Greystones Steps 26/5/09

Me and me mate Muffin

Beautiful conditions, bright, slight threat of rain, calm and flat

9-11.30

Tide starting to flood when we arrived

2 hook flappers and a one hook mini rig

Frozen mack, frozen lug!, Sand eel that has been thawed and refrozen 3 times (the bait of the day!) And Berkley flounder bait, the greatest tipping bait ever invented by scientists.

Me: 5 dogs, 2 whiting (Get these fish a calendar!) and two gobies?shannies? (I dunno what they are but they're a new species for me whop wop!)

Muffin: 3 Whiting, One huge dog

We arrived and reccied the rocks first but with the tide out we decided to fish the steps for convenience. We literally sprang into action, set up our baiting station in the hope that something would thaw out before the night was over. Muffin was fishing in close with sand eel (he couldn't cast our far anyway ) I put sand eel out at a distance. Then on a little telescopic i dropped a size 6 with lug (deflated but still juicy and pungent, just don't freeze them in a big sandy ball), tipped with mack with a 2 ounce weight right in between the rocks as close to my feet as possible, thanks to all for the tips on this.

Muffin was first with a whiting, on sand eel

Next was me on the mini rig, my first whatyamacallit! A gobie I believe, A little bit of a heads up on the vice like jaws of these bad boys, If you look closely at the pics you can see my bloody finger! Any tips to unhook these lads? I couldnt get the mouth open in the first place when I did I couldn't keep it open, gemini disgorger was too big, couldn't manouver the long nose pliers or forceps, eventually after prying the mouth open with a baiting needle I got at the hook with a little plastic disgorger I use for small trout. After my second one I don't ever want to catch one again. I reckon you could catch them with bait on a knot and they'd just keep hanging on.

A whiting for me next, the mini rig was put away. We were getting the whiting nibbles all night. Before it got dark the doggies started to come in steadily all taking sand eel tipped with mack, I got a whiting dog double at one stage. Muffin got his whiting with sand eel tipped with gulp bait. And his last cast he got a big thick headed dog. A highly enjoyable session, Ill keep trying for more minis. Great to be on the dogs, Ive the skin rubbed off my hands and they all put up impressive fights. There was a question about small dogs on a thread yesterday, I got my smallest one yesterday.

Sin e

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Please excuse the funny faces!

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nice fishing man the wee chap is a shanny. the blunt head and vice like jaws with the rows of needle point teeth are the give away. they need the powerfull jaws to rip wee shellfish from the rocks. i'm just glad they only grow to 10 inches could you imagine the job you'd have unhooking them if they grew to 4 or 5lb well done man

Well done Cormdogg, you can add shanny/blenny to the list ,,did he have a nip at your finger??

well done on the new species there corndogg ,good fishing ,hard work paying off