donaghadee Co. Down 24th march 09

People: just me

Duration: 5pm-9.30pm

Tide: lw 5pm hw 11pm

Weather: gale force winds and driving rain

Bait: razor, squid, rag, lug, mack and sand eels

Rigs: 3 hook flappers

Results: 5 rockling and a pouting




Report: some of the lads from my club gave me their left over bait at the comp at the weekend as they would normally have just chucked it into the sea at the end. but there's a bit of a running joke where the lads said " we'll give it to you as we know you'll be back out in the next few days again" and how right they were so armed with all my little bags and packets of donations i headed to donaghadee the first chance i got it was blowing a gale, but undaunted i headed out anyway. i was just hoping the rain would hold off for a bit, but no such luck . i arrived and got set up just as the first downpour began. it was tough going with the wind blowing straight out to sea causing my line to bow and uprooting the lead . so a quick re-rig was in order and i changed over to the reel with the 12lb line to try to reduce the wind resistance and a 6oz gripper to hold the bait static. now the bait was where i wanted it but the rain was coming down hard and felt like hail, not what you would call comfortable fishing even the usual dog walkers were giving the harbour a miss. but i stuck it out in the vain hope it would ease off for a bit. but it was'nt gonna happen. trying to see bites was outta the question so i just kept reeling in every 20 mins or so with the odd fish attached. i gave up around 9.30 when the wind changed direction and started to blow the rain straight into my face, but at least i got a few fish and saved the blank. i only got a few pics, as digital cameras and rain don't make the greatest mix, but it beats sitting in the house

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Fair play for sticking it out, at least the bait wasn't wasted nice pictures especially in the rain.

you should have seen the way i had to take them without getting the camera wet, i had to pull my arms out of my coat, unzip it, lean over the fish and fashion a sort of shelter. then pulled my headlight down round my neck to illuminate the fish inside my makeshift dome and finally get a pic . i gave up on the photography after the third pic as the wind blew my coat off my back and i had to run after it up the harbour before in went over the side into the water i hope the fish appreciated my efforts to give the their 15mins of fame

Fair play for sticking it out.

Just as well you weren't fishing with Stephen8wood with all those rockling!

aan you do know your absolutly mad,dont you?? but fair play on sticking it out and catching!

well done alan on the fishing and for stickin out the weather.

you do know your absolutly mad,dont you?? but fair play on sticking it out and catching!

I would have to agree with that - unfortunately I have stuck it out in similar conditions and ruined a good camera when a wave crashed over my head - I should have tried your approach.

Very nice Pouting (cause I know what the look like now)

Well done Al, i'm shivering just reading your report Nice rockling by the way, lovely markings.

Good on ya for sticking that one out last night mate, your a braver man than me. I'm glad you were rewarded with a few fish for the efforts. Couldn't let the bait go to waste

Fair play for sticking it out.

well done alan on the fishing and for stickin out the weather.

Very nice Pouting (cause I know what the look like now)

cheers lads, i was just hanging on in there hoping that something bigger might come in to feed as there was a good bit of colour in the water, but there's always next time

aan you do know your absolutly mad,dont you?? but fair play on sticking it out and catching!

I would have to agree with that - unfortunately I have stuck it out in similar conditions and ruined a good camera when a wave crashed over my head - I should have tried your approach.quote]
it was quite the sight to behold i'm just glad there were no dog walkers. they would have wondered what the hell i was at

Very nice Pouting (cause I know what the look like now)

no probs man, that's why we photograph everything. when we started out fishing we had a real problem trying to i.d. our catches. getting good pics to match to what we were catching was a bit awaquard as all the pics we had in our books were specimen examples that looked nothing like the tiddlers we were catching so we like to think we are doing our bit for the site by posting pics of what we come across in our travels it's nice to be nice and put something back in to the place that has helped us along our way

Well done Al, i'm shivering just reading your report Nice rockling by the way, lovely markings.

cheers dave. jordan has me demented to get back down to the beach that all the dogs were taken the last time i was down so i'm gonna check the tides and drop you and neil a pm to see if you's want to meet up for a session. and jordan means buisness, he's got the tent and camping gear pulled out in anticipation of the easter break, we might be there for a couple of days

Good on ya for sticking that one out last night mate, your a braver man than me. I'm glad you were rewarded with a few fish for the efforts. Couldn't let the bait go to waste

nah man, could'nt let that happen you did'nt miss much tonight at bangor, we're only in the door. jordan got 2 pouting and i got 2 pollack, 2 pouting and a shore rockling. still blowing a bloody gale, but at least it stayed dry

fairplay to ya headin out in that weather, the wind and rain last night was severe! but as they say he who dares rodders

fairplay to ya headin out in that weather, the wind and rain last night was severe! but as they say he who dares rodders

Hi al fair play for sticking it out. Know what you mean about the camera.I brought the good camera out when i was fishing a few times and was in the doghouse when my wife went to take a pic at our nieces christening and the damm thing wouldnt work, a costly day i have to say

jes; al' fair play to you for sticking it out in them conditions and getting your fish
there would have been some F'ING & BLIN'ING if your coat had have went over the side would have been harry burp!!! material
"no one can label you a fair weather fisherman"
great report al' and nice pic's, fair play to you....

fairplay to ya headin out in that weather, the wind and rain last night was severe! but as they say he who dares rodders

you know us, takes more than a bit of wind and rain to put us off

Hi al fair play for sticking it out. Know what you mean about the camera.I brought the good camera out when i was fishing a few times and was in the doghouse when my wife went to take a pic at our nieces christening and the damm thing wouldnt work, a costly day i have to say

our wee fishing camera has been through the wars over the years. bounced around boats, dropped into the sand and drenched on a few occasions. i've lost count of how many times i've had to take it apart to get it working again . so now i treat it with kid gloves and TLC. but just like freddy kruger it just keeps coming back to life not bad considering it was a lidle special that only cost £50 three years ago

jes; al' fair play to you for sticking it out in them conditions and getting your fish
there would have been some F'ING & BLIN'ING if your coat had have went over the side would have been harry burp!!! material
"no one can label you a fair weather fisherman"
great report al' and nice pic's, fair play to you....

cheers don, are the thornies starting to show up your way yet?, jordan's wanting to get a run up your direction over easter for a day or 2 i'll drop you a pm with dates when we'll be up and you could tie in with us for a session as i have'nt a baldy where to fish up your way at this time of year and never worry about digging bait, we'll bring a load with us my car's gonna knock up some mileage over easter if jordan gets his way

Nice markings on that pouting!!fair play to ya for getting out in that weather

sorry i never got back to you al' i'v been off line this last couple of days.
as for the thornies i dont know if they are back at fahan yet, ( they should be ) as i still have not been able to get out. but was looking at the tides today on easytide, so i will make it a point to get down for a throw this week, and will let you know the crack. and no prob's on meeting up for a session when you and jordan are up this way, looking forward to it....

Al' you have a pm...

well done al wont be seeing you down there for a while as i had a hernia operation on wednesday so no fishing for at least a month
think my next trip will be the weekend we were talking about last time