co. antrim/co. down. 3 days and 4 marks

[Al and Jordan]

People: me and jordan

Duration: too long

Tide: all states

Weather: everything from baking sun to torrential rain

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

Rigs: flappers, spinners, feathers, lures and float rigs

Results: coalies, sea scorpions, shannys, shore rockling, dogs, huss, flounder and plaice




Report:

after working overtime and being loaded with the flu i finally got a week to myself and decided to take advantage of the low winds that were forecast and planned a week of fishing . i started off at donaghadee on monday 18th. i fished it from 3pm to 8pm hoping to bag a few wrasse and anything else that had gills( i don't set my goals too high ) . oddly there seemed to be no wrasse about but i did get a 4 coalies all around the 30cm mark and a wee short spined sea scorpion. the coalies all fell to mack and the sea scorpion was'nt even hooked, he was holding onto the end of a big juicy lug worm with a death grip that would have put a bull terrier to shame . he was about 2 inches below the hook point was determined not to let go of the worm. seeing as he had ideas about the worm for dinner i broke the worm off at the hook point and returned the fish with his prize.

day 2. wednesday 20th may Bangor 3.30pm to 8pm.
jordan has been wanting a go at the minis for a few weeks now and the low swell forecast for bangor ment the mini species hunt was on . we arrived down to find conditions were perfect for the wee fellas and jordan got straight into the action with shore rockling after shore rockling. he ended up with 6 and 2 short spined sea scorpions and a shanny to boot. he was gutted when the 1 and only tompot blenny of the day fell off his hook when it was only inches from his hand . but i suppose you can't win them all . i had a bit of a shanny fest ending up with 6 of them and 2 shore rockling. we tried spinning feathers for the odd stray mack but had no luck. when i was looking around the rocks in the breakwater fo signs of minis i got the shock of my life as an otter came scurrying out between 2 rocks and almost ran into me . i'm not sure who got the bigger shock. him or me it's the first otter i've seen in the wild close up and it made the day for me as i think they are class wee mamals. i've seen some wildlife shows with them breaking open shellfish on their bellies with rocks while swimming on their backs and have nothing but admiration for them . a good way to round off the session.

day 3. thursday 21st may. county antrim rock mark 11am to 4pm
back out on my own again and i decided to get a bit of recon in for a comp we have there this sunday . this mark always looked fishy to me when passing in the car but i've never seen or heard of anyone fish it before. but i'm glad i gave it a go as it was a dog a cast and i even managed a wee huss it was a tackle graveyard and i dropped down to a single hook rig and even then i had to replace about a dozen hooks that got snagged up. but it was worth it as i was getting a dog with every cast. i ended up with 6 dogs in the end and lost as many trying to bully them across the thick kelp on the surface. as the tide rose up a bit i tried a float rig with king rag to have a go at any wrasse that were about. the float shot below the surface on it's first cast and i began reeling like a madman trying to get it onto the surface away from the kelp. i was excited as hell as a ballen wrasse of 2 to 3lb broke the surface then heartbroke as it got tangled in the kelp not more than 10feet in front of me so after 2 or 3mins of a tug of war with me, the fish and the kelp disaster struck as my line snapped and the fish escaped so with a heart that sank in my chest as quickly as the fish did in the water, i packed up and headed onto my next mark gutted with what could have been i would have loved to have got him onto the scales as my own P.B. shore ballen is under 3lb and i reckon he would have been a contender for a new P.B. but i guess you can't win em all

day 3 mark 2. waterfoot beach 5pm to 10pm.
i arrived to find that the layout of the beach had changed a lot with 2 steep shelves at the high tide line and a sand bar moved 20 yards closer to the shore . so i was'nt sure where the usual gullies i fish would be at now the tide was already flooding back in and i decided i'd just try and fish the usual spots and hope it would produce a fish or 2. the flounder were first out gobbling up the squid strips on the bottom hook of a 3 hook flapper so the blank was beaten at any rate. then i got my first plaice of 2009 who could have been easily mistaken for a postage stamp as he was that small the size 4 hook looked too big for him but he managed to hook himself up anyway . then it was a flounder fest for a bit until i got a new P.B. plaice at 23cms. ok it was'nt gonna get into any specimen guide but it was a new P.B. for me . by 10pm the tally stood at 8 flounder and 3 plaice and i went home a very happy chappy indeed . so roll on tomorrow so we can get back out again to the doggie rock mark and try to get jordan into contact with his first shore caught hussin the north!!!! do'nt you just love fishing!!!!

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Last edited by Al and Jordan on Sat May 23, 2009 1:48 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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great report as usual al! some nice fish there and a good mix so the blanks are over then?

Nice fishing there lads. Great report too.

Excellent report, nice one on your encounter with with otter hard luck on the wrasse so close to a p b, there's always the next time

Super stuff great fishing Congrats on the PB plaice unlucky with the Wrasse some great pics there, must venture up that way at some stage to chalk a few mini's of the list... well done again lads and great report

WOW , another major session and great fishing , super report as always too , wished I had a dad like you when I was little , hope Jordan knows how lucky he is

Well done Al, super fishing, nice bit of variety and hard luck on the wrasse, they can be frustrating but give a great scrap. You certainly knocked a few species off the list Great photos, especially the one showing the bony ridges on the plaice.

fantastic report alan best fews days off ever id say. and a huss to show for it ,well done ,damian

Well done Al, tried a few different rock marks along the down coast this morning and only had a codling and a whiting to show for my efforts. Seems to be very hit and miss at the mo but you certainly done well.

well done al another cracking report and well done on gettn a new P.B. did you not get any mackeral anywhere?.....bryan................

great report alan and great selection of fish yourself and Jordan got,well done
lovely photos

great sessions al, well done on the p.b. Plaice. Them otters are a fine sight and a sign of fishies in the area.

great report as usual al! some nice fish there and a good mix so the blanks are over then?

ahhmm,,, eerrr, well not exactly. i did'nt mention the blank that me, jordan and dawsey had on friday night on the rocks out ardglass direction but today will set that right when we go back to the co. antrim doggie mark jordan had me charge the camcorder up so he can have his fish video put up on our next report . so i might be religated to cameraman today again

Nice fishing there lads. Great report too.

fantastic report alan best fews days off ever id say. and a huss to show for it ,well done ,damian

cheers lads, it's good to be back on form again

Excellent report, nice one on your encounter with with otter hard luck on the wrasse so close to a p b, there's always the next time

cheers man, i was really shocked to see one there as it's a very busy populated area but it was great to get to see one so close up. when he ran out he was no more than inches from my feet and he gave a wee squeak and jump

Super stuff great fishing Congrats on the PB plaice unlucky with the Wrasse some great pics there, must venture up that way at some stage to chalk a few mini's of the list... well done again lads and great report

not a problem conor, you're more than welcome any time man. once the water warms up a bit there are loads of minis to target at bangor. we still have'nt spotted any goldsinny or rockcook wrasse yet but in the summer there is a good selection available there and the beauty of it, is they are all at your feet, so it's real good visual fishing where you watch them through the water taking the hook. it adds that bit more excitement to it.

WOW , another major session and great fishing , super report as always too , wished I had a dad like you when I was little , hope Jordan knows how lucky he is

thanks. what can i say, we're both fishaholics

Well done Al, super fishing, nice bit of variety and hard luck on the wrasse, they can be frustrating but give a great scrap. You certainly knocked a few species off the list Great photos, especially the one showing the bony ridges on the plaice.

cheers dave, i would have taken more, but when that rain came on it was in monsoon proportions i'd no sooner got the wet gear back on as the rain moved off again and the sun came out and you started to bake in the wets and they had to come off again

Well done Al, tried a few different rock marks along the down coast this morning and only had a codling and a whiting to show for my efforts. Seems to be very hit and miss at the mo but you certainly done well.

cheers rab, we went out to the rocks at ardglass on friday thinking we were gonna get a few nice fish and blanked . the co. antrim coast seems to be fishing better than the co. down marks at the moment

well done al another cracking report and well done on gettn a new P.B. did you not get any mackeral anywhere?.....bryan................

not a single one man. i hope we start getting them soon but as we only have 30 or so left in the freezer from last year's run.

great report alan and great selection of fish yourself and Jordan got,well done
lovely photos

cheers mate. i just hope it fishes as well today so jordan can get in on the action

great sessions al, well done on the p.b. Plaice. Them otters are a fine sight and a sign of fishies in the area.

always good to beat a p.b. i was just gutted about the wrasse i just hope he's out there waiting for more free rag today

well done lads, i think you two have missed out on the gap in the tourist market, after they've been round belfast looking at the sights you should throw them into a motor and take them on a shore fishing tour of the north .
cos i think the fisheries board is going to impose a ban on the amount of time you spend on the coastline .

Well done on getting back out Al and picking up a good mix of fish.

wow well done what a great days fishing

i think the fisheries board is going to impose a ban on the amount of time you spend on the coastline .
.

don't be saying that minty,,,, we'll be getting a letter from brussels soon telling us they're gonna impose a quota on our catch limit this year

Well done on getting back out Al and picking up a good mix of fish.

cheers man, being stuck inside with the flu was no fun and you can only watch so many fishing dvd's, but it's just no substitute to getting out there and reeling them in

wow well done what a great days fishing

thanks marky, there's nothing like making up for lost time on the shores

great report mate
just got out an hour ago and on here to catch up on the reports. jes; i'v some reading to do hi great sessions well done again mate