Co. Cork - 2nd April 2009

[RockHunter]

People: Me

Duration: 8.00 pm to 1.30 am

Tide: HW at 11.40 pm

Weather: Very calm, mild, dry, fog later

Bait: Lug, rag, razor, mussel, mackerel

Rigs: 4/0 pennel pulley, 2/0 two hook flapper, three hook flapper

Results: 2 Bass, 8 Flounder, 1 Five Bearded Rockling




Report: In the afternoon there was hardly a breeze when I was digging lug. I had been thinking of going to West Waterford but thought it too calm for bass fishing so opted to fish a Cork beach mark to target flounder.

When I arrived at the beach there was a better surf than I expected (although still fairly weak) so I thought I may as well have a try for bass.
I set up a extra rod, one with the small size three hook flapper in close, the second with the two hook flapper cast out about 40 m and the third with the 4/0 pennel cast out a bit further.

It was quite until after dark - then less than half an hour later there was a strong knock on the rod with the two hook flapper - it was putting up a good fight so I knew it was a bass - 46 cm, caught on lug on the lower hook

I rebaited and cast out about the same distance. About ten minutes later I had another bite - I struck but it was a slack line bite so I didn't set the hook and the fish was gone before I could reel in the extra line. I guess it was another bass.

Then the flounder came on the feed. I caught eight. They were all small, between 22 -27 cm. Most were taken on lug and some on rag. The first flounder, a mighty fish of 22 cm managed to get his mouth round the 4/0 hook and a large lug bait shortly after I caught the first bass.

When I finished taking a photo of the third flounder, I looked around and saw a strong knock on the rod with the two hook flapper but by the time I got to the rod the fish was gone I presume it was a bass. After that I decided to switch the three hook flapper for another two hook flapper with 2/0 hooks.

A got a few more small flounder. There was a good knock on the second rod with the two hook flapper but the fish wasn't hooked. I retrived and found that most of the lug was gone - something had a good bite out of it. I rebaited and added three or four mussels and cast out to about the same spot. Ten minutes later I got another good bite. This time I struck and hooked the fish. It was putting up a strong struggle, I thought it might be a bigger bass - but it turned out to be a very lively 42 cm bass

A little later I had another tap on one of the rods with the two hook flapper - this time it was double - a 23 cm flounder and a five bearded rockling.

As it was getting late I decided to pack up at that stage. So a pretty good night's fishing - I wasn't expecting to get a bass never mind two of them with the weak tides and poor surf.

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

Last edited by RockHunter on Fri Apr 03, 2009 4:31 pm, edited 3 times in total.

More Pics

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

Cracking session well done

Hi Frank,
thats a great session.Great to see so many flats showing and bass thats a bonus .Things have been quiet on the bass front for myself but thankfully plenty of flats to keep me going and at last the doggies are back in force on some of the usual spots .Hopefully will get out tonight but not looking forward to digging lug in the rain ,but at least i have my smelly razor for a sneaky bass .
Tight lines

lovely fish well done on bass

nice session there and some nice bass too.

Great session. Good to see the flatties are starting to show in numbers. Well done.

nice session mate great to see the flatties making a comeback....

Thanks guys,
That mark can throw up a lot of flounder during the summer - and they are usually a fair bit bigger than the ones I got last night - I had 6 or 7 above 40 cm from there last year. Hopefully the bigger ones will be in soon.

Hopefully will get out tonight but not looking forward to digging lug in the rain ,but at least i have my smelly razor for a sneaky Bass

Best of luck tonight Mike

Well done Frank, great session there, i find it hard to keep up with 2 rods after dark

Thanks Dave,

i find it hard to keep up with 2 rods after dark

It was easy enough to work the three rods - there wasn't much action on the one with 4/0 pennel apart from the one samll greedy flounder. There was plenty of time between bites so it didn't get too hectic.

Well done rockhunter thats good fishing,still looking for my first flounder of the year and my first bass ever well done

Nice one Frank, bet I can guess where you were

not a bad evening fishin

well done frank the bass are flying up the beach for yas now

dead jealous, well done

Jesus, went out last night and got 4, yes 4 of the best pin whiting you could fit in your pocket. And that was all....well done. I'm sick of fishing the east coast near Dublin!!! I'm sure I'll catch someting worth catching soon. I hope!!

excellent session frank well done mate

Thanks guys,

Jesus, went out last night and got 4, yes 4 of the best pin whiting you could fit in your pocket. And that was all....well done. I'm sick of fishing the east coast near Dublin!!! I'm sure I'll catch someting worth catching soon. I hope!!

I hope so too - but you might have to take a trip down south