave. I agree with what you said about the site everyone has been so helpful in my first years fishing. I picked up a lantern today (still hidden in boot from the misses ) I'm looking forward to getting to use it. I hope you have a successful new years fishing and the best to you and yours.

Thanks Conor, got my own lamp sorted, needs a new ignition unit, but i can still light it with a match. Hope you get plenty of use out of the lamp . Thanks for the I.D. of the shore rockling Stevecrow

Oh and I meant to say you came pretty close to the 30cm mark with that whiting!!

After last Saturdays blank I needed to get another session in before the New Year as I didnt want to end 08 on a blank .

well done dave you made up for last weeks session
good detailed report, great reading mate.
cant wait to get back out there myself and get a bit of wangling done
the back seems grand now, but my head is fecked up with the tablets i was on " jes that morphine's great stuff "

I picked up a lantern today (still hidden in boot from the misses )

i'm 47 and i'm still hideing stuff
truth be told we all do

the back seems grand now, but my head is fecked up with the tablets i was on " jes that morphine's great stuff "

A few beers does it for me Don, but whatever floats your boat

happy new year to you as well dave. remind me to never ask you to go shopping for me again those winter boots i got in aldi are the buissness, my feet were like toast all night, no need for extra socks , and the grip is super, ideal for the pier, would not suit the beach though. hope you enjoy yourself on sunday 50/50 wheither i see you down there,, question? what is the entrance fee for the comp and are there any restictions on bait, what size of fish count, ive been so long out of the club and competition seen that i need someone to enlighten me

question? what is the entrance fee for the comp and are there any restictions on bait, what size of fish count, ive been so long out of the club and competition seen that i need someone to enlighten me

Maybe someone from SAI will answer that for you Neil ,,i've no idea???,,,do they not all count If small whiting dont count im in trouble

do they not all count If small whiting dont count im in trouble

From what I know, some clubs/comps will score (say 5 points) for undersize fish....which to me seems very fair, as you can only catch whats out there

the back seems grand now, but my head is fecked up with the tablets i was on " jes that morphine's great stuff "

A few beers does it for me Don, but whatever floats your boat

know what you mean dave, but a few beer wont do it.
badly damaged my spine in an accident some years ago, and now every so ofen the back go's, so the doc' puts me on the morphine pump, great for ridding the pain, but fecks up the head...

know what you mean dave, but a few beer wont do it.
badly damaged my spine in an accident some years ago, and now every so ofen the back go's, so the doc' puts me on the morphine pump, great for ridding the pain, but fecks up the head...

Only joking Don,hope you feel better soon,,,guess you have to be cafeful casting and carrying stuff down a beach with your back problem. Did my knee in a few years ago (jumping out of a tractor ), took 6 weeks to come back, weakness is still there though, makes me a bit wary sometimes

know what you mean dave, but a few beer wont do it.
badly damaged my spine in an accident some years ago, and now every so ofen the back go's, so the doc' puts me on the morphine pump, great for ridding the pain, but fecks up the head...

Only joking Don,hope you feel better soon,,,guess you have to be cafeful casting and carrying stuff down a beach with your back problem. Did my knee in a few years ago (jumping out of a tractor ), took 6 weeks to come back, weakness is still there though, makes me a bit wary sometimes

i'm back on my feet now, but am going to miss out on the 1st of jan; ( salamon fishing )
but i will be on a beach or somewere as soon as i can, even if the missus has to carry me
and hope an pray that she comes back for me

Well thats my last fishing session of the year,,,,,been out over 60 times with only 3 blanks

That's some achievement, excellent in fact - well done.
I don't know how many times I went fishing over the year - but most weeks I would have two or three sessions (I have it all down in a pocket diary so I suppose I could count up the days). I don't know how many blanks I had - but it would be a lot more than three. Although the blanks were often on Sundays when I tend to try new marks, sometimes just for a few hours.

Happy New Year to you and good luck fishing for 2009

Thanks Rockhunter, Happy new Year to yourself ,tight lines for 2009.

nice shorey there dave and happy new year!

nice shorey there dave and happy new year!

2008 species count and fish caught:

JORDAN= codling 5,poor cod 11,3.b.rockling 1,shore rockling 13,pollack 111,whiting 88,ballen wrasse 36,goldsinny wrasse 7,corkwing wrasse 8,pouting 26,s.s.sea scorpion 17,l.s.sea scorpion 14,mackeral 131,dogfish 15,coalfish 60,shanny 101,tompot blenny 1,flounder 40, conger eel 2,red gurnard 1,bull huss 1, Bass 3 and a perch. 23 SPECIES= 693 FISH.

ME= codling 12,poor cod 89,3.b.rockling 10,5.b.rockling 1,shore rockling 107,pollack 237,whiting 108,ballen wrasse 146,goldsinny wrasse 19,corkwing wrasse 122,pouting 120,s.s.sea scorpion 15,l.s.sea scorpion 9,mackeral 157,dogfish 16,coalfish 89,shanny 113,tompot blenny 5,flounder 57,dab 2,sand smelt 1,conger eel 2,blonde ray 1,turbot 6,Bass 2 and a plaice. 26 SPECIES= 1447 FISH

124 sessions in total

Thanks, happy new year to both of you and well done on those fintastic stats