Not quite 7 days at portrush and 1 day at the oaks

People Me, Me da, and a few people I met along the way

Duration all week

Tide all

Weather good, pure shite, good again

Bait rag and mack

Rigs various

Results Pollock, Colefish, Pouting (new PB), Mackerel, Conger (new PB), Wrasse, Plaice, Dab, Flounder, Goby, Blenny, Gurnard, Whiting, Dogfish, Lobster and a Pike


Report

Had to 2 weeks off work and since I hadn’t caught either in over 10 years I set myself the mission of catching a Conger and a Pike, and also a mullet having never caught one.

Monday 9th

Causeway Lass 6-9pm

Dad dropped me down at the campsite, and help me set up camp. Had a 6 man tent for just me so was pretty comfy setup. Landed down at the tackle shop for rag but they had none (DOH), then headed out on the Causeway Lass for Mackerel for bait for an all night conger session.. Mackerel came straight away from the first drop. Pleanty being landed but few big ones. Most were about 8 inches in length so good for conger bait used whole. We were also catching a whole load of very small ones about 4 or 5 inches long. Never have I seen a mackerel so small. I kept a half dozen of these as I wanted to try free lining them on a slow retrieve through the kelp for Pollock but on the way in one of the kids on the boat had fed them to the seagulls before I realised. Also picked up a few small Gurnard, Whiting, Pouting and my Dad got 1 small plaice.

Blue Pool 1030pm-2am

After some food we headed down to the Blue Pool. Both set up conger rods and threw them out before doing anything else. Then set up bottom rods and chucked them out at distance. Dad then went to check it conger rod by gently fingering in the slack and seeing if he could feel any resistence. He didn’t feel any until he pulled the whole lot in an realised his trace had come off. (it was his first time using braided line and didn’t realise a half-blood knot wouldn’t cut it). About a minute later my conger rod started screaming, gave it a minute and struck. Brought in an 11lb conger. Not huge but a new PB and (if you believe it) my first ever double figure fish. Went to unhook it and realised it actually the trace my dad just lost hanging out of its mouth as well. He tried to claim it as a joint fish (jokingly) but when it spat his trace out proving he hadn’t hooked it in the slightest he shut his face. First cast on the bottom rod produced a small lobster for me at about a pound. Not long after I got another run but got too excited and struck too early so missed it. Dad also picked up one at 6lb. after the first hour the conger rods didn’t get another sniff so we were concentrating on the bottom rods. Pin whiting were 2 a cast and doggies had moved in as well so a friendly competition was arranged for the most dogfish. Dad was catching them 2 at a time and I couldn’t get past the whiting while dad had a whiting hook itself then a doggie came along and ate the whiting. At one point I had stuck on a full mackerel fillet, 8 inches long, and pulled in a 6 inch whiting. In the end he won with 10 doggies and I got 6. got a few gurnard as well then about 2am it started pissing down so headed back to the tent.

Tuesday 10th

Portrush harbour 1-3pm

Today was very windy so after confirming they have been spotted recently I headed to the harbour to try for a mullet. Had an onion sack stuffed with bread and yesterdays leftover mackerel lowered down the wall and also ground baited with bit of bread. Did this for about 2 hours and there was no sign. I entertained myself during the wait with tiddlers down the wall catching Pollock, pouting, colefish and wrasse in the 4-5 inch range and a few very small flounder that fitted in the palm of my hand.

Blue Pool 330-630

Arrived it was windy but blowing from the side so bottom fishing was made very difficult. Concentrated on float fishing and threw out a conger rod. Caught plenty of coalies, Pollock and wrasse. also got a 10 1/2lb conger. Having never got a double figure fish before and getting 2 in 2 days I was over the moon. I have a sneaky suspicion it was probably the same fish I caught there the night before but couldn’t see the hook I had to leave in its mouth so couldn’t be sure. Some French guy came over and asked if he could have it eat, I politely declined his offer and there were no hard feelings. Started chatting and he was telling about a time when he was working nets of the coast of Brittany when they came across a half dead conger floating on the surface. He says it was a good 8 feet long and the biggest conger he had ever seen. It also had a huge chunk missing from its middle where something had a go at it (a shark he reckons) he still gaffed it out and eat it though.. There was a kid down fishing beside me, he was about 12 and his mum was trying to teach him to fish. She obviously didn’t have a clue and after he 2 lost floats and then his mum but on a spinner baited with a full Ragworm and cast out and let it sit on the bottom I decided to intervene. I showed him how to set up a sliding float rig. Since he didn’t have any tackle left I used my own. Next was how to hold a rod properly, 2 fingers either side of the reel so its balanced in your hand, etc. then casting, I noticed earlier he was holding the line with all 4 fingers which resulted in a few crack offs when he gave it well. Showed him how much easier it was with just your finger tip and a light toss. Shortly after he caught his first ever fish, a nice wrasse touching a pound followed by a few smaller Pollock. He was as happy as Larry and his mum was really pleased with my patience and tutelage. As they were leaving, I decided to let him keep the float and gave him a few spare hooks to keep him going. His mum stuffed a fiver into my pocket for my troubles, I tried to give it back cos helping someone catch their first fish was reward enough but she refused to take it back. It started to get very rough so headed back to the tent for dinner.

Portstewart Harbour 830 to 1030

Still had some stinky mackerel left form the day before, after check the rocks in a few different spots it was far too rough to fish (esp on my own in the dark) so ended up at Portstewart harbour. It was quite packed with dads teaching their kids to fish and other kids jumping in and out of the water. Wasnt the kind of fishing I had in mind but persevered pulled out a few small Pollock, nothing on the conger rod. Once it got dark I had no more bites and wasn’t getting much of a vibe so headed round to portrush harbour for a chuck.

Portrush harbour 11-1230

Started to get cold by this point and also started to rain. Ended up sitting under the walkway down to the pontoon for shelter pulling out tiny Pollock and one blenny. Being hidden I was able to eavesdrop on 2 really posh English lads trying to lure 2 girls onto the yacht they had moored there with the promise of Champagne and cocaine. Reminded me a bit of the film Donkey Punch. Fortunately for the girls they had the sense to walk away. About half 12 I had had enough and went back to the tent.

Wednesday 11th

Ballintoy flat rocks 1 – 4pm

Today the wind was blowing even stronger the day before. As it was blowing from the north any rocks between portrush and portstewart were unfishable. It was very very rough, rock I would normally stand and fish on at high tide were being covered by 4 feet of swell. Later I found out there were unusually high tides that week. Headed east to find shelter and ended up at Ballintoy. Found some shelter from the wind but the sea was still pretty rough, the water very very cloudy and the tide and wind coming round the island created a sort of vortex and you could see the whole bay swirling. The heaviest lead I had with me (5oz grip) was just about holding bottom wasn’t confident of my changes so went to set up a float. __ DISASTER. Most of my rods are black and in my haste to get out I realised I’d brought parts from 4 different rods and not a whole one between them. I was gutted, couldn’t even make half a rod so ended up sticking to the bottom for a bit longer. Sitting in the shelter of the rocks I was plagued by flies, there were literally thousands of them and I was covered. Everytime I moved a swarm would rise of me, it was really a pain. Reeled in the one rod I had and moved round to the high top of the flat rock and dropped it down the edge into the weed having to hold the rod. Doing this with a 15ft9 powerstix pro is not a comfortable way to fishing and I was starting to get fed up. Went searching in my bag for the half a lion bar I left in there but couldn’t find it. Went back to the other spot and found it half in a rock pool covered in flies. I nearly cried. Manage to pull out 3 pollock and 2 wrasse anyways included one of the most beautifully coloured Pollock ive seen in a long time. Packed up soon after and went back to tent. Stopped in a few places on the way home to see if they looked fishable, Dunseverick harbour seemed to have every bit of flotsam on the north antrim coast washed into it, it was completely clogged. Portbradden looked ok but the water seemed very shallow, ballintrae was too rough as was the white rocks.

Portstewart high car park rocks 8-810pm

Fished here for 10 minutes and got soaked by the spray with the waves nearly covering the rocks, lost all tackle on both rods first cast. Decided it was unsafe to continuing and left again.

Portstewart harbour 830 845pm

Didn’t want to blank this evening so headed round to the harbour. Set up a float, pulled out a small wrasse first cast then left again. Had a really unhappy days fishing, just had enough.

Thursday 12th

Bluepool 430 – 7pm

Wind was still blowing a gale form the north and the bluepool was fishable at lowtide while the rest of the rocks were too dangerous. Got a good few wrasse Pollock, colefish and wrasse on the float and a few small plaice and dab on the bottom. As the tide turned it started getting rough so had to leave.

Portrush harbour 730-930pm

Forced to fish the harbour (again) and I wasn’t the only one. It was quite pack in the end but I had nabbed a good spot. Was getting no end of wrasse Pollock and colefish on the float over the weeds near the slipway and a couple of palm sized flounder and coalies about a pound on the bottom in the mouth of the harbour. Still blowing a gale and was raining by this point so went back to the tent to consider my options. Weather forcast for the next day was just as bad and didn’t fancy another day picking tiddlers out of harbours so locked up the tent and went home to Belfast.

Friday 13th

Spending the day on the couch drinking tea and eating crisps.

Saturday 14th

Ramore Head 2-8pm

Wind had finally dropped. WHOOP WHOOP. So head off back to the port. Was at Ramore head by 2pm. The ledge I wanted to fish at was packed so headed round a bit to the wee point. Cast out and was surprised by the fact a 3oz lead was taking about 15 seconds to hit the bottom. Never realised the water was so deep as I never fished that particular spot before. Was getting fish right from the off and soon realised I had forgotton my forceps so every fish that swallowed the hook had to be realised with the hook still in it. Good job a had bought a bag of 50!!. Had Wrasse up to 2lb, pouting up to 1lb (new personal best) Pollock and colefish upto 1lb and a half. I had 2 problems with this spot, first was there would seem to have been a drop off at some point as quite a few times reeling in it would get snagged at the same point so lost quite a bit of tackle. I could have sustained this tackle loss for a bit longer but the main issue I had with this spot was all the wrasse I was pulling up had their air bladder exploding out their mouth and arse. I put them back anyway but floated away half dead on the surface. Of all the species of fish Ive ever caught the one I hate to die on me the most is wrasse. not sure why but when I kill a wrasse it really pisses me off. Moved round a bit to my right where I could drop a floated down the rock face. Also threw out a conger rod. There was a guy from Ballymoney fishing beside me and was catching away but he only brought 1 bag of rag which promptly ran out, so fished on with limpets and continued to catch. Shot the s*** with him on and off all day trading stories and general chit chat. Continued catching wrasse, Pollock and colefish on the float right up to 8pm and also picked up a 4.5lb conger. Left about 8 as I didn’t fancy fishing there on my own in the dark for safety reasons.

Bluepool 9pm-2am

Back to tent for quick bite to eat and to get the forceps then back down to the blue pool for more conger fishing. In the first hour and a half a caught 2 conger at 4 and 6lb. hooked a third which felt much bigger but it bit through the trace. Wasn’t too gutted as I had already caught 3 in one day. I also picked up a 4 dogfish between 10 and midnight. After midnight I got no runs on the conger rod and was only getting small whiting no more dogfish. It was also getting quite cold due to there being no cloud cover so called it a day.

Sunday 15th

Portstewart High car park rocks 1030am-1pm

Arrived down at the same spot I abandonded after 10 minutes earlier in the week. There was a father and son ensemble fishing already and were catching mostly rocklings. I got a few Pollock, coalies and wrasse on the float, nothing over 2lb. got a few clicks on the conger rod and then nothing. Left it half an hour and reeled into check the bait. I had a full joey mackerel on but it was snagged to leaned into it and it popped free. Was hauling in a heavy weight but my suspicions were confirmed when a HUGE lump of week came to the surface but to my surprise it had 2 dogfish swimming either side of it which then disappeared when I got it into the edge. Hauled the weeded up onto the rocks and started stripping it away only to find a piddly wee dogfish on the hook. At 1 oclock or so I saw one of the 3 hour mackerel boats heading back to the harbour so left my stuff with a guy there and went round to get some mackerel off him. In the harbour there were a half dozen mullet swimming about, (I was really excited) so got my mackerel, ran back to the rocks, packed up, went to shop, got bread, went back to the harbour and the mullet had buggered off . sat for an hour casually throwing in bread and basking in the sun but they didn’t show again so headed for the tent for a spot of lunch.

Ramore head. 4-10PM

Back at ramore head for hopefully more of the same as the day before. Started off good enough, getting a wrasse a cast up to 2lb, stopped counting at 20. then it quietened down and the fish became more sporadic. Getting maybe 4 or 5 an hour. It was such a beautiful day though I didn’t really mind and was just enjoying sitting on the rocks watching the boats and birds and other assorted activity go by around me. Ballymoney guy was there again and passed the time between bites chatting with him as well. Spent a bit of time dangling size 10 hook on a bit of rag into the rock pools and pulled out a few gobies. At one point a half dead trigger fish came floating by, It took a few attempts but I managed to hook it in the mouth with a spinner. I don’t count it as a catch but ive never seen a trigger fish before so was interesting to see its teeth up close. In the time spent then I got 3 runs on the conger rod, one just dropped it, one bait came back minus a tail and the other minus a head (which was a neat trick consider that’s where the hook was). Fished till it was dark as there was someone else there and felt safer not being on my own so when he packed up I did also and walked back to the car park swapping stories and such like.

Thursday 19th Oaks trout fishery 5am to 9pm

Still to catch a pike I decided to fish somewhere I knew I would have a good chance to catch a pike rather than somewhere I might catch a pike. It’s a 75 mile drive but fortunately my mum lives 5 minutes away from it so headed up the day before and got frozen roach, lamprey, mackerel and smelt from Toms tackle. Rang and had a chat with the owner and he says that they don’t open till 9 but I can land down anytime and he will leave the boats unlocked for me. So landed down at first light. Threw out a mackerel on a float, and set up the other rod with a plug. First cast the plug came off!!! Didn’t fasten the snap link on the trace properly (stooped) but fortunately it was a floater and slowly came drifting back to me. Got my first run at about half 9 and landed a 5lb pike. Things were looking good. Tried spinning, plugging and wobbling deadbaits during the day but no luck. It was a quiet day in the end and ver the next 11 hours 1 got 2 more runs, one dropped it and I pulled the bait out of the mouth of the other when reeling in the slack before striking. Fortunately I had a good book and spend most of the day lying in the bottom of the boat enjoying it. (Robert Ludlum – The Prometheus Deception, worth reading) Finally landed another one about 2lb at about 9pm then headed home.

Never got a mullet, but did get numerous conger and 2 pike. All in all though I think it was a successful trip.

Lot of reading but I didn't want it to end

me either
cant wait till i win the lottery so i can go fishing everyday

excellent report, was a very good read, and well done on getting your conger and pike

next time your down that way ,not far out of portstewart on the portrush rod at the start of thegolf courrse there is a small concrete hut with a big out crop of rock in front of it there used to be a sewr pipe there dot know if it still is ,there were huge mullet there have had them up to 10lbs and my friend reckons he had a 12lber

well done on the pb s exellent report plenty of fishing was done there