wicklow new pier

People:moi and eyesreilly

Duration:6.30 till 10

Tide:hav;nt a clue

Weather:grand

Rigs:loads

Results:eyes 14 or 15 whitting, me a few whitting and a tiny dab




Report:eyes was fishing 2 rods me i only had a spinning rod so thats why he caught more fish than me and not because im crap or anything like that, in my defence i did catch 2 species where as eyes only caught 1, i also lost a dog i blame the size 8 hooks i was using and not my skill i think dave was on another planet last night as he did not take any photos,,thats a first.next time ill put some bait on my hooks it might help,

Report:eyes was fishing 2 rods me i only had a spinning rod so thats why he caught more fish than me and not because im crap or anything like that, in my defence i did catch 2 species where as eyes only caught 1, i also lost a dog i blame the size 8 hooks i was using and not my skill i think dave was on another planet last night as he did not take any photos,,thats a first.next time ill put some bait on my hooks it might help,

You left out bait Neil, and the whole purpose of the experiment was to try prawns as bait . I arrived first and set up 2 rods, beachcaster and spinning rod. Most fish were caught in close on the spinning rod, with a couple of doubles included. Great crack. I put a home made trap to catch live prawns into the water but unfortunately either the prawns couldnt get into it or there werent any about . Hard luck to Neil as he dropped a doggie a few feet from landing it,,,very sad indeed Anyways i found the prawns too much hassle ,and i was catching on just mack which i didnt have to whip on, i think i'll stick with my usual baits (although i would like to try live prawns).

i did catch 2 species where as eyes only caught 1, i also lost a dog i blame the size 8 hooks i was using and not my skill i think dave was on another planet last night as he did not take any photos,,thats a first.

Well done on the 2 species Neil , that was 1 fish for each species (2),plus a bonus whiting, total 3 fish,,,,,all on your doorstep,, where you were practising for the last few years . Unfortunately I only got the 1 species, (14 whiting ). Thanks also to another angler,John Bunn, for dropping by to tell me about Fishfaces 3 blanks during the week which he had conveniently forgotten to mention .Dont know what was wrong with me on the photo front , the slagging about whiting piccies must be getting to me .As i reeled in one of my whiting, 3 large mullet came round the corner of the pier and one of them made a beeline for the whiting but missed, now that would have made a good photo

well done guys. we've had varied sucess on the prawns before. the live ones have got us dogs before fished tight to the bottom. but if you're fishing a mark that has good sized wrasse and pollack i would reckon they would be a killer bait fished below the float. we usually use the cooked peeled north atlantic prawns bought from tesco or asda. theres pretty much nothing that wo'nt take them as we've had great sucess with them last year. i also discovered a good trick with them too. if you open them up the night before you're gonna use them give them a good lacing of table salt. they toughen up and become rubbery which means they stay on the hook better and will survive a furthur cast and the fish hook themselves up rather than just stripping them off the hook

Well done Dave - still terrorizing the whiting.

we usually use the cooked peeled north atlantic prawns bought from tesco or asda. theres pretty much nothing that wo'nt take them as we've had great sucess with them last year. i also discovered a good trick with them too. if you open them up the night before you're gonna use them give them a good lacing of table salt. they toughen up and become rubbery which means they stay on the hook better and will survive a furthur cast and the fish hook themselves up rather than just stripping them off the hook

Sounds like a good idea - I have used prawns on a few occasions but found that the fish would whip them off the hook without getting hooked.