Youghal (late report) 15th January 2012

People: Me

Duration: 5 - 8.30 pm

Tide: HW at 9.45 pm

Weather: Very strong cold SE wind

Bait: Crab

Rigs: 4/0 pennel pulleys

Results: 10 Cod, 1 Flounder




Report: I am a week late posting up this report from last weekend but was very busy all week. Last Sunday (15th) I headed back to Youghal for some more cod fishing. There was a strong cold southeasterly wind blowing which limited the locations that could be fished in comfort. I made my way to a mark that was relatively sheltered and set up just before dusk. I set up two rods with 4/0 pennel pulleys both baited with fresh peeler crab.

It wasn't until after dark that I had the first bite, a small codling that I released. Shortly after that I caught a slightly larger one, another I would have thrown back had it not been so deeply hooked. This was followed by a very small flounder which managed to get its mouth around a 4/0 hook

As I was placing the rod back on the stand after recasting I spotted a small twitch on the other rod, this was another small codling.

The bites eased off for a while after that. The current was increasing at this stage and bringing a lot of weed with it. I could see one of the rods gradually bending over under the weight of the accumulated debris so tried to pull it in. There must have been about 20 lb of weed on the end, eventually I got it close enough to grab the shockleader and hauled it in the remainder of the way by hand. There was indeed a huge amount on seaweed which had built on around the clip at the end of the leader and extended down to the bait and weight. It took about 15 minutes to clean it all off and it was only towards the end that I discovered a small codling had been hooked. It wasn't big enough to keep but unfortunately it was fairly lifeless at this stage!

A little later I had a bigger codling of about 2 lbs, followed a few minutes later by another slight larger fish. Then I had a very strong bite, I almost had it in but close to the shore I could feel the cod digging itself into the steep side of the channel, as I tried to pull it free the fish came off. I lost a couple more after that. I then decided to use smaller bait, half a crab instead of a full crab so as to insure more of the hook was exposed. A few minutes later there was a strong tug on the rod, this time the fish was well hooked and after a few minutes I landed a 4 lb cod, the best fish of the night

A little later I had another codling of about 2 lbs. I stayed on a little longer, had one more small codling which I released. So not a bad session, 10 cod upto 4 lbs and 1 flounder.

Sunday 22nd:
A better result than this Sunday , I headed to a beach to fish the last three hours down to low tide and first two hours of the rising tide. The surf was OK, not huge but I have had plenty of fish off this beach on weaker surfs. I was hopefully of a good session, full moon tides, light breeze, no weed, Solunar prediction for best fishing of the month to be between 12.30 and 2.30 am. Early on I had about the smallest coalfish I have ever caught and a scorpion fish over low tide. That was it, the worse session I have ever had by far on this beach, So much for predictable fishing

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Serious fishing there rockhunter , as usuall, great report and unbelivable haul there mate, well done

super report and fishing frank well done pity about second session ,was
that the beach i got the ray on in sept .

Mighty fishing frank, some great cod, well done. Really have the urge to get back down,

Fair play Frank great fishing the cod looks pretty full did you check there bellys

Well done Frank, plenty of fillets there

Well done mate!!! Woop woop What a catch! Maybe one of these trips Youghal will produce a bumper Haul for me

Nice fishies Frank, well done

nice going frank. cracking session......

Thanks guys

super report and fishing frank well done pity about second session ,was
that the beach i got the ray on in sept .

Thanks Gerry, no it wasn't than beach, I should have gone there might have been better.

Fair play Frank great fishing the cod looks pretty full did you check there bellys

They didn't have much in their stomachs, one had a small crab, another had a gobi, a few had a couple of sandeels. They were hungry fish!!

Well done Frank, plenty of fillets there

Thanks Dave, yes I was eating fish all week

Well done mate!!! Woop woop What a catch! Maybe one of these trips Youghal will produce a bumper Haul for me

Thanks, yes keep at it, you will eventually hit the jackpot. By the way Youghal harbour and estuarine area is probably best fished on the slacker tides; close to the new and full moon tides the current is too strong, apart from ripping up your grippers and carrying a lot of weed, the current is probably also carrying the fish along so fast that they dont have a chance to sense the bait. If fishing those tides its best a couple of hours either side of high and low tide when the tidal currents are weaker.

Some lovely cod ther