Twaite shad at st mullins 5th-8th may 2009

People:myself, davy, marty and the stig

Duration:tues evening until friday morning

Tide:up and down

Weather:sunny, windy, raining

Bait: Tasmanian devils of every colour imaginable

Rigs:

Results:a few twaite shad and a brown trout




Report:After much anticipation the short shad season had arrived, the morning of departure meant a quick run to the tackle shop for some odds and ends, a visit to tesco and lidl for some sweet/chips/drink supplies for the trip and a few cans of beans and bacon for our dinner for the next 3 days
once the car was loaded up we were on the road for a 4 hr drive down to st mullins, the highlight of the run down was watching a caravan throwing a major wobbly on the dual carrriage-way heading towards arklow on arrival to st mullins via a couple of wrong turns we were greeted by the sight of half a dozen anglers lining the banks pulling in fish and reports of there being plenty of decent sized ones through them as well, decision time ,do we fish or go and pitch the tents? We decided to pitch the tents and grab a quick coffee rather than try and do it in the dark, half an hour later we were on the river.
Sport was patchy as shoals of fish moved through the area, the standard colour of blue and silver got the odd fish but the majority of fish fell to either purple and pink or gold tas. with a mini comp going on between Davy and I the final total for the night was 16-15 to Davy with a serious amount of fish dropped and davy losing a 3lb+ fish at the net. by the time darkness fell sport had stopped and the bellies were rumbling so we headed back up to the camp for the night.

We nearly had a few people coming over to the tent to get bacon butties as the smell wafted around the area, not long after we'd finished the grub Marty and the stig arrived to set up camp and get a brew on, after a quick chat we all decided to set the alarms for 4.30am so we could get a good session at the following mornings tides.
A few bleary eyes surfaced at about 5am after the snooze buttons where abused, coffee and cereal was threw down the neck and 4 sleepy anglers headed for the river, a few others where already there and had a couple of fish, so things looked promising ,we dandered along the bank trying to locate the shoals and when they were found, battle commenced with much swearing as fish threw the hook or hit the lure just as you lifted it from the water for another cast, sport was hectic for the next 2hrs as the tide rose and then there was a lull over the high water period, after half an hour and the tide had dropped the fish switched on again, and again the sport was frenzied for 2/3 hrs as wave after wave of fish passed back downstream.
A break for early lunch saw Marty and the stig headin down the coast for bass as the stig had never caught one before and Davy and I headed back to the river on our quest for a specimen shad, this was when disaster stuck as I lost my favourite purple and pink tas to a snag mid river, with none left in the lure box I stuck on a gold/red spotted tas which proved to be equally effective, producing about 40 shad for me in the afternoon/evening session .Marty and the stig arrived back after blanking whilst after bass, but the stig made up for the bad afternoon by catching the biggest shad of the day with a cracking specimen of 2lb 11 oz.
It was good to meet a few of the lads from the forum as well, with plenty of banter and slagging flying around ,it nearly felt like a mini SAI meet maybe a north vs south match should be arranged for next years shad fest ! The smile on Albys face as he ran up the lane towards Davy with his specimen in the net was priceless, and watching the fish swim away minus a few scales was fantastic.

Thursday morning arrived to quick and after a quick breakfast it was back to the Shad hunt ,seeing us hit the bank for 6am. This time green and gold seemed to be taking the majority of fish with Marty hitting fish virtually every cast for about 40 mins including a fish over specimen weight.
Davy and I were both landing fish just grams short of the magic 1.1kg mark but not just able to hit it much to Martys amusement, mean will the stig was just plugging away in the back ground taking a fair number of fish with another one over the mark which was quickly returned, as he continued on his quiet efficient manner.
Again a quick stop for lunch and then the other 2 headed of after bass on lures as Davy and I headed back down to the river in our hunt for a specie, the afternoon session was a bit quieter up to hw but when the tide started to drop the fish came back on with a vengeance seeing us rack up another couple of dozen each ,and again they were all around the 0.96kg- 1.06kg, then just before last light Davy cracked it with a fish of 1.14kg, as much as I was pleased to see him get his specimen I was starting to resign myself to the fact that I might miss out on my speci shad this ,as we only had a couple of hours in the morning before we had to decamp and head back up the road home.
Getting back to camp there was still no sign of the stig and marty, we fired up the stoves and got the coffee and bacon on to make a couple of butties. Eventually they arrived back and we were just thinking of hitting the sleeping bags, all excited to tell them about his shad after all the slagging he’d been getting we forgot to ask how they’d got on at the bass, then marty said “well ask the Stig what he caught” I thought happy days he got his first bass ,boy was I for a shock , the jammy git had lifted a 9lb plus bass on a lure, so not only had he caught the biggest shad of the week but he’d caught his first bass ever and it was 9lb odds.
As the alarms went of on the final morning there were a few snores and grunts before a couple of weary anglers appeared from their respective tents, Marty and the stig opted to sleep on as they’d been in the bar for a mini celebration, but Davy and I headed straight to our favourite spot on the river in my last ditch attempt to connect with a specimen, the river was flat calm and the racket from the singing birds unreal, fantastic morning ,but the fish just weren’t playing ball with only about 15 fish each in the first 2 hrs but then as the tide turned things picked up , still landing fish just short of the magic weight for the next 2.5hrs we had moved right downstream to the hole near the carpark. By this stage exhaustion was starting to catch up with us and we decided 10 more casts then back to the tents to break camp and head for home, third cast I hooked a good fish only to lose it in a snag as it ran downstream, b+++++++s 2 cast later and again another good fish, this time it played ball and ran towards me, as it got close to the bank we could see it was a good fish after a couple of near misses with the net eventually it was on the bank, this had to be the one, quickly into the weigh bag and onto the scales , yes it hit 1.1kg , back into the net and into the water whilst the camera was readied ,then it was back onto the bank and all measurements taken and collecting a few scale samples a quick photo was taken and the fish returned , after a couple of seconds of hanging in the water it swam of strongly hopefully to come back next year bigger.

What a hectic few days fishing, I think I landed 200+ shad before I connected with the above fish , in the end it was pure pig headed determination that got me there in the end, I’m still sore across the back and shoulders today from spinning for 12 hrs a day. But I’ll be back next year as the shad bug has bitten ,on light gear these fish fight fantastically and with a bit of tlc when returning them to the water they should live to fight another day.

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Nice fish!
Anyone using fly gear to catch them??

Super report Ronald. It must have been deadly camping it out down there.I'm glad you got the specimen after the effort and hours put in.

great report ronald.
what a fantastic few days fishing.slowed up a bit towards the end of the week but the first 3 or for sessions were nuts
still gutted to loose that big fish,but atleast i got what i went for,a speci shad

here`s a few pic`s from the trip. i spent an hour on friday morning taking photos of shad jumping,and i enjoyed it almost as much as the fishing

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a few more pic`s

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looks like a good trip lads. glad ye enjoyed it and congrats on the specimens.

and on the Bass for the stig.

Sounds like a hell of a trip. That is a serious amount of fish landed. Glad you got your specimens.

Great photos of the acrobatic shad Davy.

Nice one with the 9lb Bass for Stig too.

Fantastic report and photos there Ronald, it sounds like you had a great trip and plenty of nice fish. I was down there myself yesterday for that first time and even though I only caught the tail end of the run, just like yourself I'll definitely be back next year. They are fantastic sport on light gear.

Nice going there lads, sounds like a hell of a trip. Those pic's of the shad's in motion are awesome Davy!!

Epic report. A Fantastic read and well deserved specimens after the graft you both put in!!

Davy must have the reflexes of a cat to get some of those pics, brilliant photos. Was down there again this morning but the sport has really tailed of from during the week, had 4 fish, 1 over a KG but the numbers aren't around like before .

Very nice photos Davy.I will have to head down next year to give them a go.

Now thats what I call fishing!! Well done lads and Davy hurry up and put a couple of Mullet reports up.

cheers lads.... i have to say i really enjoyed sitting taking the pic`s.would be very hard to get good pic`s like that with a standard camera.im using a canon 400d slr,worth its weight in gold.
just switched it to manual and increased the shutter speed and iso so i could get the shots
will def take more pic`s next year,great fun

rab im dying to get the mullet reports up.was out today but no luck.saw a few fish but not many,still not around in any great numbers feeding marks all around the mud banks so it wont be too long..hopefully!!!

The Stig, genius boys though i think it may go to his head and he will need a biger helmet :D

Time line a bit screwed up, stig and I both got our species on the first session we all shared on the Wed morn.

Top fishing by him it must be said... 1st bass an a mere 72cm/9lb of style..

4 of us and a speci or two shad each never mind the silly numbers of them we caught again. So much fun you couldnt buy it, a pleasure as always to fish with top anglers......

The Stig lololololololol................

Marty

Did you get throwing a fly at the shad Marty?

No there is only a few realistic places on the stretch of the barrow you fish for the shad where you cold get a decent back cast in, my sessions where limited to a quick hit before or after the coast for bass this year so i didit make the effort I have to say.
I know they are more than catchable on the fly, one of my mates I bass fish with has had many on the fly over the years..

well done a lot of effort put in to get the results. cracking report and pictures i,ll have to get down next year. i see the shades are back again davy!

ronald can take the credit for coming up with the name "the stig" i only photo shopped the pic`s

davy you`ll def have to get down next year,might even invite bobby if he promises to be on his best behaviour
the sunglasses will be on for the next 6 months and hopefully they will appear in plenty of photos of me holding mullet

great craic,already looking forward to next may

GREAT REPORT AND GREAT FISHING LADS WELL DONE

top fishing lads as for the stig well done wont be your last Iam sure