Blackhead lighthouse Monday 20th September

People Me

Duration 6-830pm

Tide Dunno didn’t check, but it was near or at high tide

Weather Quite nice, quite calm.

Bait Mackerel

Rigs 1 hook, 4 beads and a splitshot

Results 38 Pollock and coalies and 1 mackerel

Report

so had the shittest day at work ever. (anyone who has ever complained about ringing a call centre should try working in one). So headed off to blackhead again. I’ve only started fishing this mark this year and once I found the best tactics to use I have quite good success. No big fish yet but plenty of them so ive decided to make it my new go to spot when I only have a few hours to spare as I can leave the house have a line wet within half an hour (depending on traffic).
Landed down and there was one 1 guy spinning, had been for a while and hadn’t caught anything. No surprise there, anyone ive seen spinning here this year has had very little success. So baited up chucked out and got a 6 inch coalie on the 2nd cast, then another, then a Pollock and so it continued. Bites were steady and every cast but I was having a real time trying to hook them. Managed my fair share though. Another guy landed down, spun for about an hour and got 1 mackerel. I got my mackerel about a half hour after him. I LOVE catching mackerel on really really light gear. So much fun. Anyways, the 2 guys left 730 or so and I had still a good load of bait left so started putting on bigger baits to use it up. And lo and behold I started catching bigger fish. Everything I’d caught up till now was less than half a pound. Everything I caught after putting on a bigger bait was between half a pound and a pound. Who would have thought there was any direct link between the size of your bait and the size of the fish you catch fish. Or maybe it was coincidence, that (slightly) bigger fish moved in just as it was getting dark. Either way, the bites got less frequent the darker it got but were mostly nice plump coalie around the pound mark. Come half 8 I had my last cast with my last bit of bait, managed to catch one then headed home. Usually on my last cast I don’t catch anything, that’s why it’s my last cast.

Points of interest include the seagull which I hooked last time (I know they all look the same), I’m positive it’s the same one, but it had learned it lesson and didn’t once try to grab my bait and even though it sometimes went over and looked at it, it always changed its mind.

There was seal swimming about but didn’t seem to scare the fish off for a change

There was a huge full moon which was reflecting on quite a wide span of water, which in itself was quite impressive but then to add to it a pod of dolphons\purposies slowly swam across silhouetted in the moonlight. Wish I had brought my camera for that.

Well done... good fishing result for a bad days work in the office .

By the way... is this blackhead clare or antrim?

Thanks

its one of the best ways to destress after a crap day and its antrim

nice fishing there.haha i think that seagull has taken a liken to u

nice fishing there.haha i think that seagull has taken a liken to u

i did feed it the head and guts of the mackerel i was using as bait to thank it for its co-operation so it was mutually beneficial

Well done. great fishing

there are plenty of bigger fish there mate (up to 8lb) do a bit more exploring

the smaller stuff is great craic on the light gear and if you do get smahed up by anything bigger you'll have the scrap of your life on your hands . regardless of the size of the fish, the main thing is just to enjoy yourself man . some people can get a bit snobby about only getting the smaller stuff, but if that's what's out there in front of you why not get the maximum sport out of them and have a bit of craic . we all get our kicks in different ways, some lads like nothing more than sitting at a venue patiently waiting for a biggie watching a motionless rod tip for hours on end where as others just hit a handy mark close to home and mess about with the smaller stuff for the same enjoyment. at the end of the day if you enjoy what you are doing just stick at it and have fun man and you never know when a brute of a fish might smash you up

the wink emoticon at the end of my post indicates a helpful subtle hint. some marks have hidden sweetspots which require certain tactics that even 99% of locals are clueless of. all i can say cryptically is don't follow the herd. nothing to do with snobbery, more to do with consistent results and passed on knowledge

stick at it and keep experimenting. i guarantee this is one of the finest marks in the country for large pollack and, in previous years, large ballans

no offence or disrespect ment to ya dave if thats how it came across, sorry man. my bad just saying that the main thing with this oul fishing lark is to enjoy yourself regardless of the size or species you happen to be targeting ,,,,, now tell me more about this sweet spot ahh,,, come on and share with the rest of the class now

no problem mate , i thought i was being misunderstood and put in my place or something when i was genuinely trying to give the guy a hint that big fish are there 100%. as far as the sweet spot goes i don't think i will share with the rest of the class, but if you want details let me know and i will pm

just saying that the main thing with this oul fishing lark is to enjoy yourself regardless of the size or species you happen to be targeting

personally 9 times out of 10 ill fish for what i know is there and not what i hope might come along regardless of what size fish they are (its always more productive). plus i find if i catch a whole load of wee 6 inch pollock and coalies then i do get a bigger one round a pound or pound and a half i enjoy catching much more than if i only caught the 1 bigger fish. it seems like a monster in comparison.

but at the end of the day every fish is a pleasure to catch regardless of the size or species

i live near blackhead but havent realy botherd with it this year always further up the coast there was a 25lb conger caught s few years back and a mate had a 8lb pollack last year good report by the way