portrush tuesday 11th jan 2011

People: me and dan belfast

Duration: 11am to 6.30pm

Tide: LW 5.15pm

Weather: sunny & dry. 12mph NW. 3 meter swell

Bait: rag, lug, squid and mackeral

Rigs: 8/0 conger rigs, 3 hook flappers, baited mini feathers. various spinners, jelly eels and feathers

Results: ME: 16 coalies and 1 pouting. DAN: 26 coalies and 2 pouting




Report: with jordan dropped off to school i scooted across the town to lift dan and hit the road for portrush. i had planned out a days spinning and conger fishing for us at rock mark that always produces the goods. but we arrived to see waves breaking over our intended platform . so much for magic seaweed and fishing wx both predicting only a slight swell . very quickly a plan b was hatched and we had a reccy at the blue pool for a safety inspection. things were still rough, but safe enough to fish from provided you kept one eye on the spray blowing 20 feet up into the air. but to be honest we need'nt have bothered as we did'nt get a nibble the whole session. i was fishing 2 rods and a conger rod and did'nt see a fish for any of my efforts. i also set up the spinning rod with a selection of spinners, lures and feathers that we messed about with. dan did catch a brown crab not shy of a pound and lost a lobster on the retrieve. he was gutted. at first he thought it was another crab so took no care in bouncing his gear up the rocks only to feel the rod go light. he was a bit gutted thow when all there was left of the bait robber was a lobster leg on the hook . darkness began to fall just after 4pm and we had to save face and at least get something as we could'nt go home on a blank . so we decided to go into the harbour to pick up a few of the coalies that we knew would be there in abundance . so out came the spinning rods and we had a bit of craic with them. as usual they were hitting anything that moved and we soon had a few to save our blushes
dan even managed to get 4 coalies and a pouting in one cast. as usual, nothing of any great size all ranging in the 20cm to 30cm bracket, but it was a bit of sport anyhow

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The coalies are great for beating the blank alright! Well done lads. That's a nice trace of fish in the last photo

I will have to whach channel 4 will be on to me about fish quotas LOL thanks again al

that was hard luck on your mark,the sea,a a bit hairy at the mo alrite,,fair play on the pouting and coaly ,,well done

well done lads. keepin her lit as always. unlucky on the lobster dan

Good stuff, its nice to have some trusted marks to fall back on when other's fail. Good result in the end.

well done lads and great pics. wel done

you should bring an ultralight spinning rod for the coalies an ounce weight and 5 lb line would see you goiing home knackered

float fish for them is great sport with very lite tackle

great catch in the last pic

Well done fella's, I'm glad that you's got some fish for your efforts. On light spinning gear the coalies can be great crack and it's something to do to keep you occupied when there's nothing much else going which is a plus. It's a shame you never got fishing the mark you had planned to go to initially but it's always better to be safe than sorry, it's just not worth risking your safety and those of others for a few fish which I know you would never do.
Good report and pictures as always. Well done.

nice one, well done on the coalies, at least you beat the blank. the harbour seems to be fishing well in the evening for coalies. would be a good evenings crack that

you should bring an ultralight spinning rod for the coalies an ounce weight and 5 lb line would see you goiing home knackered

i would suggest an SSG splitshot on this set up, its what i use with 6lb line and its good fun

Bless them Coalies for beating a blank, well done lads haven't been on the rocks yet myself the swells are to big but as soon as it dies down the spinning rod will be out in force

The coalies are great for beating the blank alright! Well done lads. That's a nice trace of fish in the last photo

thanks man. that was about dan's third cast after sitting watching motionless rod tips for hours he gets 5 in one chuck

I will have to whach channel 4 will be on to me about fish quotas LOL thanks again al

no probs man.

that was hard luck on your mark,the sea,a a bit hairy at the mo alrite,,fair play on the pouting and coaly ,,well done

cheers man. never worth risking your life for a few fish . just a bit of a kick in the oul family jewels to travel that far to discover the wind had changed direction and made our intended spot to dangerous to fish . just as well i have a few back up plans at hand

well done lads. keepin her lit as always. unlucky on the lobster dan

cheers dawsey. has the hand got any better yet??? there are fish out there mocking you man gotta put the smile on the other side of thier faces and catch em

Good stuff, its nice to have some trusted marks to fall back on when other's fail. Good result in the end.

cheers tom. there are quite a few spots that are coming down with 20cm to 30cm coalies at the moment where you could'nt fail to catch. but were were out with something a bit bigger in mind . ahh well, there's always next time i suppose

well done lads and great pics. wel done

thanks nicki. did you make it out last night yourself?? we stayed in belfast and got a blankety blank that wind was fearce

you should bring an ultralight spinning rod for the coalies an ounce weight and 5 lb line would see you goiing home knackered

good thinking roger i went into pound land yesterday and got us 2 telescopic 4 foot kids fun rods for a quid each. a half ounce lead has them buckled can't wait to get out and annoy some coalies with them

great catch in the last pic

cheers chenz, that string of fish gave a good account of themselves all zipping off in different directions

Well done fella's, I'm glad that you's got some fish for your efforts. On light spinning gear the coalies can be great crack and it's something to do to keep you occupied when there's nothing much else going which is a plus. It's a shame you never got fishing the mark you had planned to go to initially but it's always better to be safe than sorry, it's just not worth risking your safety and those of others for a few fish which I know you would never do.
Good report and pictures as always. Well done.

thanks paula. yeah, always safety first!. the coalies are great fun to mess about with while waiting for something decent to come along. but in saying that we've had some 2lb doggies and nice pollock take the mini rigs in the past which went like stink on the light set up

nice one, well done on the coalies, at least you beat the blank. the harbour seems to be fishing well in the evening for coalies. would be a good evenings crack that

cheers man. a lot of the harbours up and down the coast are fishing well after dark for them. we had an oul lad of about 70 watching us there before and was a bit miffed when he saw us puting them all back in. his attitude was that you could get a meal out of them if you caught enough of them . i told him anything under about 2lb would'nt be worth the hassle. but i've had other lads make the same comments about 26cm flatties in the past too each to thier own i suppose

you should bring an ultralight spinning rod for the coalies an ounce weight and 5 lb line would see you goiing home knackered

i would suggest an SSG splitshot on this set up, its what i use with 6lb line and its good fun

cheers man. but the fish were hiding in the kelp, so tackle losses would have been high. but still great fun on a 1oz cast weight spinning rod. just free up the drag to even the odds for the fishies

Bless them Coalies for beating a blank, well done lads haven't been on the rocks yet myself the swells are to big but as soon as it dies down the spinning rod will be out in force

tell me about it brian. they have been our saving grace all winter. i would'nt like to think how many blanks we would have ended up with if it was'nt for them . you'll be back out at them soon enough man tuesday is looking good