When the fishing gods smile ...... Cork - 17th February 2011

[RockHunter]

People: Me

Duration: 9.40 pm to 2.00 am

Tide: LW at 11.15 pm

Weather: Mild, calm, scattered clouds

Bait: Razor

Rigs: 4/0 pennel pulleys, two hook flapper (2/0 hooks)

Results: 6 bass, 2 codling




Report: The conditions looked good for a beach session, the weather had calmed down, it was forecast to be dry and the tides were big (4 m +). I choose a beach that usually fishes well on the last hour or so of the ebb and first hour of the rise. When I arrived there was a nice surf rolling in and the beach looked clean, no weed to be seen

I set up two rods with 4/0 pennel pulleys baited with razor, cast out one as far as I could and the other to moderate distance. Then put the two hook flapper on a third, again baited with razor, and lobbed it in close. There was not much happening for the first hour and a half, but it was a very nice night to be out, very mild, with just a very light southerly breeze and the beach was illuminated by a bright full moon.

I had a couple of nibbles on the rod in close but nothing hooked, then just at low tide (11.20 pm) I had a strong bite on the rod cast out farthest and the line went slack. I grabbed the rod and reeled in the slack before connecting with a resonable fish - had to be a bass After a few minutes I hauled a 42 cm bass onto the sand

A short time later I had another bite on the same rod, but this time the fish was not putting up so much of a fight, turned out to be a small codling of 42 cm - same length of a fish but much weaker in comparison to the bass.

As the tide started to push in I had another good tug on the distance rod, I struck and hooked into a better fish. This put up a good struggle, ran a few slackliners but I kept up with it. This one was a 47 cm bass

I thought I had a slight knock on the rod in close, left it for a few minutes, but then spotted another small tug, I reeled it in to find a tiny codling on the end.

Shortly afterwards I had a tug on the intermediate distance rod, I picked it up, struck but could feel nothing - missed the fish. I left it for a while, the line had gone slack but I assumed it was because the gripper had come loose. As I started to retrieve I realized there was a fish on the end - nothing big, but a fish all the same. It was a 36 cm bass

By 12.45 am the tide was pushing in faster. I was intending to fish until 1 am so refreshed the baits for one last cast. Shortly afterwards I spotted a slight twitch on the distance rod, I went to check it and found the line had gone slack, I rapidly reeled in a lot of slack before catching up with the fish. This felt to be a better quality fish, it was pulling strongly, and ran a couple of short slackliners. As I got it close I could see a good size fish splashing about in the shallows and eventually hauled in a fine fat 56 cm bass It was close to 4.5 lb, above average weight for its length.

Of course after that I had to stay a bit longer so decided to fish up to 2 am. About 1.15 am I had another knock on the distance rod, and another slack line bite. This was not so big, 46 cm bass As I was walking back up the beach after releasing it I noticed that the line on the intermediate distance rod had gone slack. I reeled in the slack and connected with another bass, this was a little smaller at 44 cm.

I fished on until 2.00 am, no more bites and was very tempted to stick it out until high tide at 5.10 am since the conditions were ideal for bass fishing, there wasn't a bit of weed and the fish were definitely on the feed but I had a lot of work to do the following day so for once common sense prevailed. But I was very happy with that session, 6 bass in mid-February .... the fishing gods were truly smiling upon me last night

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Last edited by RockHunter on Fri Feb 18, 2011 2:36 pm, edited 3 times in total.

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Some fishing Rockhunter and fine pics. Ye catch more in one session than some of us get in a season. This goes to show why our bass have to be saved.

well done lad , thats some haul

cracking session frank thats it no more youghal

nice one one basshunter
great report and session,6 bass this time of year good work man

Well done RockHunter/BassHunter/ Nice Bass there-good session

Thats quality fishing Frank,can't take it anymore the meds are going in the bin ,if anyone asks where im gone just tell them im gone fishing
Tight lines

Great session Frank, well done , 6 bass ,and you only got a small codling of 42cms (my personal best ), i wont ask what size the tiny one was, probably mid thirties cms

"Brillant altogether" well done that man

fantastic fishing frank that 's some result for the middle of feb ,looks like your going
to have a bumper year for bass

briliant!!!!!

What a result! Very well done Frank Sounds like the perfect session, one alot of people can only dream about - no weed, good surf rolling in, fish present and more importantly, well on the feed and biting. What more could you ask for. Top report and pictures, congrats.

Very nice Bass well done Frank, point them them up my direction I could do with one or two of them

That's some great fishing, well done on the bass! I'd love just a decent size codling, let alone 6 cracking bass.

You really wer blessed by the fishing gods!

Thanks guys,

cracking session frank thats it no more youghal
cracking session frank thats it no more youghal

I gave up on Youghal early last month when I realized that the bass hadn't moved away this winter.

Thats quality fishing Frank,can't take it anymore the meds are going in the bin ,if anyone asks where im gone just tell them im gone fishing
Tight lines

Thanks Mike, dont give up the medication - you will soon be out and about again!!!

fantastic fishing frank that 's some result for the middle of feb ,looks like your going
to have a bumper year for Bass

Thanks Gerry, well it is certainly off to a good start - last year the cold calm weather persisted until well into April and it was only at the end of April/early May that the bass fishing picked up on the Cork coast, so I reckon this year sould be a good one

What a result! Very well done Frank Sounds like the perfect session, one alot of people can only dream about - no weed, good surf rolling in, fish present and more importantly, well on the feed and biting. What more could you ask for. Top report and pictures, congrats.

Thanks Paula, it was ideal for it last night alright, everything came together just right - and I was the only angler on the entire beach last night

Very nice Bass well done Frank, point them them up my direction I could do with one or two of them

The last I saw of them they were heading due south

Great session Frank, well done , 6 Bass ,and you only got a small codling of 42cms (my personal best ), i wont ask what size the tiny one was, probably mid thirties cms

Thanks Dave, I guess I got spoilt by the big codling that were in Youghal on October and November, anything under 3 lbs now looks small The tiny one was indeed tiny, I didn't measure it but doubt it was more than 20 cm

Nice one. That was a great session. I was out in east cork myself last friday night and had only a small codling to show for my effort. I've nad bass in east cork this year and its great top be getting them.

CLASS

Super fishing, great result