waterfoot and portrush harbour co antrim 19,10,2011

People: just me

Duration: waterfoot 9am to 11am

Tide: rising

Weather: see report

Bait: rag and mack

Rigs: 3 hook flappers size 2 hooks

Results: 32 coalies and a whiting




Report:

been a while since i put a report up so here goes. after a poor boat trip at the weekend i had a load of bait left over and decided to get back into the swing of things with a run up the antrim coast. i decided to fish waterfoot harbour as a wet day was forecast and you can fish out of the boot of the car there . sadly all the torrential rain we've been having put an end to that idea . the sea was brown for a good 300 yards off shore with all the fresh water run off from the surrounding mountains and glens running out of the river on the beach. and i know only too well from past experience that those conditions kill the fishing down there. added to that the ammount of river debris getting tangled into my gear was far from funny. every cast only sat out there for 5 mins before leaves and branches dislodged the rig and it started moving out to sea . 2 other anglers arrived and i told them the score with the fishing and i think they went on round to garron point to try for a bit. i'd had enough and decided to pack up and try on up the coast.
i took the coastal road as it's a lovely drive even in the wet and stopped at ballycastle to see even more fresh brown water up to 300 yards off shore. so that plan was abandoned . i stopped at the lay by on the whitepark road to look down at the beach to see if it was fishable. but there was a massive surf with big white horses breaking 400 yards off shore so that plan got scuppard too .
as a last resort i tried portrush harbour and it did seem a bit cleaner. the surf off the point was something else so i decided to just fish inside the harbour. the usual dose of wee coalies, no bigger than a mars bar were there in abundance. so all the big rods were put away and i got out the wee rods we use to catch roach and had a bit of craic with the coalies. 3 of them on those rods with a small reel laoded with 10lb line was mental. the rods were buckled and i did'nt go home on a blank . for the last hour i tried off the point, but even 6oz gripper leads were no match for the surf and i only had 1 wee whiting for my efforts .
it almost ended up being a pretty costly session thow as when my back was turned a big black back gull flew into my slack line. i heard a crash and spun round just as my tripod hit the deck and my £210 worth of rod and reel teetered on the edge of the harbour
i ran at it full pelt and just got 1 hand on the butt of the rod as it fell over the edge. it's a 15ft rod so as it went over the edge the tip hit the kelp and boulders below and saved me an expensive accident. added to that i still had the silly sea gull to deal with as the poor fella was taking a pounding from the surf 40 yards out in front of me. i reeled him in and it was only as he got closer i realized the size this bloody thing was . he was huge and had one heck of a strong beak on him. he must have had a good 1 meter wing span to him but i think he was still in shock from being smashed by the surf as he did'nt bite me. i put my towell over his head and unwrapped the braid out of his wing, checking for any broken bones. but his skin was'nt broken and he still had a full range of motion in his wing. so i took the towell off his head and he gave a quick squak and flew off none the worse. in fact, i think i was more in shook up than him
i've too many bad memories and scars on my hands from clipping parrot's and hook bill bird's nails from back in my old vetrinary nursing days .
all in all a pretty poor days fishing and conditions, but sure that would'nt put me off anyhows
theres always next time

So that's how you pull the birds glad you got some fish in the end.

unlucky with all the traveling but you found the fish in the end well done

and so begins winter fishing on the antrim coast......im sure we'll all have many sessions like that before spring

saying that, 30+ fish is not to be sniffed at regardless of size, though id say the luckiest catch of your trip was your rod.

nice one getting the fish. pity you had to travel so far to get them but sire it beats blanking any day of the week

good man for not letting the weather get the better of you and 30 fish yera thats a typical months angling for me going out 8/9 times a month glad the rod will live to haul in more specimen fish
ferg

that brings back memories of wicklow pier,wonder what ever happened to my rod and reel?

So that's how you pull the birds glad you got some fish in the end.

if only i could get a different kind of bird under my arm that fast man

unlucky with all the traveling but you found the fish in the end well done

cheers man. i love that coast road. you can see all the marks the whole way along that stretch. so if one mark is unfishable you just keep driving until you find somewhere suitable

and so begins winter fishing on the antrim coast......im sure we'll all have many sessions like that before spring
saying that, 30+ fish is not to be sniffed at regardless of size, though id say the luckiest catch of your trip was your rod.

very true man. it could have ended up a lot more costly i forgot to say in the report that the bottom eye of the rod took a thump and cracked the varnish on the thread and now the 2 bottom sections are stuck and i can't seperat the bloody thing . i gave it a good squirt of wd-40 and still no joy. gonna leave it a day or 2 and have another attempt

nice one getting the fish. pity you had to travel so far to get them but sire it beats blanking any day of the week

very true man. it was looking like the blank was on the cards, but portrush saved the day

good man for not letting the weather get the better of you and 30 fish yera thats a typical months angling for me going out 8/9 times a month glad the rod will live to haul in more specimen fish
ferg

cheers ferg, i can be a stubborn so and so at times a lot of our harbours and piers are over run with those coalies and whiting every winter. so if all else fails you are always guaranteed a tiddler bash to save the blank

that brings back memories of wicklow pier,wonder what ever happened to my rod and reel?

good god neil, i still shudder at the memory of your good rod and reel getting dragged out to sea by the tope that year. i wonder where they ever ended up at

Fair play on not jacking it in. The north coast coleyfest begins again!! Good save on the rod too

great report Al, it's good to cath even small colie it these conditions and in fact that isn't easy
well done Al, and again you showing your big experiance

Nice going Al, 30+ fish on any day is a good day out. Good save on the rod though, if any local football clubs are stuck for a keeper i'll pass on your details..

sounds a bit of a nightmare mate, but sure we have all been there. good effort on sticking with it and getting a day at it anyways.
and you are saying that the mucky water will strongly reduce your chances of getting fish..? well..., just to let you know.... that myself and a mate headed out in a little dingy one day in red bay and succeeded in it.
the water was really brown and i though that it would probably affect our chances especially as my mate was spinning out the back of the boat, right trough the middle of the muck! i thought that he hadnt a chance but i let him work away anyway.. of course, true to form, he pulled in a lovely cod at a few pounds typical of him
so it is possible, i believe. maybe worth giving it another go next time..?
just a though
charlie

ps. hope you get on well in NWDonegal today. i'll be very interested to hear how you fair... im heading up that way hopefully over the weekend. ta

sounds like a winter report to me , Ahhh the cold dark damp nights, mind you all the macky bashers will be gone soon! Well done with the gull I used to do animal rehab, and the best and easiest approach for any bird is the ol faithful towel striaght over the head, and if your not comfortable with it as the bird shakes its head, wet the towel, ring it out, and throw that over its head, calms most wildlife down real easy.

When are you guys coming back down? the crack was good last time!!

Good report Al ,,,,,an auld mini bashing session now and again is great craic on light gear,,,, that was great towel work on the gull ,,,,I always keep a few towels handy for emergencies,the last one I used was on my own bonce when Fishface was chucking stones on the beach

still looking for sympathy pay no attention to him al, just because a rock hits his head, it could have been worse i might have hit him with my mti300

Its tough going Al at a lot of marks with this sh1t weather but atleast ya clocked up some Coalies to pass the time the winter is comming

Fair play on not jacking it in. The north coast coleyfest begins again!! Good save on the rod too

cheers man. yes our usual winter tiddlerfest has began in earnest

great report Al, it's good to cath even small colie it these conditions and in fact that isn't easy
well done Al, and again you showing your big experiance

cheers grady. persistance is the name of the game lol

Nice going Al, 30+ fish on any day is a good day out. Good save on the rod though, if any local football clubs are stuck for a keeper i'll pass on your details..

i think it was more luck than skill catching my rod lol. only problem is that when it took that thump the 2 bottom sections are well and truely stuck together now. i have a section that's 10 feet long now. tried oil, ice and steam on the joint and still can't get the bugger seperated . i'll keep trying thow.

sounds a bit of a nightmare mate, but sure we have all been there. good effort on sticking with it and getting a day at it anyways.
and you are saying that the mucky water will strongly reduce your chances of getting fish..? well..., just to let you know.... that myself and a mate headed out in a little dingy one day in red bay and succeeded in it.
the water was really brown and i though that it would probably affect our chances especially as my mate was spinning out the back of the boat, right trough the middle of the muck! i thought that he hadnt a chance but i let him work away anyway.. of course, true to form, he pulled in a lovely cod at a few pounds typical of him
so it is possible, i believe. maybe worth giving it another go next time..?
just a though
charlie
ps. hope you get on well in NWDonegal today. i'll be very interested to hear how you fair... im heading up that way hopefully over the weekend. ta

cheers charlie. interesting that man. i have discovered that over the years as soon as all that peaty coloured water floods the first few hundred yards out down there the fishing comes to an almost full stop. different matter when it's the brown colour from the sea bed getting churned up due to rough weather thow. we were having a great session on the end of the pier last winter when the mother of all rain clouds moved in. within 2 hours the visibility of the water went from 6 or 7 feet to zilch. it even forced the coalies off which was a good indicator as those things were present in plague proportions as usual. i suppose all the fresh water seriously messes with the salinity of the in shore seas. it even effects the flounder on the beach up there in those conditions which is odd as those wee fish can tollerate a lot of fresh water, getting caught miles up rivers in some cases. a mate of ours works on the river lagan and he has found flounder in the lagan right up past stranmillis at cutters wharf . we have had so many blanks in those conditions we just don't bother any more and move on. but with all this rain it's gonna be hard to find anywhere to fish this weekend

sounds like a winter report to me , Ahhh the cold dark damp nights, mind you all the macky bashers will be gone soon! Well done with the gull I used to do animal rehab, and the best and easiest approach for any bird is the ol faithful towel striaght over the head, and if your not comfortable with it as the bird shakes its head, wet the towel, ring it out, and throw that over its head, calms most wildlife down real easy.
When are you guys coming back down? the crack was good last time!!

cheers kevin. it will be good to be getting the beaches back to ourselves again man . most of the fair weather fishermen will have the rods put away soon until next summer. the old towell over the head works a treat a lot less painfull for both human and animal in those circumstances

Good report Al ,,,,,an auld mini bashing session now and again is great craic on light gear,,,, that was great towel work on the gull ,,,,I always keep a few towels handy for emergencies,the last one I used was on my own bonce when Fishface was chucking stones on the beach

ahh, it's terrible what the things jealousy will do to a man
remember the old chinese proverb "" he who is unconcious, can not outfish the unworthy ""

still looking for sympathy pay no attention to him al, just because a rock hits his head, it could have been worse i might have hit him with my mti300

or shone your lighthouse directly in his face and burnt his retinas out
i can just see it now on the front page of the wicklow newspapers. " blinded man found on a wicklow beach crawlling on his hands and knees claiming alien abduction with lights in the sky! "

Its tough going Al at a lot of marks with this sh1t weather but atleast ya clocked up some Coalies to pass the time the winter is comming

i know brian. we were supposed to be heading to NW donegal to day, but the weather is looking pretty grim

cheers charlie. interesting that man. i have discovered that over the years as soon as all that peaty coloured water floods the first few hundred yards out down there the fishing comes to an almost full stop. different matter when it's the brown colour from the sea bed getting churned up due to rough weather thow. we were having a great session on the end of the pier last winter when the mother of all rain clouds moved in. within 2 hours the visibility of the water went from 6 or 7 feet to zilch. it even forced the coalies off which was a good indicator as those things were present in plague proportions as usual. i suppose all the fresh water seriously messes with the salinity of the in shore seas. it even effects the flounder on the beach up there in those conditions which is odd as those wee fish can tollerate a lot of fresh water, getting caught miles up rivers in some cases. a mate of ours works on the river lagan and he has found flounder in the lagan right up past stranmillis at cutters wharf . we have had so many blanks in those conditions we just don't bother any more and move on. but with all this rain it's gonna be hard to find anywhere to fish this weekend

interesting too. i suppose that i havent really fished it (the brown mucky flood-water) that hard as compared to yourself to give any greater opinion to be honest. i'll take your word for it then... i think!
anyway, yes, i am defo talking about the same brown flood-water after heavy rain when i tell of the time my mate caught the cod; as you say, its that first few hundred yards from the shore than turns totally brown. i suppose it depends on the quantity of brown fresh water and the amount of mixing occurring in the water in respect to turbidity and water depth. maybe that day with my mate it was only the top metre or so that was brown... who knows! (fresh water floating on top of denser sea water an all that..) and yes, its defo strange how even the flounder might leave the area too, for sure they head far up the rivers. but surely there are species that can tolerate it? dont they catch decent cod and ray, amongst other species, at the mouths of those big dirty brown rivers? - like the shannon or maybe the bristol channel. ive seen many fish being caught in brown mucky water so maybe the coalies are just very sensitive to it ah who knows, but i wouldnt give up too easily when using bait, ...possibly would be interesting to hear other peoples opinions here...

didnt get to donegal myself today. nor will i head tomorrow. that weather is just a joke!

nothing stranger than fish man every time we think we have them figured out they go and do something totally out of character. i think they are conspiring against us anglers to mess with our heads .

as for north west donegal, you missed out big time man . i'll get a report up later tonight when i get the pics resized.
lets just say it was BASStastic and BRILLiant

as for north west donegal, you missed out big time man . i'll get a report up later tonight when i get the pics resized.
lets just say it was BASStastic and BRILLiant

looking forward to that!