Bass and Twaite shad. Waterford/Carlow/ Wexford 1/4/10

People:me

Duration:about 24 hours

Tide:all sorts

Weather: nice, odd shower, had hail at St Mullins

Bait: king rag and tasmanian devils

Rigs:pulley pennell

Results:codling, flounder, bass and twaite shad




Report:I had planned the trip to Waterford/Wexford for bit of bass fishing for a few weeks but seeing the report of the Shad run starting and not having tried it i decided on a detour up to Carlow to see what the spot was like.

Left the house at 20.00 on the Friday night and set of on the 4+ hour drive to Waterford. The new road system round the city certainly cuts down the travel time. Arrived at the beach and was fishing for about 01.00. Beautiful night just after full moon which is just as well as my Tiga headlamp powerpack had decided to tell me it was fully charged when it wasn't and packed in after an hour on the beach. Fished on using a small backup lamp. First few casts resulted in a small codling but the weed at the first spot was heavy and so a bit of a wade up down the beach showed clear water a couple of hundred yards up the beach. A quick relocation and fishing resumed weed-free. Over the next couple of hours until dawn i had a small bass about 2 lb, nice flounder and the best bass of the night in the 5-6 lb range.

Packed up at dawn and headed up to St Mullins. First time there and not having a decent OS map with me it took some finding. Ended up down a few country lanes trying to get there. Anyway after a few unavoidable detours eventually found the spot. Got set up with the the spinners and commenced spinning for about an hour near the top of the tide. I had been expecting crowds and although there were a couple of dozen other anglers they were spread out from the carpark to the weir so plenty of space. I also thought from reports that the fishing was localised to a couple of hundred yards but its much more spread out than that. It was obvious that blue/silver taz were the order of the day but unfortunaely my poor imitations of tazmanian devils were proving useless. There was a steady stream of fish with most people gettin one or two but nothing like the previous evening when they were apparently throwing themselves onto the hooks. Anyway after an hours fruitless spinning i retired to the car for a few hours sleep before purchasing the proper lures in the coffee shop. More spinning this time at low water. On my second or third cast with the correct lure a fish felt sorry for me and i had my first twaite shad. Weighed by an English guy fishing next to me it went 1.4kg which to me is about 3 lb. Job done i packed up and headed of for my last session which was to a Wexford beach.

After stopping for a bite ot eat and another kip, tiredness was now starting to have an effect, i hit the beach for 20.00 on Saturday night for a couple of hours over high water. It was a flat calm with barely a breath of wind so i wasn't to hopeful. Only fish of th night came at dusk at about 21.00 and high tide. A small schoolie about a pound. Fished on for another hour but nothing more so packed up at about 22.30 and headed home. A long but tiring session.

Few photos


Waterford bass


Twaite Shad


flounder


Wexford schoolie

Man that is a fishing trip! I'm glad it ticked all the boxes for you. Well done on hitting your targets man fair play

Have to hand it to you,fair play and a big welldone

welldone sounds like a great trip mate.

good report fmcn, actually what does that stand for and some fine fish. if only we did'nt have to sleep and work,think of the fishing we could do. anyway well deserved fish

Thanks for the comments guys. FMCN just my initials. Francis McNeilly.

now thats dedication.... fairplay to ya some lovely fish

Excellent.

Can't beat a job well done.

A big well done.Some very nice fish.

fair play lots of miles travelled worth your while with those fine fish

well done

Thanks, yes lots of miles. I had as much trouble finding my way out of St Mullins as i had getting there. Eventualy got to to Wexford by the back roads.

Nice one

Great report I was down at st mullins on Saturday and only had 1 compared to Wednesday had 25+ they can be there in number or nothing at all

hell thats good fishing and worth the effort well done

great trip fmcn and nice fishing, thats a nice shad too mate, well done

Nice one Francis, mission accomplished, very productive . Sounds like an enjoyable but tiring trip alright.

Good stuff F...! Will be in Kerry the weekend of 20th May if you are about.

Hi Eoghan

Actually down in Kerry 2 weeks later. Cottage booked for a week from 3rd June. Targetting mostly ray.

Nice one francis