2 east antrim rock marks 14th & 16th june

People: 14th me and dan 16th me and the dog

Duration: 14th 12pm-6pm 16th 11am-3pm

Tide: 14th LW 4PM 16th HW 3pm

Weather: scorching sun and hardly a breath of wind

Bait: softies and hardbacks, lug, mack, rag and mussle

Rigs: sacrifical 1 hook 3/0 rotten bottom

Results: 14TH ME- 9 ballan wrasse to almost 4lb, cuckoo wrasse and a launce DAN- 4 ballan wrasse. 16TH 9 doggies to almost 3lb




Report: MONDAY 14TH JUNE EAST ANTRIM ROCK MARK

well it was monday again and dan's day off work so i decided to give a new mark a go that another angler passed onto me in confidence. after being swore to secrecy on a fate worse than death he relyably informed me that this rough ground spot offered the potential for a specimen cuckoo wrasse . so as you can guess i did'nt need to hear any more as my mind was made up as to where we were headed to . i checked our crab traps at the weekend and got about 3 peelers and 8 softies (which i reckon are just as good as the peelers so long as they are still squidgy ) and about 20 wee hardbacks. digging was a bit patchy and so we only had about 20 lug and a half pound of rag. but that was enough for a short 6 hour session . we assessed the mark on arrival and found a perch from where we could safely fish and i got sorted and cast out. i was using 50lb braid so i could feel the kelp tugging the line and the rocks knocking on the lead so i reckoned i was in the right spot. within seconds something snaffled my rag and gave a good tug and i began to reel in holding the rod tip straight up so as to try and avoid the kelp forest and get me fish in safely,,, and boy was i glad i did as a lovely male cuckoo wrasse broke the surface at my feet . this was great, we were only here 5 mins and i'd got the target species already. he weighed in at 12ozs and to be honest i thought he looked heavier . but unlike us anglers, the scales do'nt lie . to say i was chuffed to bits was an understatement, so i baited up again and cast back out. meanwhile dan was getting bites but his rod was on the tripod and not in his hand, so the wrasse kept dragging him into the underwater forest and a lot or rigs and fish were lost in quick time . i opted to keep the rod in my hand and to strike like i was hooking up a tope at the first sign of the faintest twitch and was having considerabley better sucess with the bigger ballan wrasse going mad for the softies and hardback crabs i was offering them. i got a few crackers who were just shy of 4lb and a couple over 3lb. but dan was having a nightmare losing a few good fish to the kelp as the bait began to run low i decided to chuck out a set of feathers just to see what was kicking about this mark and i thought i was reeling in a wee pollock or coalie. but was made up to see a big launce attached to the rig. i have'nt had one of those yet and he wriggled free off the hook just as i got him up on the rocks. dan almost wet himself laughing as he watched me pounce on top of it before it esacped back to the big blue yonder like a hungry cat on a mouse . i was'nt for letting him escape as i never pass up the opportunity for a bit of fresh bait . dan was a bit stumped as to why i seemed more excited about catching this than i was about the big ballan's or the cuckoo. but a new species for my ever growing list was a great way to end the day for me

WEDNESDAY 16TH JUNE ANOTHER EAST ANTRIM ROCK MARK.

not too much to report on this one. i had a load of mack to use up and headed out in search of some huss. but from the get go the doggies were munching my baits before a huss could follow the scent trail in i gotta admitt that the old WD40 bait additive is brilliant and i never leave home without it now sadly my own dog cody was feeling the heat and drank her way through a 2 litre bottle of water by 3pm. she could'nt find any shade to hide away from the belting sun and was plumb tuckered by 3pm so i decided to wrap it up and get her home to give her a good soaking out the back with the hose (which she loved) . but i was happy with 9 dogs for 4 hours on one rod. and one of them was'nt a kick in the bum off 3lb. so it put a nice bend in the rod as i reeled her in curled up in a ball. to be honest i thought it was gonna be a nice huss by the weight of it, but i was happy to settle for a porky doggie

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Excellent fishing and great results, well done I love the picture of the cuckoo wrasse, the colours on them are just brilliant looking.
Great report as always. I'm looking forward to your next one already, they are always a great read.

Nice going Al, good to see the wrasse are starting to appear in numbers. Lovely cuckoo wrasse as well, bet Jordan not happy with you getting that one.

another super session lads, nice wrasses u got well done boys

no stopping you al thats a fine haul of wrass and the colours on that cuckoo are fantastic

Well done some lovely fish there, them Cuckoo Wrasse have to be the nicest fish we have in our waters would love to catch one. :

well done on the cuckoo wrasse

nice session with the wrasse lads,will hopefully be targeting the cookoos soon,there a class looking fish!!

Great report and pics as usual Al,Some nice wrasse there gotta love those colours.I Haven't been out in almost a year but hopefully all being well i should be out soon.Myself and shannon love reading your reports(adventures) .

Ps: tell Jordan i said hi

Absolute class fish the cuckoo wrasse cant wait to get one well done

nice one! Especially the cuckoo..

good man al.u must be in wrasse land up there.u put some great pics of them up on here

Nice fishing again guys.

If you put the hours in it pays dividends.

Excellent fishing and great results, well done I love the picture of the cuckoo wrasse, the colours on them are just brilliant looking.
Great report as always. I'm looking forward to your next one already, they are always a great read.

thanks paula. we should really be out trying for the mullet to get them ticked off our species list , but i gotta admitt it's hard to draw myself away from the wrasse at the moment

Nice going Al, good to see the wrasse are starting to appear in numbers. Lovely cuckoo wrasse as well, bet Jordan not happy with you getting that one.

cheers ronald. he was'nt too chuffed as he missed the session when i got the ling too but he can get a fishing overdose once school finishes for 2 months at the end of june might be renting a campervan for a fortnight in august to fish the coast from tralee to wexford so that should make it up to him

another super session lads, nice wrasses u got well done boys

cheers man. the antrim coast is really fishing well at the moment. just a pity the county down coast is'nt. fished 2 of our tried and tested rock marks out that way in the last 2 weeks and only got small stuff and very few decent wrasse

no stopping you al thats a fine haul of wrass and the colours on that cuckoo are fantastic

thanks mitch. now we know where they are all i gotta do is get a specimen

Well done some lovely fish there, them Cuckoo Wrasse have to be the nicest fish we have in our waters would love to catch one. :

cheers man. you'd have to go a long way to find a more brightly coloured fish than th cuckoo wrasse alright. class wee fish

well done on the cuckoo wrasse

cheers alan. now we'll have to get a cuckoo ray and we'll be all cuckoo'd out

nice session with the wrasse lads,will hopefully be targeting the cookoos soon,there a class looking fish!!

no probs noel. i'll have to add that mark to the list of spots to take you and john to in the summer when you come up

Great report and pics as usual Al,Some nice wrasse there gotta love those colours.I Haven't been out in almost a year but hopefully all being well i should be out soon.Myself and shannon love reading your reports(adventures) .
Ps: tell Jordan i said hi

will do man. jaysus,,, a year without fishing i'd have went stir crazy if i was away from the sa for that long we get withdrawlls if we do'nt get out at least once a week

Absolute class fish the cuckoo wrasse cant wait to get one well done

i'd happily exchange one for one of those stonking pollock you've been getting man . all out tried and tested pollock marks are full of small fish,,, one of the down sides of pollock gaining a commercial value now

nice one! Especially the cuckoo..

thanks chris, amazing looking fish

good man al.u must be in wrasse land up there.u put some great pics of them up on here

thanks brian, we do'nt have smoothies or tope, but we do have cuckoo's and ling

Nice fishing again guys.
If you put the hours in it pays dividends.

thanks alan. we'll have to get you and daniel away from the dee and up the antrim coast into contact with something with a bit of weight to it has daniel got a conger yet?

Al,

If Daniel caught a conger he'd **** himself!

PM me to let me know what you're up to.

I'd love to get to the Dee or anywhere at the minute!

Nise session Al and result with the cuckoo - some colours on it.
The big doggie wasnt half bad either...

Mick

Great fishing as usual from you boys

Nice one Al, some quality fish there , I love the wrasse, well done on the cuckoo wrasse , im dead jealous