Bray Harbour, Co Wicklow, 19th Jan '11

People:me

Duration:8pm-10-30pm

Tide:rising

Weather:brass monkey weather, but dry

Bait:best of manky lug, squid, mack

Rigs:2 hook flapper, single hook flapper

Results:1 x codling, 1 x 5 beard rockling, 5 x shore rockling




Report:Got a phone call in work from herself informing me that there was a "quare pong" coming out of my fridge in the garage. "That'll be me leftover lug from Sunday night Darling" i replied,,,,"Are they still alive?", I asked."I'm not going near them", came the reply,,,,,,,but this short conversation got me into fishing mode. I had some squid and mack in the freezer so I decided to hit Bray Harbour, deciding against mythical 5lb Dollymount cod . I was dropped off at 8pm and it was bloody freezing. Other anglers were conspicuous by their absence and at -4 degrees , by the time I set up 2 rods my fingers were frozen stiff. I had a rod with one size 1 hook baited up with lug ,tipped with squid, dropped a couple of yards out into the rough ground, and a 2 hook flapper , same bait, size 2 hooks, out about 60 yards for huge Cod, or more likely crabs. Me poor fingers were only in me jackets warmest pockets for a couple of minutes when I got a bite on the near rod and had to take them out into the bitter cold but it was the start of a couple of hours of bites, misses and a few fish .


shore rockling



shore rockling


shore rockling


shore rockling

I missed that first fish but I knew it was a rockling the way the hook came back,,,,,back to front, obviously spat out. I got him the next time though, a nice chunky shore rockling 29cms. Good start Then there came a succession of shore rockling of various sizes, i examined each one to properly identify him, the smaller ones were harder to distinguish from the 5 beards at first sight.



manky lug



shore rockling

My lug was well past its best but it was attracting fish every time, while they ignored the mack and squid combo. The codling was also caught in close and was darker than he looks in the photo.



codling



5 beard rockling



5 beard rockling


I tried to get some pics of the beards on the rockling but theyre not great. I got snagged on the distance rod and had to pull for a break so I packed that rod away and it wasnt long before I ran out of manky lug so I called herself to pick me up. I was sorry after that I didnt try the paper it was wrapped in, it was that bloodsoaked , in fact I'd say if I'd have put my finger in the water I would have got a bite

well done for getting out. were the frozen fingers worth it. nice result for the time you were there.

Fair dues to you mate I was coming back in the boat at 5.00 and it was Baltic hate to think what it was like at 10.30.
Nice return for your effort though well done.

Yappo

some nice rockling there i,m starting to call them winter doggies nice to save a blank and for their size they have a great bite and a bit of fun, well done on the codling, we were out further south and it was very cold

nice little session pair play
in second last pic that rockling looks like he was through the wars
was there many seals about ?

nice result with the mankey lug

well done mr,reilly thats a fine rockling in the first photo

Well done on getting out and getting a few fish Dave. In weather like that its all too easy to sit by the fire and just think about fishing.

well done for getting out. were the frozen fingers worth it. nice result for the time you were there.

Cheers Dan, once the fingers thawed out early on they were alright for the night, I cant handle gloves and a session wouldnt be the same without getting lug juice in your cracked fingers

Fair dues to you mate I was coming back in the boat at 5.00 and it was Baltic hate to think what it was like at 10.30.
Nice return for your effort though well done.

Yappo

Cheers Yappo, i've had worse nights there. Read a few bad reports from there lately so I had to do something for Good old Bray Harbours reputation. I only got one crab though, strangely enough

some nice rockling there i,m starting to call them winter doggies nice to save a blank and for their size they have a great bite and a bit of fun, well done on the codling, we were out further south and it was very cold

Thanks, me old cobber, I thought it was warmer further South

nice little session pair play
in second last pic that rockling looks like he was through the wars
was there many seals about ?

Cheers Paul, no seals thankfully, i'd say he was pulled through the rocks by some angler.

nice result with the mankey lug

Funny enough, if i'd have seen it before I decided to go , I wouldnt have bothered . It just shows to go you

well done mr,reilly thats a fine rockling in the first photo

Thanks tightlines, the first few pics are of him, he was very photogenic

pity you did not give me a shout as i would have joined you for a few hours, maybe we will catch loads on sat be there about 7.30. not bad for bray after it being so bad for so long

nice fishing dave . gotta admitt that shore rockling in the first and second pic had me taking a second look at first i thought you'd caught a mutant rockling tadpole fish hybrid . must have got the line wrapped round his wee head on the retrieve to give him that odd look

what you didnt go to dollymount i,m suprised ,some lads just get addicted to that old bench no furry visitors dave? at least you got some fish and a codling

Nice one Dave! Great report for there. Whats all this talk about Dollymount? Its only around the corner from me. If I go there tomorrow mornin and dont get a 5lb Cod Im coming after yis

decent results for short time

well done