red bay 9th Jan

People:me and me

Duration:5.30pm-7.30pm

Tide:low at 8pm ish

Weather:chilly but not too bad. getting windy

Bait:squid and razor

Rigs:2 hook paternoster

Results:1 doggie, 1 coalie

Report:
decided to head out rather than sittin in the house nursing a bit of a sore head from last night.. It was an edgey-enough drive gettin down to the coast, very icy, but i made it safely.
met 2 guys on the pier at the start, they were saying that they were getting a lot of small bites. but they packed up soon after the hour and said they only got a couple of very small coalies. it didnt look promising.
nothing for 1 hour, not even a bite! so i moved to a different spot close-by. within 10minutes i had a doggie - i was never so happy to see a doggie - it wasnt going to be a blank after all! then came a small coley but after that there was very little happening. near the 2hour mark i got a great pull, i struck into it but it was caught hard in the weed the line broke so that was my que to head home again.. the wind was getting a lot fresher at this stage anyways...
poor session but good for the fresh air and ...at least not a blank! oh aye, got a wee edible crab too.

i didnt add to my number of species caught this year so far... im aiming for 22! does this sound a realistic target to people....?! opinions welcome

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interesting question, got me wondering how may i caught last year

heres a brief list of species reported caught on this site last year

Pollock, Colefish, Ballan Wrasse, Cuckoo Wrasse, Goldsinney Wrasse, Dogfish, conger, Shore Rockling, Whiting, Pouting, Plaice, flounder, dab, mackerel, Ling, cod, Fivebeard rockling, Three-bearded rockling, mullet, Tompot Blenny, bass, weeverfish, Gurnard, Sea-scorpion, Garfish, Common smooth-hound, Starry smooth-hound rays, herring, turbot, poor cod, greater sandeel,

obviously some are caught more regulary than others and i know i've left off a good few species as well, but i reckon if you stick at it you could manage 22 from the list above.

i wasnt keeping track last year but from the list above i managed about 20 and thats from only really fishing blackhead, bangor and portrush, 90% sure i didnt have any unusual catches except an octopus which i didnt count. but if you make the effort to travel (which i dont) and fish for rays and smoothhounds etc where they are actually caught, or try for mullet or bass (which i dont either) im sure you can get 22 species.

you know, now i think about, depending on far you are willing to travel you could even increase the target number for an even greater challenge

Interesting... I wonder if there would be interest in a similar thing to the great rod race, try for every species which can be caught from the shore over the year. Considering different species only come within range at different times of the year it would take most of the year im sure. People could pair up with folk from all over the country, say for those who cant or dont travel. I'm sure it would only be for fun because how could you verify catches and photos etc? Has there ever been a comp like this? I have never fished in a club or comp and know nothing of this kind of thing and am only a newbie to the site also. What do you think? Would it worthy of a thread on the site to see what people think and if there would be interest? I know lots keep tally of different species they catch so I don't know....

interesting question, got me wondering how may i caught last year

heres a brief list of species reported caught on this site last year

Pollock, Colefish, Ballan Wrasse, Cuckoo Wrasse, Goldsinney Wrasse, Dogfish, conger, Shore Rockling, Whiting, Pouting, Plaice, flounder, dab, mackerel, Ling, cod, Fivebeard rockling, Three-bearded rockling, mullet, Tompot Blenny, Bass, weeverfish, Gurnard, Sea-scorpion, Garfish, Common smooth-hound, Starry smooth-hound rays, herring, turbot, poor cod, greater sandeel,

obviously some are caught more regulary than others and i know i've left off a good few species as well, but i reckon if you stick at it you could manage 22 from the list above.

i wasnt keeping track last year but from the list above i managed about 20 and thats from only really fishing blackhead, bangor and portrush, 90% sure i didnt have any unusual catches except an octopus which i didnt count. but if you make the effort to travel (which i dont) and fish for rays and smoothhounds etc where they are actually caught, or try for mullet or Bass (which i dont either) im sure you can get 22 species.

you know, now i think about, depending on far you are willing to travel you could even increase the target number for an even greater challenge

thanks for that yngkmd.
yeah, i took the figure of 22 from two lists of species that i compiled. the first list was of 16 species that i felt confident that i could catch locally, and/or regularly with a bit of effort, and the second list was for a number of species, about 15, that I knew I would have a bit more trouble getting i.e. ones that would come only with some luck or mean having to travel or work harder for. so thats 16 species that should be attainable, and then 6 extra harder ones, so lets see! - i really think that many more than 22 would really be quite tricky - unless you were putting in some serious fishing effort!!

is there anyone out there that has gone for as many species as possible in one year..? how did you fare then..?
rod an line only of course

[chuckaroo]

Interesting... I wonder if there would be interest in a similar thing to the great rod race, try for every species which can be caught from the shore over the year. Considering different species only come within range at different times of the year it would take most of the year im sure. People could pair up with folk from all over the country, say for those who cant or dont travel. I'm sure it would only be for fun because how could you verify catches and photos etc? Has there ever been a comp like this? I have never fished in a club or comp and know nothing of this kind of thing and am only a newbie to the site also. What do you think? Would it worthy of a thread on the site to see what people think and if there would be interest? I know lots keep tally of different species they catch so I don't know....

tomgrey, i know that many shore and charter boat competitions can involve prizes for 'who caught the biggest range of species' etc.. so i cant see why anyone wouldnt set about trying to catch a range of species over a set time (a year or whatever). it would be a great challenge! go for it

Last edited by chuckaroo on Mon Jan 10, 2011 5:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.

does this site not usually run a species hunt competition every year?

there is a link for it at the bottom of the board index
Site Species' Hunts and Competitions
viewforum.php?f=30

but since i only joined in may last year ive never bothered partaking
i dont think i qualify

Cheers for that, missed that one totally.

cheers for the link yngkmd. i wouldnt be that keen to have a go at the competition tho, thats a lot of time, effort and commitment! think that i will just take it canny and stick with the 22 that will provide a challenge enough for me
also noticed that one of the guys on here (think that he's a moderator for the site) got 30+ species each year for the last 3 years!! this is his tally which is written as his signature:

Species 2008: (30) Species 2009: (32) Species 2010: (31) Species 2011: ( 1 ) coalfish,

impressive stuff. a lot of commitment!

22 it is then....

cheers

I'd say 22 is doable if you apply yourself Charlie, but it'll be plenty of a challenge. Id say it will make you fish more than usual and this can only result in some good fish, regardless if they are seperate, new species to add to your number or just bigger better fish in general- of species you already have caught. Anything to make you fish as often as possible has to be a good thing? IE it should almost certainly bring you some memorable catches.

Edit- Dont think Ive ever had 22 or near it in a season, sea and freshwater combined, but its probably achievable alright, other lads on here have had more I think.

22 should be well dooable. i ended on 37 sea species last year and 1 course with the pike fishing. obvously if you want the harder to get species your gonna have to do a bit of travelling to find the fish. we found ourselves the length and breadth of ireland last year hunting different species out. trips to donegal and galway for thornies, trips to wicklow, wexford and waterford for smoothies and bass and down to kerry for stingray and bass . did'nt always end up being sucessfull trips. but if you put in the effort you'll reap the rewards

37!? jees, that is a lot! indeed, im sure that took alot of angling effort.. very good!
its just that i dont think that i will get the opportunity to be able to spend just as much time as 'that' - even though of course i would love to. theres a big angling-time difference betweem 25 species and 30 species........
i was considering 25 or more but really dont now if i could quite make it. this will be my first year in attempting 22 - maybe i'll struggle to get it, maybe i'll get 38! will just have to see
next year i'll up th ante!
cheers

ps. i take it you didnt count crabs or octopus or the like??
fish only! and on rod and line only! would it be fair to ask you to list them..?!

I was aiming for 25 species and i got as far as 23 by year end. It'd definitely achievable to hit the 25 mark. If i put more effort into mini species last year i have no doubt i would have hit 30 species. I might give it a getter go this year. Adds to the fun on a slow days fishing anyway. Cast a light rod out into the weed with a bit of mack or worm on a small hook and see what weird and wonderful creatures take an interest.

ps. i take it you didnt count crabs or octopus or the like??
fish only! and on rod and line only! would it be fair to ask you to list them..?!

no probs at all man. i'll give you my count. i'll list them and if you want to see the pics just look through all our reports from 2010
totals and tallys for 2010:
pollack 267
coalfish 621
doggies 148
whiting 154
shore rockling 18
3 bearded rockling 30
5 bearded rockling 18
long spined sea scorpion 7
pouting 64
poor cod 15
dragonet 1
flounder 88
dab 29
plaice 11
turbot 10
codling 59
shanny 19
thornback ray 5
ling 10
conger eel 9
mackeral 286
short spined sea scorpion 5
bass 1
red gurnard 5
grey gurnard 6
ballan wrasse 171
corkwing wrasse 28
starry smoothound 6
rock goby 1
sea trout 3
herring 1
brill 1
cuckoo wrasse 2
launce 2
john dory 1
grey mullet 1
bull huss 3
cuckoo ray 3
pike 6

fished over 126 sessions

thanks for your comment evan699.... cheers

and thanks for the list Al! jeeeees that is a great tally

so, I have my initial 16 species that I am confident in getting, and I know of a couple of marks that could/should guarantee me a few of the species that i cant get locally, so now i need more info........
can you tell me Al where you got, in particular, the poor cod, turbot, ling, smooth hound, brill, cuckoo wrasse and cuckoo ray...............?! these are a few of the guys that i am going to struggle with...
pm welcome. confidence guaranteed.
- and some 'inside' information on where to seek, from the shore, another species, that is not on your list!, offered in exchange.

no probs man. just getting ready to head out to fish belfast lough. i'll send you a pm tomorrow