more donegal bass 19th & 20th nov

People: me and jordan

Duration: 19th 3pm to midnight. 20th 11am to 3pm

Tide: all states

Weather: calm, dry and sunny during the day

Bait: razor, rag, mackerel and sand eel

Rigs: modified wishbone pulley and 2 up 1 down

Results: ME - 3 doggies 2 coalfish and a turbot JORDAN - 1 doggie 1 ballan wrasse and a 1lb 15oz bass!!




Report:

MARK 1 DONEGAL BEACH 3PM TO MIDNIGHT

well the weekend was here again and it was time for jordan to scratch his fishing itch so a bass hunt was on the cards. we were gonna try the beach i had the 4 off the other week, but after blanking on it over 11 hours on monday a change of venue was in order. we scoped out another beach which looked suitably fishy and got set up as the tide was on the drop. we were sort of fishing blind as we've never seen this beach over low water so i was trying to read the surf to find where the gullys were. we picked our spot and got to it and for a change it was me who landed the first fish . a doggie kindly obliged and snaffled the rag on my 2 up 1 down rig oddly ignoring the sand eel on the top hook and the belly strip of mack on the bottom hook . but it did give us hope that the beach had some fish on it as the first 2 hours were fishless. another 2 hours passed before another fish came in for me with a little turbo this time. the wee fella had eyes bigger than his belly as he managed to get a whole sand eel the same size as himself all the way down his gob . but poor jordan was looking at a blank . another few fishless hours passed before i had my last catch of the evening getting a coalie in the mid 30cm bracket. so i was happy enough, but poor jordan was beginning to lose faith in his angling abilities . i baited up and cast out again and went over to see jordan poised at his greys bze bass rod like a coiled snake ready to pounce . he reckoned he had a fish nibbling away at his bait and was determined not to let it get away as he'd been stripped to bare hooks on the previous cast. he stood there in the surf waiting for a solid knock and struck into the fish like he was trying to hook up into moby dick!! i was half expecting to see him reel in a rig with a pair of fish lips and nothing else attached . but to my surprise a porky looking bass came through the surf . i shouted to jordan that it was a bass and he stopped reeling and pointed his rod tip almost into the sand and began walking back up the beach panicing that it might get off. but his luck was in as it was perfectly hooked through the bottom lip . needless to say, jordan was jumping for joy as he finally got his bass for his 2011 species list and i was astounded that we'd found another donegal beach that held bass .
we quickly popped the bass onto the scales and he came out at 1lb 15oz. even after a hopefull re-weigh we could'nt manage to get that extra ounce outta him to break the 2lb mark, but it was still a great achievement
he was quite a porky wee bass and a solid fish compared to the 4 i had the other week who despite being long looked pretty slender. so mabey the bass in this area had better food resources to feed on or something. jordan walked out knee deep into the surf and released him and we both rebaited and fished on hoping that there might be a school of them in front of us. but sadly this wee guy was swimming about out there on his own because after this no more bass, or fish for that matter showed. but we went up to the car for some kip happy enough in the knowledge that we had found another mark where we could target bass from .

MARK 2 DONEGAL ROCK MARK 11AM TO 3PM

after a good kip we awoke to blue skies and sunshine and that was all the encouragement we needed to squeeze another session in . after a pint of coffee each and a packet of choc chip cookies we hit the road and made the way to our next mark. we have'nt fished this spot since the start of the summer so thought it would be worth a chuck just to see what could still be caught this late in the year. to be honest it was pretty quiet but we both caught fish and did'nt blank so we were happy enough . the highlight of this session was jordan getting a late season ballan wrasse. not too many of these wee guys still hanging about the coast at this time of year so jordan was chuffed. other than that we both had a doggie each and i had a coalie in the mid 30cm bracket again so no blanks this time. the doggie i caught looked like the happiest doggie i've ever seen. (you'll know what i mean when you see the pic ) and i think you were all right when you said i needed old lucky bags jordan along to increase the chances of catching a fish after my disasterous mid week trip away

all in all not too many fish caught for the time put in, but no blanks and jordan finally got his bass. added to that the weather was great for this time of year
ROLL ON NEXT WEEKEND

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last few pics

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Well done, that amount of time deserves some reward but as you found out last time, you don't always get it. I can't decide whether your doggie is laughing with pleasure or yawning with boredom about your last trip, perhaps Creep has a definitive opinion? You were very honest about the bass weighing "only" 1lb 15oz and not 2lb, but then it was Jordan's fish!

Nice one lads & well done Jordan thats a nice bass & that doggie was happy to see ya Al

Arrrgh, I was being urged to go bassing yesterday but couldn't spare the time to get away!

Well done to the young lad on his first bass!

That sand looks familiar, it wasn't that mark I told you about, was it?

well done lads some nice fish yous there i guess you were due a change of luck al after you mid week bash and super stuff jordon nice bass

Fair play lads some good fish there and that some smile from the doggie.... well done Jordan on the bass nice one to get of the list for the year...

nice fishing lads!

excellent fishing lads and wow on the bass lil lad

Well done, that amount of time deserves some reward but as you found out last time, you don't always get it. I can't decide whether your doggie is laughing with pleasure or yawning with boredom about your last trip, perhaps Creep has a definitive opinion? You were very honest about the Bass weighing "only" 1lb 15oz and not 2lb, but then it was Jordan's fish!

deffo laughing at my misfortune
one of the down side of the digital scales is that they are exact to the ounce man

Nice one lads & well done Jordan thats a nice Bass & that doggie was happy to see ya Al

cheers brian, i thought that too

Arrrgh, I was being urged to go bassing yesterday but couldn't spare the time to get away!
Well done to the young lad on his first Bass!
That sand looks familiar, it wasn't that mark I told you about, was it?

thanks man. he was starting to get a bit of a sweat on to get one for his 2011 species last as there is only weeks to go. but he came up trumps in the end
and you are spot on with the mark we'll have to start calling you sherlock!!
we fished that spot i was telling you about where we dig the lug

well done lads some nice fish yous there i guess you were due a change of luck al after you mid week bash and super stuff jordon nice Bass

thanks man. it's amazing the difference it makes when the "lucky charm" is there

Fair play lads some good fish there and that some smile from the doggie.... well done Jordan on the Bass nice one to get of the list for the year...

thanks man. he was made up

nice fishing lads!

cheers man. how has your bass hunting been going lately? have'nt seen a report from yourself in a while

excellent fishing lads and wow on the Bass lil lad

thanks man. it was a while coming, but jordan will take them any way they come

happy days

Well done Al and Jordan. Another marathon session ends in success for you both. Great report, great piccies and i'm delighted to see Jordan getting his bass. Hasnt the turbot got great camoflage

Lovely report,he won't be forgetting his first bass

super fishing lads, you still geting summer spesies there, well if the fish woun't move away maybe we not gonna face hard winter
anyway well done guys

fairplay to yous two, puttin in plenty of hours but gettin the fish. tha t wee mark at fanad lighthouse is a great spot, can throw up all surprizes. is great for ray and gurnards in the summer. the last time i fished it it was about two foot under water at high tide. have fished waterfoot a couple of times in the past fortnight and it has been crap. plenty of fish fingers lol. did yaz try ballyhiernon for glasha strands when ya were up that way

fairplay to yous two, puttin in plenty of hours but gettin the fish. tha t wee mark at fanad lighthouse is a great spot, can throw up all surprizes. is great for ray and gurnards in the summer. the last time i fished it it was about two foot under water at high tide. have fished waterfoot a couple of times in the past fortnight and it has been crap. plenty of fish fingers lol. did yaz try ballyhiernon for glasha strands when ya were up that way

happy days

indeed it is tom a hell of a lot cheaper than heading to cork or kerry too

Well done Al and Jordan. Another marathon session ends in success for you both. Great report, great piccies and i'm delighted to see Jordan getting his Bass. Hasnt the turbot got great camoflage

thanks dave. they are masters of camoflague. when i put him back he gave one good flick of the tail and buried into the sand and i honestly could'nt say where he went

Lovely report,he won't be forgetting his first Bass

thanks tex. it was the first one for this year for him. he really wanted to get one to add to his 2011 species tally. still has'nt beaten his personal best from kerry the other year, so he still has something else to aim for

super fishing lads, you still geting summer spesies there, well if the fish woun't move away maybe we not gonna face hard winter
anyway well done guys

thanks man. i really hope you are right. i think at this time last year we were already half a foot deep in snow . but oddly enough one of our best bass sessions on the antrim coast was in -5 temps 3 years ago. really odd when you can feel the frozen sand crunch under your wellies walking about the beach

fairplay to yous two, puttin in plenty of hours but gettin the fish. tha t wee mark at fanad lighthouse is a great spot, can throw up all surprizes. is great for ray and gurnards in the summer. the last time i fished it it was about two foot under water at high tide. have fished waterfoot a couple of times in the past fortnight and it has been crap. plenty of fish fingers lol. did yaz try ballyhiernon for glasha strands when ya were up that way

cheers ghost. that can be a really good summer spot like you said, but it's very limited for space. 2 anglers with 2 rods each is about all it will accomodate as your casitng is limited to a few areas to avoid the big submerged lumps of car sized rocks right in front of you. i lost a really big fish to one of those bloody rocks last summer on the retrieve. i was pumping and winding like a madman, but just could'nt get it off the bottom . 2 days before that i had a 8lb thornie at fahan and i'd say the one i lost to the rock was a lot bigger than that one
as for the beach we fished you'd need to drive a good hour over to the west coast

Well done, you guys are doin well with the bass up there!

Great report again! The hours you boys put in is something else, glad you were rewarded with a few fish

great report as usual Al. another trip west but with a lot more success this time
thats a crackin wee bass, great pic there.
and im always a fan of those turbos - class fish.
well done