More West Coast Tope 15.06.10

People: Jakes, Myself, also Mike Curtin & John Bermingham (non SAI)

Duration: Session 1: 19:00-21:00 Session 2: 22:30-04:30

Tide: HT @ 20:14 5.1m LW @ 02:23 0.6m

Weather: Clear Dry and Warm no wind of any note

Bait: Fresh Mackerel

Rigs: Pulleys and Drop Down Pulleys either wire or heavy mono

Results: Tope & Huss




Report: Jakes, Mike Curtin and myself had organized to give the Tope another go, so I picked up 20 or so fresh macks and set off to meet the lads. Mike had called to say John Bermingham and his Father were down in Oranmore so we said we hook up with them and try a local pier were we should have a decent chance of Tope and good Huss. I arrived with the box of bait to find John setup his Father wasn't fishing and Mike set up not to long after I had. With fresh juicy mack baits sent out the crabs thankfully weren't as active here as they have been in the past when I've fished this pier and the ever increasing boat moorings were still to be avoided. However being able to sit in the boot of your car while Tope fishing is a luxury I could get used to. Nothing of note happened for the first hour or so then my line started to move with the incoming tide. I picked it up thinking I’d connected with a raft of weed. I had got a good 40yrds back when I got snagged or at least that’s what it felt like. I slowly backed off the drag to see if the current would free me from my predicament. Sure enough the line starting going with the flow again. When I thought it was free from the snag I started to retrieve got it back to pretty much the same area when low and behold snagged again. I was contemplating my next move when I felt my end tackle pop up I turned to Mike and said "it’s free bizarre" he said "your line is moving against the current". No sooner had he said the words when the first indication that there was fish on registered with a couple of head shakes. Feels like a good Huss I said as there were a couple of heavy head shakes, small Tope I bet you Mike said. Then the fish woke up and made a couple of spirited dives rod arched over it was great to see him come up just under the surface and dive for the bottom another couple of times. Mike duly tailed him and my best shore Tope to date was landed not a monster but I was happy out. I had just unhooked my one when John got hit rod arched over looked like a better fish as it dived for the bottom and started running with the current John played him in to where Mike was waiting to tail him and then there were two Tope staring back at us. I popped my one back and got my scales and sling out to measure Johns as it was the better fish. My fella went off like a rocket when I put him back the settled weather over the last while had left the water very clear and it was nice to watch as he took off under the surface. John’s fish weighed in at 17lbs 8ozs nice fish. We were sure we'd get a good run of them for the next hour or so but it went quiet. With the only other fish a fine Huss to double figures for Mike who declined the scales and a photo only to realize after releasing it that it was a potential club record Huss gone back oh well there's always next time. Jakes arrived just as the tide was starting to turn and make its way back out, so we decided to get the hiking boots on again and try the other mark which produced his fine Tope a couple of weeks back. We said goodbye to the others as they were packing up for the day and headed off.

After a torturous hike in hot weather we arrived dropped the gear and took 5... okay maybe 15 then got fishing. We knew from the previous session how to fish the mark and straight away both rods were in the "zone" we had high hopes for this spot as Jakes fish was taken 2hrs from LW on the previous occasion we stuck it out until the sun came out with nothing landed we did have a couple of times when the ratchets went but no hook ups…. To top it off Jakes had a flat tire when we got back to the car with the spare flat also…. Luckily the boy scout in me had an air compressor for just such an occasion as I’d often though it’s be handy to keep you moving without having to unload all the gear. So topped up the slow puncture and left the air compressor with Jakes just in case he had to top her up again….Till next time Slán agus Beannacht.

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Nice fishing, Tope fishing out of your car boot happy days
I wish howth Pier would be as obliging!

Well done Conor & company, outstanding fishing by all concerned. Great report Conor, very imformative and a pleasure to read. Nice pictures too, you's won't forget that session in a hurry, congratulations.

good results

Nice fishing, Tope fishing out of your car boot happy days
I wish howth Pier would be as obliging!

We all do! Nice report Conor well done again.

Excellent report and pics,Conor,big well done to all concerned .Tope fishing from a pier eh!

great report and pics conor . if only we could target tope from the shore up here . unfortunately if we want to target them we gotta charter a boat on the off chance you might hit into them . that old west coast is fishing well man. keep it up

that beats pin whiting and 4" wrasse

well done conner and to the others looks like my my fav gilly will have to show me the ropes again

nice one conor

well done lads some nice tope there.handy being able to fish out of the back of the car aswell.

Nice fishing there lads,

sweet lads! thats some fishing from a pier!

Nice one Conor, you'll find me on that pier on Sunday

Nice one Conor, you'll find me on that pier on Sunday

Busking

Nice one Conor, you'll find me on that pier on Sunday

Busking

well if i can make a bit of money while fishing...

Brilliant. Well done lads, I'll be looking for a run to that spot at some stage purleeaaasssseeeee

Cheers all much obliged 2 of us tried 2 marks again last night no runs this time fished from 20:00-03:00 crabs were out in force with big baits stripped clean in 15mins or so....

Connor savage results you and the lads are definitely on a roll at the moment....

Mick