Tue May 31, 2005 6:40 pm
People Me and the Brother in Law
Duration 12:30 to 5:30
Tide Falling- Low tide at approx 5pm
Weather: Sunny and calm
Bait: Sandeel, Crab, Mussels and Mackerel, Feathers
Results: 7 pollack, 2 mackerel numerous pouting and a dose of sunburn!
Report:
Fishing a falling tide on a sunny calm day was probably not the best idea but sure it was sunday and what else would you be doing! Apparently there was a ton of mackerel caught earlier in the day so in our infinite wisdom we neglected to bring any with us, presuming they would be there for the lifting. Alas that was not the case which was a pain in the proverbials as we had humped the BBQ down especially! Tried horsing out feathers for the best part of an hour to no avail, switched over to deep spun sandeel and was into a pollack on the first cast. It was however another hour before we had another fish on the rock, this one, a mackerel was notable only because it happened to be the Bro in Laws first ever fish. It lasted about 30 seconds before being cut into fillets and dropped down the side of the rock with the intention of catching a conger. Was using a 15-30lb class boat rod with a Penn longbeach loaded with 40lb line attached to a wire trace. Probably not the cleverest thing I did but i left the reel out of gear with the ratchet on and set about trying to catch some wrasse with the crab and mussel baits. After around a half hour, reel started singing, by the time I got to it, it was stuck fast. Cue much pulling and heaving until with an almighty crack both the rod and line decide to half. Not impressed. It wasnt an expensive rod but I hadnt bargained for that. The wrasse werent playing ball at all, only things we took on the crab and mussel baits were pouting around the 4 inch mark. Went back to the feathers again to see if we could rustle up afew more mackerel for the barbie, no joy, however, on 2 occasions, had triple shots of pollack most around the 2 lb mark but one going to 3 1/2. So sausage sandwiches it was! One more mackerel fell to the brother in law before we decided enough was enough and headed back to cork. I also managed to break the Bail arm on My Okuma Magic fixed spool reel which had served me very well this past 3 years. So it turned out to be an expensive day all in as we lost a fortune of tackle into the depths also. Not to worry, ya gotta take the rough with the smooth I suppose. And I suppose, once the sunburn fades away we'll have a tan to be proud of!
Tue May 31, 2005 6:41 pm
Meant to say, That was on Sunday 29th.
Tue May 31, 2005 7:54 pm
Petekd,
Now all the bad luck is out of the way you must be due an almighty session next time!
I tell people who fish The Bridges of Ross that if you are not losing gear you are not fishing! Breaking rods and reels is something else!
Looking forward to giving this area a lash with you soon.
Wrasse seem to be shy at the moment although I had a few from the Boat off Donegal Point south of Baltard Bay recently.
Wed Jun 01, 2005 11:08 am
The only person who could be anyway happy about all that is Michael in the tackle shop, hes bound to be rubbing his hands together next time I walk into the shop! Gonna leave it alone for two or three weeks as heading to Donegal this weekend and Comp is on weekend after so hopefully things will have improved somewhat by then. Suppose its an excuse to go and buy some new gear all the same!