donaghadee co. down friday 2nd jan 09

People: me, jordan and dawsey

Duration: 6pm-midnight

Tide: dropping to low then rising again

Weather: se 15mph winds, no rain but bitterly cold

Bait: mack, squid, sand eel and (prawns provided by dawsey)

Rigs: 3 and 2 hook flappers

Results: JORDAN, 5 pollack, 3 poor cod and 2 pouting. DAWSEY, 1 sand smelt, 2 coalies, 2 pollack and 2 pouting. ME, 14 pollack, 3 poor cod, 2 pouting and a shore rockling.




Report: it was time to start the 2009 species hunt, so a wee handy session at the dee was in order me and jordan got set up and were fishing for 6pm with dawsey joining us at 8pm. i was first into a fish with a wee pollack to start the year off quickly followed by jordan getting the same. then i landed another couple before dawsey arrived. jordan got a couple of pouting and poor cod which beat his 2008 p.b. and was chuffed to bits things were going well so far and we held high hopes of having another good session ahead. dawsey arrived and landed his first fish of 2009. a nice wee coalfish and another species to boot . then i missed a cracking hit on my big rod as i was yacking away to dawsey . so it was time to pay closer attention to my rods then it went quiet for an hour or so and dawsey landed a wee sand smelt. or at least thats what we think it was. i got one here before and the lads on the site id it, so for now we'll call it a sand smelt. but i'm sure someone can confirm or deny it for us the next few hours gave us all a go with us all getting a mix of fish, but the pollack seemed to take a liking to my baits with one after another being landed. the odd thing was that the bait net kept coming up stuffed with rockling, but none of us had connected into one on rod and line yet. so i made up a wee 1 hook rig with the hook below the lead and it was'nt long before mr shore rockling was hooked and landed not a bad way to round off the first session of the year. i was left wondering what had hit my rod hard and dawseys too. but hey, you can't have a session without the tale of at least one account of the one that got away

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Nice one with the sand smelt

Was definately an enjoyable start to '09 with the species hunt well under way sand smelt was a shock, nice to see one again though. Al, you took 2 or 3 big hits on that rod, still curious as to what it was. Conditions were tough so was a good bag, plus im now landed with a touch of "man flu" the conditions were that bad, but it was worth it

Well done Al , nice start to the New Year for yis, nice mix of species

Great result for the first time out this year... looks like i have a lot of catching up to do,

Nice one, was just thinking of having a wee trip to the dee.

Nice one with the sand smelt

it was a added bonus to a good session i think dawsey has the bragging rites as the first site member to land one in 2009. i doubt we'll see another one this year, but it only takes the one to get it on your species list

Well done Al , nice start to the New Year for yis, nice mix of species

cheers dave. jordan could 'nt believe his luck at beating 2 of his 2008 p.b. fish on our first trip

Great result for the first time out this year... looks like i have a lot of catching up to do,

i'm sure it wo'nt be long before you're pulling them in in 2s and 3s mann. good luck in 2009

Nice one, was just thinking of having a wee trip to the dee.

just avoid it during the day rab. it's going through that funny phase where it's not fishing during daylight hours again

Excellent start to the year guys.

Interesting observation about the Rockling. Its almost as if you have to get the bait right between the boulders to get them.

We're going to give it a go later this week. Tides look good for an evening session.


Alan.

every where sems to be producing some fish im on 3 species and only fish twice at two marks. nice sesion, good to see the fish showing. last time i fished the dee i got a few fish. surprized you didnt get ny codling or whiting, there are a good few showing in the past month or two around millisle and other marks. anyhow as long as you're getting fish.

Hi Al and Jordan

Although i dont do a lot of shore fishing, i thourghley enjoy reading your reports. Always a good rite up with plenty of fishy pixs, its what every report should be like Wouldnt mind getting my hands on more of those sand smelt and dinging one out whole just to see what takes a fancy to it.

By the looks of the species and fish count you's had in 08, this year is set to be a belter...keep 'er lit!!

Excellent start to the year guys.

Interesting observation about the Rockling. Its almost as if you have to get the bait right between the boulders to get them.

We're going to give it a go later this week. Tides look good for an evening session.


Alan.

thanks nobuzz, i've observed this behaviour before with the rockling at bangor, unless you have the bait nailed to the sea bed they won't take it they're either very lazy or very shy

every where sems to be producing some fish im on 3 species and only fish twice at two marks. nice sesion, good to see the fish showing. last time i fished the dee i got a few fish. surprized you didnt get ny codling or whiting, there are a good few showing in the past month or two around millisle and other marks. anyhow as long as you're getting fish.

the water was too clear for the codling dan, lookin back at our 2008 diary it seems the codling only come into the harbour to feed if there is a bit of colour in the water. but the whiting are a bit of a puzzle thow, bangor seemes paved with them and it's only round the corner i can't remember the last one we got at the dee. which is odd because at this time last year we were getting some nice ones there up to a pound in weight.

Hi Al and Jordan

Although i dont do a lot of shore fishing, i thourghley enjoy reading your reports. Always a good rite up with plenty of fishy pixs, its what every report should be like Wouldnt mind getting my hands on more of those sand smelt and dinging one out whole just to see what takes a fancy to it.

By the looks of the species and fish count you's had in 08, this year is set to be a belter...keep 'er lit!!

cheers al, i was considering the sand smelts potential as bait before. all the tobys and nordic herring lures seem to immitate this wee fish to a tee. you could be forgiven for mistaking this wee fish for a lure due to it's shiney appearence. and anything that stands out like that should be high up on any predatory fishes menu

well done lads, the dee throws up some amount of species.

Definately true about the sand smelt, im sure in different waters they would be killer for bigger predatory fish however at the Dee best to let them have another go at it and see if young jordan can join in on the sand smelt action

cheers stevie. oh god dawsey don't start jordan on a sand smelt hunt. he'll have us both camped out at donaghadee for the next few weeks until he gets one . give me a call on the mobile dawsey to let me know if you want to get a run up to portrush tomorrow m8. gonna fish it from lunch until midnight, might have a bash at the congers too.

Hi Al & Jordan

Excellent report and pictures as always and a great start to the new year for your species list.Hope to get out myself in the next week or so,Since joining this site which i came across by chance,reading the reports has got me back into fishing again after a few years absence so looking forward to getting out again

every where sems to be producing some fish im on 3 species and only fish twice at two marks. nice sesion, good to see the fish showing. last time i fished the dee i got a few fish. surprized you didnt get ny codling or whiting, there are a good few showing in the past month or two around millisle and other marks. anyhow as long as you're getting fish.

the water was too clear for the codling dan, lookin back at our 2008 diary it seems the codling only come into the harbour to feed if there is a bit of colour in the water. but the whiting are a bit of a puzzle thow, bangor seemes paved with them and it's only round the corner i can't remember the last one we got at the dee. which is odd because at this time last year we were getting some nice ones there up to a pound in weight.

a couple of days ago i got one, about half a pound, was surprized in 08 it was july before i got my first one.