Paddy's Day County Antrim Beachmark Flattie Fest

People: Me and Kev

Duration:16:30-22:30

Tide:ebb until 18:00, then rise to full 00:30

Weather:Very Mild 13 degrees then dropping to 9 degrees, wind progressing Southerly from about 10knots to 21knots

Bait: Mac, sandeel, squid, blown lug

Rigs: 3 hook flappers

Results:22 Flounder, 2 Plaice, 2 coalies, 1 pollack and a codling




Report:Arrived about 16:30, we knew the tide was on the ebb, but wanted to have a look at the beach, to see if any of the gulleys had changed since the last time we were there. Nothing much different so we set up in front of the 2 gulleys that ran across the beach, and we knew would flood rapidly when the tide started to come in. It was pretty much the same as the last time, nothing before darkness fell, so we filled a couple of hours talking about the usual crap and future fishing trips. We were a bit apprehensive, because the wind although southerly was virtually at our backs and blowing pretty much offshore, not good from past experience, and getting stronger by the hour.
We needn't have worried because as dusk arrived and the tide flowed over the first gulley, Kev pulled a double of flatties out. 2 good fish, a flounder and a suspect plaice (I haven't decided yet) I then followed shortly with a small Coalie, and then the bites started to come more rapidly, as the tide reached the second gulley. All these fish were coming out of less than 3 feet of water. The rest of the evening was good sport with fish coming virtually to every cast. Some troublesome weed but we worked round it, and ended up with a big smile on our faces, at the end of the night. Sport had tailed off by 22:30, and we both finished our last cast with a small coalie each. The wind had made it virtually impossible to register bites, so we ended up reeling in every 10mins, to check our baits, and more often than not, there were a couple of fish on the end. Our biggest flatties were around the 27cm mark, and it was nice to feel them on the end of the rod. Sorry about the quality and lack of pics but we were too busy catching fish. Anyway there are fish out there on the County Antrim coast, so keep at it.

Flattie fest 2.jpg

Waiting for the first bite.jpg

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Great sesh boys, shame I missed it but there was no way I could lift a rod after two days on the kayak!

Hell of a session seeing i was only a stones throw from you.... Well done. we must have been doing something really wrong...

thats great fishing lads,some haul of fish.wish we had a session like that!

Great fishing lads good to see plenty of Flounder about

nice one lads, looks like a fine venue,,,,

Looks nice

Well done lads... Lug rocks on that beach

Sounds like a good we trip plenty of fish nice one

nice fishing guys can't beat a bit of flattie bashing .

Cheers everyone! We've been enjoying our last couple of visits to this location, as it has thrown up a good number of flatties recently, plus a few nice surprises as well It seems to be fishing very well, as darkness falls, and as long as you are fishing onto the features that are there, catching fish does not seem to be a problem, no matter what the bait. It's always nice to have a productive mark to fall back on over the winter, when the fishing hasn't been so hot!