The Road Bridge, Kinsale 9/01/11

[tomgrey]

People: Me

Duration: 5pm till 10pm

Tide: high at 8ish

Weather: breezy at times and cold with the odd light shower

Bait: fresh lug, rag and mussles

Rigs: 2 hook flapper's, 1up 1 down and 2up

Results: Two many tiddler's to count, all codling and whiting.


After a good couple of hours of digging for a session later in the week I couldn't resist a quick stop off session on the way home, well when I say quick... eh!! 5hrs Lets just say when the other half thinks you are out for a quick dig and you come back 6hrs late, soggy, covered in worm guts and fish slime, she might not be as welcoming

Anyway, I set up 2 rods on the side of the bridge with the tide heading away from me (coming in) and short lobbed both rods. It took about 20mins for the first bites, almost simultaneously on both rods (this is a sure sign to me that the almighty fishing god is going to be kind tonight) little tap taps then bam, 1 rod turns into a feverish clonker of a bite, I struck and started reeling, felt nice and heavy too, little voice in the head says "go on you daisy" as im reeling in I can see the tip of the other rod is tapping away, but only small taps and i'm hoping whatever is tapping is not like the leviton im reeling in here or its gone over the bridge.

Its dark so I cant really see but I can hear that whatever im reeling in has broken the surface and is splashing and the rod bends like crazy as I lift it out of the water the 20 feet or so up. I lift it up and over the rail and to my utter disappiontment I am confronted with one of the smallest codling I have ever seen in my life on the top flapper (about 12-13cm, the smallest being one I caught later in the session about 10-11cm), a massive dirty big crab hanging on with one claw like Arnold Schwarzenegger in the scene with the helicopter in True Lies, whilst slaughtering my well presented lug with the other claw (he must have been through the wars because he only had 3 legs) and a old set of feathers caught on to my gripper with a big hunk of folded led at the bottom which must have weighed about 15 ounches of which i'm sure its flinger lost first cast.

I scratched my head in wonder of what the hell bent my rod over like that.... I envisioned the little codling taking the top flapper with maddies and white rag causing the little tap tap god bless him, then along came Arnie who grabbed the lug on the bottom flapper and tried to sprint back to his crevice as fast as his 3 legs could carry him bending my rod over. As I ammused myself with these notions I almost forgot about the other rod. I reeled it in with another tiny codling slightly bigger than the last on it. This was the most excited I got comparred to the rest of the session as I was getting small codling every cast, some doubles which still bearly put a bend in my fairly sensitive rods.

When the tide turned I crossed to the other side of the bridge and within 5 mins began a barrage of small whiting, sometimes getting doubles before the lead even hit the bottom. The bridge must be a borderline in the nursery playgroung as I didn't get one codling when I crossed over. It litterly went codling every minute or two on one side then I crossed over and the same for whiting on the other. It got very boring and monotonous casting, reeling, unhooking tiddlers, baiting up I was just hoping to get something big enough to take home as my girlfriend is usually more welcoming when I at least have something for the table. The largest codling was about 29-30cm the largest whiting being about the same.

The only good thing being I was using 2/0 hooks so the fish were so small it was easy unhooking and I am sure just about all went back alive. Looks like my superstitious musings about the almighty fishing god being kind were incorrect and he decided to just tease me to frustration instead. Just hope the next session turns out a bit better

Last edited by tomgrey on Mon Jan 10, 2011 11:28 pm, edited 4 times in total.

you cant beat a crab and fish double for confusing the hell outa ya got a 3lb bass and 2lb brown crab one night i thought i had a good 8 lb er on i was rewarded by a 4 and 6lb double bass on my next cast god can be good sometimes,keep at it!!

[tomgrey]

I know, those crabs make me laugh every time I reel one in and see them hanging on for dear life, well when they are not the only thing i'm reeling in they do. Is food really that scarce down there that they are willing to go to such lenghts for a bite to eat. When you think of it size wise It would be like someone seeing a floating quarter pounder, and not believing their luck grabbing onto it only to find its tied onto a submarine which drags them out of their element, underwater for a few kilometers whilst there biting into it. Talk about determination. That crab I reeled in would not let go even when I beeched him, gave him a couple of smacks and thugs. In the end I had to get out my forceps and pry open his claws all the while he is still stripping my lug off the hook. And when he did let go he just backed off a little and finished off the bits in his claws. Cheers anyway, as it was an unplanned session I am not too displeased.

Last edited by tomgrey on Mon Jan 10, 2011 11:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.

very good quick session well done

very good quick session well done

Cheers tight lines. I do be up in Ringsend every couple of weeks, I have a mate living on pidgeon house road, was thinking of having a cast or two the next time i'm up, any local marks fishing at the moment?

very good quick session well done

Cheers tight lines. I do be up in Ringsend every couple of weeks, I have a mate living on pidgeon house road, was thinking of having a cast or two the next time i'm up, any local marks fishing at the moment?

no mate not a tap happing at the moment will have to wait till april/may thats when the poolbeg starts fishing again if you are up over the summer send me a pm and we will cast a line
regards (ALAN)

great report tom, very good reading man . the biggie's will be out there waiting for you the next time man

very good quick session well done

Cheers tight lines. I do be up in Ringsend every couple of weeks, I have a mate living on pidgeon house road, was thinking of having a cast or two the next time i'm up, any local marks fishing at the moment?

no mate not a tap happing at the moment will have to wait till april/may thats when the poolbeg starts fishing again if you are up over the summer send me a pm and we will cast a line
regards (ALAN)

Ok cheers man I'll keep that in mind for when the spring kicks in. I moved down to Cork from Dublin 2 yrs ago and I haven't looked back, the fishing here is enough to keep any keen angler busy! All year round too

great report tom, very good reading man . the biggie's will be out there waiting for you the next time man

Cheers Al and Jordan, I can hear the jaws theme music already!

you have a novel in you i think!brilliant arnie the crab:) long spined seascorpion mighty!fair species for 2011 tom good stuff