Various East Cork and Kerry sessions - August 2010

[RockHunter]

People: Me

Duration: Various

Tide: Various

Weather: Generally good, dry, mostly calm

Bait: Various Lures and razor fish

Rigs: 4/0 pennel pulleys

Results:
11th August: 1 mackerel
12th August: 2 pollock
14th August: 1 bass, 12 pollock
15th August: 16 pollock, 1 coalfish, 1 mackerel
28th August: 1 pollock
29th August: 5 pollock, 1 mackerel
30th August: 5 bass
3rd September: 1 flounder, 1 codling




Report: I havn't put up a shore report for quite some time, mainly as I had done no fishing in July and the first half of August due to a problem with my foot. I had a trip to Kerry planned for the end of August so by the 11th I had a short session at a local easily accessible rock mark mostly to test out my foot rather than the expectation of catching anything. I fished for about an hour and caught one good size mackerel.

12th August: The following evening I had another short session at a rock mark I never fished before, but one that didn't require a lot of walking. I had two pollock on a patchinko, both about 38-40 cms.

14th August: As my foot had held up well on these two short sessions I headed to a reliable rock mark that produced a lot of bass for me last year. It was a much longer walk and the shore is much rougher. I got there about 5 pm just was the tide was beginning to push forward. Shortly afterwards I had a few follows on a patchinko but the fish would not take the lure. I tried a range of different lures but could not interest him again. Close to dusk the pollock came on the feed. I had two in quick succession, then had a 44 cm bass, all three on Xlayers. Unfortunately while getting the bass on to the rocks I snapped the top of my rod (I had slipped earlier and the rod hit off the rocks so I reckon that damaged it - I am not as sure footed as I used to be before I had this foot problem ). I continued fishing with the broken rod and got another 10 pollock before another piece broke off the top of the rod. Most of the fish were taken on Xlayers but after dark I got several on a baby patchinko. Most of the pollock were in the 1-2 lb range.

15th August: The following day I dusted off my spare spinning rod and headed back to the same mark. I waited a bit later this time and got there about 7 pm. Again nothing was happening until dusk, first I had a small coalfish and then the pollock came on the feed. I had 16, mostly on Xlayers, a few on the baby patchinko, and one or two on the full size patchinko. No bass this time, but I think that if they had been there they wouldn't have had a chance to get a bite in as the pollock were attacking the lures with such ferocity. They were in the same size range of 1-2 lb, maybe one or two close to 2.5 lb. In amongsts the pollock frenzy I also had a mackerel.

28th August: Headed to Kerry on Saturday afternoon with a new camera (dropped the last one in a rock pool - ruined it along with the memory card with the photos from the previous sessions ) and a replacement tip for my spinning rod. I got to the accommodation, had a quick sandwich and headed to a mark that is supposed to fish well close to high tide. However, the tide was already dropping by the time I got there - I chucked out a variety of lures but had no interest apart from a small pollock on a patchinko.

29th August: I was up at dawn and fished a high tide mark Patk recommended, but not a hint of a fish - water was quite choppy. At lunch time I met Patk for a short session at a low tide mark. Again despite chucking out a variety of lures there was nothing to show for it. In the afternoon I headed to a deeper water mark. I was intending to fish for pollock and wrasse. I had a short strong rod I use for wrasse fishing but I brought the wrong reel - one that doesn't fit that rod. So I stuck to spinning. However, there was not much biting - I had a small pollock on a white plastic shad, but nothing more until dusk. But it was a nice sunny afternoon so I just relaxed. For dusk I moved to a different mark (one that I thought might have potential for bass as well). I tried a range of lures; Xlayers, shads, jellyworms, tobys, as well as hard bodied lures like the patchinko, Feed Shallow, tide minnow but nothing was biting. As a last resort I put on a Tasmanian Devil - then first cast I had a small pollock. This was followed shortly by a better pollock of about 3 lb. I had another two smaller ones after that and a mackerel.

30th August: I spoke to John Quinlan and he said that daylight shore fishing had been very poor for the last couple of weeks but lure fishing at night was still producing a few bass. He recommended a few marks and I headed to one of them at lunch time. However, there was quite a big surf rolling in despite a fairly light wind. I had a few casts but the water was very coloured and I packed it in after less than an hour. That evening as there was still a good surf I decided on some bait fishing. I headed to a beach that fishes best on a rising tide. I set up two rods baited with rag and razor on 4/0 pennel pulleys. It was quite until dusk, then I had a 40 cm bass close to the top of the tide. About an hour later as the tide was starting to drop I had a strong bite, the line went slack. I retrieved that lack line and connected with a much stronger fish - this one was a well fed 51 cm bass

I fish on for another hour or so - I had a few more slackliners but the fish were not hooked. Then I packed up and headed to the other end of the beach to fish down to low tide. Not long after arriving and setting up I noticed some small tugs on one of the rods. I held it but the tugs stopped, I put the rod back down on the rest. Then a few minutes later the tugs started again. I reckoned it was small fish pulling at the bait. I held the rod again, then suddenly a felt a stronger pull, let the fish run with the bait for a few seconds and struck. It put up a strong fight and I was expecting a good size bass but when I hauled it out of the surf I found it was only a 45 cm fish.

Half an hour so so later I had another bite - this one did not feel so big and turned out to be an undersize fish of 37 cm. This was followed by another 40 cm bass. So not a bad night's fishing.

The following morning my foot was quite swollen - I had exerted it too much over those two days, so that was the end of fishing for a while.

3rd September: My foot seemed OK again so I headed to an East Cork beach that is easily accessible to fish the last couple of hours of the rising tide. It's a beach I prefer to fish on the last of the ebb and early rising tide but I thought I would give it a lash anyway. There was a nice surf and it was weed free. Not much to report - first fish was a 34 cm flounder followed by a small codling, both caught on 4/0 pennel pulleys baited with razor.

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Last edited by RockHunter on Tue Sep 07, 2010 1:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.

A few more photos

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a nice few good sessions there especially on the 15th and the 30th of august.well done

Cracking report Frank hope the foot is ok, I wish i could get that many fish with a gammy foot and rod.

Brilliant fishing Frank, well done to you, great results with the bass. There's some nice plump one's there, great stuff. I am glad that you where able to get out for a few sessions. I know waiting on your foot to heal has been quite a long and painful process with you not being able to get out fishing as much as you would have liked too over the past while. There will be no stopping you now that your back on your feet Great report and pictures as always.

some great results there frank good to see you are back out in the surf again

Glad to see you were able to get out for a (good) few sessions Frank, and I hope the foot continues to improve for you . Great report and pics. Youve certainly had your ups and downs lately between your foot and the rod break and the wrong reel and dropping the camera ,,,,at least it ended on a positive with some nice bass on the 30th and your foot ok My son is living in Midleton now so maybe i'll get down for a session with you(and visit him of course ).All the best , Dave

back with a bang frank great to see you putting
up some reports again .some super fishing well done
heading down your way from 23 to 30 sep i will send you
a pm soon

i need to catch my first bass b4 year is out

Great to see your back in business,Well done some fine sessions there.

Thanks everybody,
Its great to be able to get out fishing again after such a long break from it.

There will be no stopping you now that your back on your feet

I have a lot of catching up to do - my bass total for the year is very low compared to last year so I will have to do something about that over the next few months - I made a start on it last night

Youve certainly had your ups and downs lately between your foot and the rod break and the wrong reel and dropping the camera ,,,,at least it ended on a positive with some nice Bass on the 30th and your foot ok

The camera and rod can be easily replaced but not been able to get out fishing was definitely the worst.

My son is living in Midleton now so maybe i'll get down for a session with you(and visit him of course

Yes Dave you should definitely do that - I would be great to have a session with you again.