Carrickfergus Harbour Tuesday 8th June

People:

Duration:Me

Tide: High

Weather:overcast, windy, that fine miserable rain that gathers on the back of your neck then drips down to the crack or your arse

Bait: none

Rigs: hockeyes, mackerel feathers

Results:about what i expected




Report:So I was sitting in the house when suddenly I got an itch to go fishing. Usually when I get this kind of itch it doesn’t matter where I fish, one time I even found myself fishing in an ornamental pond in a business park for stickleback using rod and line a size 22 hook and half a maggot. Still caught fish though. Anyways, decided I’d go spin for some mackerel. The choice was between Bangor and Carrickfergus Harbour. Either way I wasn’t expecting to catch anything and since at Carrick the wind would be at my back I went there hoping that mediocre weather would keep the mackerel bashers indoors as they are generally a fair weather species. So arrived down and as I was walking up the harbour wall another guy was walking down with a codling about a pound in a half he had caught in the harbour itself on a bit of Mack. Kudos to him I thought and made my way to the end of the pier. Looked out over the water, it was quite murky and a bit choppy. I had no illusions about there actually being mackerel out there but fished away content to be out of the house and down by the water. About half an hour into it this guy came stumbling down. He actually introduced himself as “a wee bit half cut” his mate as “He’s driving” and a 10 year old known only as “The wee lad”. Inwardly I rolled my eyes, knowing these were the drunken, lager lout mackerel bashers of yore but I had yet to encounter any in real life so came them half a chance. They were using £8.99 Fishing Beginner Kits. 6 foot rods and really bad reels. Tried not to judge as I’ve had some good fun using these small light rods to catch fish but you really need to just throw those reels away. The half a chance given lasted until Half Cut tried to rig up. First he didn’t put the line under the bail arm and missed out 2 eyes on the way up the rod. All the while talking away in typical loud fashion to no-one in particular. Couldn’t really understand was he was saying, all I could make out was “__ Mackerel __ Buckfast __ Jesus Christ look at the size of this swivel” He’s driving was talking about how he usually fishes Straid Trout Fishery. I fish there often and know there are some muppets that go up there so figured he might at least have half a clue, that was until his first cast. For anyone who doesn’t know, Carrick Harbour is only about 15 metres wide at the mouth. He’s Driving cast clear across the mouth onto the other side, got caught on the trailer hitch of a boat on the dock and lost his trace. I mean there’s a difference between not being able to fish and not being to hit the water. I was chewing my lip to stop my self laughing, especially when it turned out they only had one trace each. Half Cut decided to do the decent thing and gave He’s Driving his trace announcing “ILL SHOW YOU BOYS HOW TO DO IT”. Was curious to what his show of fishing prowess would be so quietly watch in anticipation out of the corner of my eye. After what seemed like an age he finally appeared and I swear to God I nearly wet myself. He had tied an Eddystone Eel about 3 feet up from the end his line directly to the mainline. No hook length at all. Then about a foot and a half down from that he had tied on a plug, again directly to the main line. Then more line and then his weight. Obviously his creativeness had got him all exited as now he kept bursting into song. Unfortunately the song he seemed to know was Mary had a little Lamb, and his own rude version at that. The Jist is Mary had a big bum and you can imagine the rest. So he struts up to the edge of the pier, gave it his best cast and 40 foot later the weight plonks in the water. He then tightened the line and sat down waiting for a bite. He’s driving then joined him using the same static tactics. After about 10 minutes of no bites they both reeled in. Of course you know what happened next. Both had fouled up and both lost their tackle. By this point I had reached the end of my allotted fishing time and I was starting to hurt inside from suppressing my laughing so headed home leaving the 2 of them rooting around their tackle box for something else to fish with. Didn’t catch anything as I expected but I got a line wet and that’s all that mattered. Treated myself to a bag of chips on the way content I got to spend a few hours away from the TV.

While this debacle was going on the wee lad was doing ok. He had rigged himself up and was casting within minutes. And casting with competency and about as far as you would expect to be able to with the rod he was using. He definitely showed potential to become a good angler. The sad part of this whole tale though is that his introduction to the wonderful world of fishing is with these 2 muppets.

Sad but hilarious, I never understand these fellahs motivation?

lived in carrick all my life (31 yrs). fished since i was 2 yrs old. fished carrick harbour less than 10 times. enough said


btw. if you go up to the dams when water is really low you will find mackeral and large white cod feathers, eddystones, 30g+ spinners. 4-5oz leads. i kid you not

Fish Carrick sometimes myself know what you mean.

Hilarious report.
One of the best I’ve read yet.
Pity they didn’t catch anything though.
If they had, I’d say it would have been a clown fish.

Hahaha, absolutely brilliant report mate,
that report deserves a medal for humour.

I live in carrick myself, and i hate going down there to fish with the kind of people you just mentioned.
I did actually contemplate on going down yesterday for some mackie for the bait freezer. But i have to laugh at that report and say i'm glad i didnt go as i woulda drunk myself laughing or lost patience with them before the latter.

Well done on getting out mate, i find early in the morning around 7 or 8 is the best time to go while they are in there pits you'l get older guys at that time sometimes but they can fish.

enjoyed reading that!

Brightened up my day in work!

its a cracker

Only ever fish Carrick Harbour early morning chum, you'll get these sorts all summer long. Best move they do is when you catch a few mackerel they come running over to your spot as if thats where all the fish are!! Most of them only fish two/three months of the year anyway.

Great report, gave me a good laugh,i'm imagining Rab,C,Nesbitt and his mate mack bashing

Brilliant, did they have luminous green/yellow line???

Brilliant, did they have luminous green/yellow line???

actually, yes they did

very good report live in carrick myself and i try not to fish the harbour because of the type of people that you just mentioned. Im trying to teach my 4yr old daughter to fish and if we are at the harbour when people like that turn up then time to pack up and go home

halarious report man have'nt laughed so much in a long time

[quote="dave316"]lived in carrick all my life (31 yrs). fished since i was 2 yrs old. fished carrick harbour less than 10 times. enough said


when the mackeral are in at the harbour it your best bet for filling your freezer for your winter fishing

have a boat for that mate

great read reminds me of the time i met rab c spinning a swimfeeder stuffed with rag with no hook

Sounds very like Donaghadee (July - August)

Brilliant, did they have luminous green/yellow line???

actually, yes they did

no surprise there then, great report mate