28th feb 2010, west connemara

People: myself, gfkelly, nthclare, rolly

Duration: 2.30 -7.30

Tide: high about 5pm

Weather: one heavy shower, windy to start, but glorious inbetween

Bait: mac, sandeel, squid, crab?

Rigs: all sorts

Results: blank

Report: nothing to say really, went checking out a few beaches with gfkelly - settled on one he hadnt tried - no bites at all during daylight or the high tide

thought with the darkness the coalies would come on or the whiting

but nothing

during the daylight - the baits were covered with these small white/cream bugs about 5mm - black eyes - a few hundred of them would clean the bait in 15mins

nthclare got a pic of them - he might throw it up - never seen them before?

a well lads .. it could have been .. but not this time.. new marks are always in the dark.. fair play for you trying....

Commiserations, but thanks for posting it anyway, now I dont feel so alone in the Blankness
It was a scratchy February even for February around here, and until this polar weather fecks off back where it belongs I dont expect much improvement for this month, especially on the sea trout front.

i think its good to hear of blanks - at least you know when not to go - or like this get an idea about an area you may not have tried before

sea trout would be a bonus - a fish any fish would do

Iv left the camera at home so ill post the pics up as soon as I can

it was good to fish again with yourself and rolly and to meet nthclare,i will have to try that beach later in the year and some of the other beaches we saw
i have checked a lot of web sites but have seen anything like the small bugs,not surprised we didn't get any fish because they were like midges on the bait

Hi Guys,
Is this the bug that you came across?

http://www.glaucus.org.uk/3isopods1-TO.jpg

They are known locally as 'Skinners'. I have seen them a lot in connemara especially on a dubby bag. They can literally skin a fish in no time.

Caz

that looks very like them!!!

the pic says they are parasitic ones - the ones on the bait didnt seem to have the large fan tail - probably very closely related

hundreds on one bait - never seen them before
do they indicate anything in particular or are they about year round?

I dont know a lot about them but they seem to occour year. They generally seem to be in deep water as I have heard fishermen telling tales about cataches in gill nets destroyed by 'Skinners'. In certain places in connemara people have also reported occasionally getting bitten while swimming or paddeling. Here is another link with some more pictures

http://images.google.ie/imgres?imgurl=h ... s%3Disch:1

Caz

Meant to say 'they occur all year round'

Caz

They are quite common in some areas, especially the around the Aran Islands, and in 3 or 4 other spots in the By. We call them muca rua, fish can be stripped over night, including live lobsters etc, etc, I've seen it with my own eyes.

jeese lads, it's hard enough to get a fish at the mo, never mind having them attacked by the micro critters . never seen them wee things before creepy wee critters alright. i think i'll leave the letrim leg of our tour of the counties until things fish a bit better man. but i'll keep you in the loop and give you plenty of notice when i get the plans sorted out brian