2 sessions at waterfoot beach sat 7th and mon 9th feb 09

People: saturday, me and francis. yesterday, me and the dog

Duration: saturday,10.30pm-3.30am. yesterday 6pm-3am

Tide: high to low, low to high then dropping again

Weather: both sessions excellent, no wind, no rain or snow but freezing

Bait: rag, lug, squid, sand eel, mack and clams

Rigs: flappers

Results: flounder, whiting, coalies, codling and a five bearded rockling

Report: me, round_ourway, francis and dgp140 all headed to glenarm beach on staurday to see what was about for a bit. dgp140 arrived last and was the only one to catch, getting a flounder coalie and whiting. after 4 fishless hours me and francis decided a change of plan was in order and decided to hit waterfoot. we got a munch at the chippy in carnlough, and well fed and re-energized we made our way onto the beach at waterfoot. it was a busy old night on the beach with a dozen or so anglers fishing the same stretch. we got set up and francis was first into the fish with a double shot of flounder quickly followed with some coalies. my rod got a good knock producing a nice 30cm left handed flounder (my first lefty of the year), and not to be outdone francis pulled in his biggest flounder to date at 30cm too a new p.b. for him . it has to be said he did better than me in numbers and species rounding off the session with a nice codling. some guys at glenarm were kind enough to leave us some bait, and along with round_ourways and francis left overs i finished the session going home with about 3lb of rag and 2lb of lug left over all the excuse i needed for a return trip yesterday

SESSION 2 MONDAY 9TH FEB
i arrived at 6pm as the tide was beginning to turn back in. bit of a breeze blowing onshore, but i knew it would die off around 7pm. i could'nt fish my intended spot as it was thick with kelp so i got set up on up the beach a bit furthur up. i was on my own (apart from being pestered by my mental mutt cody) with no other anglers about. the usual procession of flounder followed with some coalies and whiting. a double shot of flatties got my hopes up as at first glance i thought the wee one was a plaice, but a closer inspection showed him just to be a very spotty flounder . i spotted some lights over at the pier and was almost tempted to go over for a bit too see what was about. but it was nearly midnight and i could'nt be bothered with stripping rigs and setting up all over again. and besides that, cody has a history of taking the occasional nose dive off of harbours which has given me a few scares in the past. sammy and sally the resident harbour seals in bangor have some, not so fond memories of the crazy spotty dog who joined them for a splash during last summer i don't know what was more comical, the look on thier faces when she lept 15 from above splashing between the 2 of them, or the look on her face when they dissappeared under the water and resurfaced 100 foot away so i fished on as the guys over at the harbour drove off. more flounder, coalies and whiting followed and one of the lads who was fishing the harbour came over for a chat. they had a nightmare of a day starting at ballycastle beach blanking and only got a few coalies over at the harbour. as they had a slow day he gave me the left over bait (top bloke). i quickly cut one of the mackerel up and got my first shore caught 5 bearded rockling and fished on until 3 am when i finally wrapped it up. a great days fishing . i was suposed to get out this week again but forgot my car is booked in for MOT work tomorrow. so if anyone is heading out this week i have 2lb of rag free to a good home it should be ok until friday, so if anyone wants it just give me a shout. i live off the crumlin road, so if it's handy to anyone they're yours. it would be a shame to let them go to waste

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Good report there!! well done on the catch!!

Thats some seriously dedicated fishing there Al. The time put in certainly paid off.

Sound like you done ok yesterday Al , I take it you didn't fish Bangor after I was talking to you (how was your cold burger king by the way ?) If your not going to use the rag I might have a good home for them ,I'm of friday now

Good report there!! well done on the catch!!

Thats some seriously dedicated fishing there Al. The time put in certainly paid off.

cheers lads, i'm just raging that my cars gonna be off the road until the weekend i really wanted to hit greys point in helens bay this week while the weather permitted. i'll just have to put it on the back burner until after the weekend

Sound like you done ok yesterday Al , I take it you didn't fish Bangor after I was talking to you (how was your cold burger king by the way ?) If your not going to use the rag I might have a good home for them ,I'm of friday now

don't knock the cold burger king, it kept me going until 4am when i got home i'll bring the rag with me tomorrow when i call down. should be in the town round 12 or 1. i only fished bangor for 2 hours before heading up the coast for waterfoot to avoid the rain that moved over the town after you left. i did'nt even get a bite at bangor (bar the burger ). but i was'nt too hopefull anyway, a fish off our coast during the day at the moment is about as likely as getting 6 numbers in the lotto just don't be taking them back to bake in the sauna

Well done Al,, some serious hours put in there ,,,didnt know there were left and right handed flounders ,,i'll have to pay more attention in future. Nice to see the bait doing the rounds , its a sin to waste it.
ps,,,forgot to reply to you sooner ,,,pm me nearer the date if your down this way and if its possible for me to make it,,,i will (though i havent fished any marks north of Dublin )

no problem dave. i did a bit of reading up on the flattie species after catching a flounder last summer in the boyne estuary and could'nt i.d. it . i too never realized all flatfish are either left or right handed. there are a few exceptions, such as the flounder where a quarter of the hatch develop into lefties. after hatching from the egg in the upper layers of the sea, all flatfish are symmetrical with an eye on each side of the tiny body. as they grow feeding on plankton, the body deepens, blotches of colour appear and one eye migrates around the head to join the other on the side facing up. at this stage a quarter of them have the eye go the other way turning them into lefties . nothing stranger than nature, eh?. ok outta fish geek talk mode now . me and jordan will likely be down on the 28th, last saturday in feburary to put in an overnighter. jordan is still chasing his first dab, so i was thinking greystones or bray. what you think?

Al,

Excellent sessions there !! I will have to make an effort and get up the Antrim Coast some time soon. Havent been up that way since late last summer.

Interesting info on the lefties and righties you Geek!!

Jonny

well done Al thats some serious hours your clocking up on the beaches,
wish i could get a bit more shore time instead of of building site time.
no wonder the car needs a bit of work, its been doing some amount of miles.
was thinking about greys fort some time soon, do ya know much about it?
what would the be targets be? hope to met up again soon mate

Nice fishin Al ... ru a bit of an insomniac them hrs must b murder on the bodyclock

quality nights fishing as always al! shas far from warm up that coast , its hard putting on worms when you cant feel your hands

Nice going lads you certainly getting in some decent fishing up your way fair play

great fishing there alan, your fairly puting in the hours and in this weather too!!!! well done.
i havent fished for the flounder in a long time, but i know a cracker spot just ten min; drive away, think i'll give it a bash this week!!!!!

I wished I'd joined yas lads after glenarm. I thought the night was lost with the moon that bright. well done al and fra cracking fishing lads.
Fra was talking about fishing next weekend (21st feb) if your up for it.
I'm raging I didnt go to waterfoot and the cheeky chinese!!

Al,
Excellent sessions there !! I will have to make an effort and get up the Antrim Coast some time soon. Havent been up that way since late last summer.
Interesting info on the lefties and righties you Geek!!
Jonny

what can i say, when you have a 9 year old who constantly bombards you with questions you have to do the research to come up with the answers

well done Al thats some serious hours your clocking up on the beaches,
wish i could get a bit more shore time instead of of building site time.
no wonder the car needs a bit of work, its been doing some amount of miles.
was thinking about greys fort some time soon, do ya know much about it?
what would the be targets be? hope to met up again soon mate

hi minty, you should get dogs, coalies, pollack, whiting, poor cod, pouting and the odd flounder at this time of year. i'm gonna give it a go on sunday evening with dawsey and ronald if you want to get a run at it with us mate.

Nice fishin Al ... ru a bit of an insomniac them hrs must b murder on the bodyclock

na man, i've always been a bit of a night owl so long as i get 5 hours kip i'm good to go

quality nights fishing as always al! shas far from warm up that coast , its hard putting on worms when you cant feel your hands

even harder when the worms start to freeze and pop

Nice going lads you certainly getting in some decent fishing up your way fair play

sure you know us conor, any excuse to get a session in

great fishing there alan, your fairly puting in the hours and in this weather too!!!! well done.
i havent fished for the flounder in a long time, but i know a cracker spot just ten min; drive away, think i'll give it a bash this week!!!!!

the weather dose'nt annoy us too much, had more layers on than an onion the other night so i was well warm the flatties are great crack on that beach. you'll always get em regardless of tide state. i have'nt blanked there yet. but saying that, i've likely just put the jinx on myself

I wished I'd joined yas lads after glenarm. I thought the night was lost with the moon that bright. well done al and fra cracking fishing lads.
Fra was talking about fishing next weekend (21st feb) if your up for it.
I'm raging I didnt go to waterfoot and the cheeky chinese!!

thats why we always stick it out to the death, i've lost count of the times we've been fishing and had a quiet spell for a couple of hours and anglers around us have packed up and moved on and an hour or so later the fishing has picked up again. the night we got the bass was like that, not so much as a nibble for hours and then the big silver chaps moved in. if we had'nt have stuck it out we would have missed them patience and perserverence is the name of the game and as for the 21st me and jordan would be well up for it

quality nights fishing as always al! shas far from warm up that coast , its hard putting on worms when you cant feel your hands

even harder when the worms start to freeze and pop

Nice going lads you certainly getting in some decent fishing up your way fair play

sure you know us conor, any excuse to get a session in

great fishing there alan, your fairly puting in the hours and in this weather too!!!! well done.
i havent fished for the flounder in a long time, but i know a cracker spot just ten min; drive away, think i'll give it a bash this week!!!!!

the weather dose'nt annoy us too much, had more layers on than an onion the other night so i was well warm the flatties are great crack on that beach. you'll always get em regardless of tide state. i have'nt blanked there yet. but saying that, i've likely just put the jinx on myself

I wished I'd joined yas lads after glenarm. I thought the night was lost with the moon that bright. well done al and fra cracking fishing lads.
Fra was talking about fishing next weekend (21st feb) if your up for it.
I'm raging I didnt go to waterfoot and the cheeky chinese!!

thats why we always stick it out to the death, i've lost count of the times we've been fishing and had a quiet spell for a couple of hours and anglers around us have packed up and moved on and an hour or so later the fishing has picked up again. the night we got the Bass was like that, not so much as a nibble for hours and then the big silver chaps moved in. if we had'nt have stuck it out we would have missed them patience and perserverence is the name of the game and as for the 21st me and jordan would be well up for it

Good stuff, We will give ya a bell closer to the time fella.

I know what ya mean, but there has been many times I've sat cold and hungary on a beach getting nothing and wishing I went home 3 hours ago lol. I am staying out until I get something decent the next fish. lol.
Well done again fella. cracking fishing again and I wish I got out the amount of you do.

Great report there buddy! Decent fish showing up for your efforts, nice to see. Weekend session?

nice sesh lads.