Ballycrenane 10-02-2011

People: Me and Fishy1987
Time: 19.00 - 22.00
Weather: Cold, windy, raining, miserable!
Tide: High of 3.4m at 21.47
Bait: Mack, sandeel, razor, peeler and black lug
Rigs: 3 hook flappers, 3/0 and 5/0 pulley pennels

Me and fishy loaded up the car and hit the road at about 5.15pm. Heading for ballybrannigan for a shot at a few bass, flatties and or codling. Couldn't find ballybrannigan so we saw a sign post for ballycroneen. We'd heard of this mark before so said we'd give it a shot but got lost and ended up in an estuary with no water in it so there wasn't much point on having a cast here. Got out the sat nav and zoomed out so i could see a bit of the coast, spotted a road that went straight down to what was marked as a beach and wasn't too far so off we went again. Found when we arrived that we were at ballycrenane, wasn't sure if this was a viable mark but i could hear the surf rolling in so out with the rods and buckets and we trotted off down the lane to the beach. The surf was fairly good and things were looking promising with only a slight wind and it was dry at this stage too. We got set up and cast out and within minutes we were hauling in piles of thick weed. This was the story for the next hour but as we had little idea where we were a change of venue was looking unlikely so we decided to slug it out. As the tide rose, so did the winds and the surf. We were forced to evacuate the beach after a while so clutching buckets, fist fulls of bait, rods and rests under our arms we scampered up the slipway onto the breakwater out of reach out of the now thundering surf (so we thought). Got ourselves set up again and fished on. We were a good 6 above the water and the waves were barely lapping at the bottom of the rocks. The wind was still building and the rain now giving us a good soaking, when the swell started to hammer the rocks and soaking the two of us with spray. Determined to pull a few fish out of the not so good conditions, we struggled on. My rod finally gave a few slight knocks an i reeled in a small coalie. I was never so happy to see one of these little blank busting beauties. Fishy was next off the mark with a little codlet. Then i had another coalie followed by two more little codlets. We were delighted at managing to pull a few fish out of what was now a churning, thundering blanket of froth for at least 30 yards out. We packed up soon after and headed off as it was bloody hard work and we were both wrecked. We're also relatively new to surf fishing. I'd be aiming to fish around the east cork beaches in the future. I know there's alot of anglers on here that fish these beaches almost religiously so if anyone could offer a helping hand, point in the right direction, or any helpful tips at all i'd be more than greatfull. A night like that has only egged me on. If we can catch in that, i can only assume we'd do ok in the right conditions. No Photos as my camera is not waterproof so it wasn't coming out last night.

Tight Lines,
Evan

Fair play for sticking it out and getting a few fish! Could be a decent mark with the right conditions?

I wouldnt have been suprised if you stripped off and dived into the water the way you were dancing after releasing your first Coalie!

Nice weed report

That saved me a trip down there.
Guileen comp for next Monday night will now be moved

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ballycroneen is realy good beach for bass and flaties(got some basses there)fishes usualy in night time at coming up tide(for me),but one problem with that beach is its usualy very weedy..

At least ye beat the blank in tough conditions them coalies are great blank savers

....I'd be aiming to fish around the east cork beaches in the future. I know there's alot of anglers on here that fish these beaches almost religiously so if anyone could offer a helping hand, point in the right direction, or any helpful tips at all i'd be more than greatfull....

Finish off signing upto Cobh SAC, and as a fellow member I'll be duty bound to bring you along and show you the ropes. We could target fish like this....

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[Pat]

I picked up that cod (53cm) after talking to you on Monday night....a quick 2hr session. Sign Fishy up aswell and he can come along too .

Last edited by Pat on Fri Feb 11, 2011 6:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.

ye done well to brave it lads sure a few sessions on the beaches in east cork and ye will be dab hands at it

BLANK SAVED WITCH IS THE MAIN THING BUT WELL DONE FO STICKEN IT OUT

man that sounded like a rough oul session . well done on beating the blank in those conditions

Cheers for the replys lads. The fishing was fairly hard that night alright. Tried a west cork mark last night too and conditions were even more severe. We couldn't even get onto the beach as the surf was so severe so we fished off the steps and still got a good soaking for out troubles. And didn't even beat the blank last night . We'll keep struggling on till we find the fish though.

Cheers for the replys lads. The fishing was fairly hard that night alright. Tried a west cork mark last night too and conditions were even more severe. We couldn't even get onto the beach as the surf was so severe so we fished off the steps and still got a good soaking for out troubles. And didn't even beat the blank last night . We'll keep struggling on till we find the fish though.

Well there is plenty of beach to struggle through in east Cork thats for sure. I'm finding my way around those same beaches and enjoying my time on them. So far I can't complain too much they have been good enough to me