East Cork - 27th June 2010

People: Me

Duration: 11 pm to 2.30 am

Tide: LW at 1.30 am

Weather: Calm, clear, mild

Bait: Razor

Rigs: 4/0 pennel pulleys

Results: 1 bass, 2 Dogfish, 4 Codling




Report: I havn't posted up a shore report for a while as I was on holidays for close to three weeks during the bass closed season. I had intended to have some long sessions after I got home on the 17th but that plan got trashed as I had a lot of work to catch up on and I had a very sore foot. By the weekend my foot wasn't too bad so I decided to have a good lash at lure fishing along the West Waterford coastline. But despite firing out a variety of plugs and soft plastics there was nothing to report. The wind and weed also posed a problem in several of the marks on Saturday so on Sunday I fished a more sheltered mark but again I could tempt nothing with my selection of juicy looking lures.

I decided to have a bait fishing session later on Sunday night. However, it was too late to dig bait so all I had was razorfish. I got to one of my old reliable East Cork beaches to find a nice surf rolling in. There was quite a lot of kelp at the eastern end of the beach but the center seems relatively weed free. I set up two rods with 4/0 pennel pulleys with a full razor on each and cast them about 40 m out. After all the lure fishing, clambering over rocks in my waders over the weekend my foot had got quite sore again so I wasn't wading out to cast, just lobing it out from the water line.

After about 15 m I had a bite on one of the rods - the fish was pulling strongly at first and I was sure I had a bass but as I reeled it in it soon gave up the struggle and turned out to be a dogfish

About 20 minutes later I had a bite on the second rod - again it initially put up a struggle but then weakened - another dogfish. At this stage I began to think that I was going to be plagued with them all night. I had a few more nibbles but nothing hooked.

A little after midnight I was sitting on my tackle box looking at the rod tips which were well illuminated in the moonlight - then I saw a subtle twitch on the far rod. I stood up and picked up the rod and found that the line was gone slack - I ferociously retrieved the slack - about 20 m of it - before I caught up with the fish, struck and then felt a very strong pull on the line - this was definitely not a dogfish. The fish put up a fierce struggle, surged to the left, I got it turned and gradually hauled it back. Then weed caught on the shock leader knot jammed in the tipeye - I walked backwards up the beach keeping the tension on the line and dragged the fish out through the surf. I could see it splashing about in a few inches of water - it looked to be a good bass. I walked a bit further up the beach to drag it clear of the surf and hobbled back as fast as my sore foot would allow to check the fish. it was a 63 cm bass, but a very well fed chunky fish weighing just over 6.5 lb

A little later I spotted some small knocks on one of the rods - I struck but thought there was nothing there, I left it for a few minutes then began to retrieve and realized that there was a fish on the end but nothing big. It turned out to be a small 30 cm codling I was still getting codling in May off the beaches but I thought by the last week in June they would be well gone. The codling then came on the feed as it got close to low tide. I had another two in quick succession, both a little bigger at 33 cm and 36 cm. As the tide began to push forward I got another bite - this felt a bit stronger but turned out to be another 36 cm codling, although plumper than the previous one.

I decided to pack up at 2.30 am, mainly as my foot was getting quite painfull - i should have taken it easier at the weekend and just eased into fishing with a couple of short sessions. But I was happy with the result, I will just have to defer fishing for a couple of weeks until my foot is back to normal.

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That bass is in unbelievable condition Frank, nice bait session there.

Well done Frank - it's good to have you back and reporting again that's a mighty fine bass you got. Great report as always

Well done Frank, thats a beauty of a bass ,,,got a few codling on Sunday night myself so theyre up here as well ,also the whiting seem to be a year long species for me .Hope the foot heals soon,,,,,,,,,,,,my back picked my few days away to act up,guess thats inevitable when you get a bit of mileage up on the clock

smashing bass frank good size codling as well for this time of year
hope the foot settles down soon .

Nice bass .Great result with no digging and a good size

another great session rock ,love that bass. i can just feel the power of him on my carp rods ,right got to go fishing

Thanks guys,

That Bass is in unbelievable condition Frank,

Yes it has been feeding well.

Well done Frank - it's good to have you back and reporting again that's a mighty fine Bass you got. Great report as always

Thanks, unfortunately it will probably be about another 10 days or so before I get out again

Well done Frank, thats a beauty of a Bass ,,,got a few codling on Sunday night myself so theyre up here as well ,also the whiting seem to be a year long species for me .Hope the foot heals soon,,,,,,,,,,,,my back picked my few days away to act up,guess thats inevitable when you get a bit of mileage up on the clock

It was very surprising to get the codling at this time of year on a south coast beach, especially on that beach!!!
You do seem to have a attraction for whiting alright - I remember that time early last September when you were down in Waterford and we were catching a few whiting - after that I only had a handfull after that all through the winter.

smashing Bass frank good size codling as well for this time of year
hope the foot settles down soon .

I hope it does too - its killing me not to be able to get out fishing

Nice Bass .Great result with no digging and a good size

Better than I expected alright from using just razor - might have been a really great session if I had some lug, rag and crab too

another great session rock ,love that Bass. i can just feel the power of him on my carp rods ,right got to go fishing

It was a very powerful fish alright.

Fine looking Bass & session nice one

nice fish frank hope the leg heals , weed was brutal again last night plugging was home by 10pm

Well done Frank - it's good to have you back and reporting again that's a mighty fine Bass you got. Great report as always

Thanks, unfortunately it will probably be about another 10 days or so before I get out again

That sucks Frank but at least it will give the fish a break

with fish like that frank i'd just stock up on the pain killers and be hobbling back down there again good old razor saves the day . the bass is a cracker man

Thanks guys,

weed was brutal again last night plugging was home by 10pm

Probably won't be much better for a few days at least - there was a bit of a blow last night which won't have done anything to improve the weed situation but it would have been ideal for a bait session - if only I could have got out

with fish like that frank i'd just stock up on the pain killers and be hobbling back down there again

I made my mistake at the weekend by pushing my foot too much - the bass will be still there next week (I hope)