county antrim rock mark saturday 10th march

[Al and Jordan]

People: just me and the dog

Duration: 5pm to 3am

Tide: LW 6.20PM HW 12.35AM

Weather: glorious!! 3mph westerlys, dry and 10 degrees!

Bait: rag and mack

Rigs: 3 hook flappers. 2 up 1 down. all size 1 hooks

Results: 2 whiting, 1 dogfish, 6 codling, 2 coalfish, 4 plaice, 4 flounder and the porkiest shore rockling i've ever caught.




Report: well the weekend was here again and as usual all the plans were up in the air for as where to fish. my first intended spot in county down was abandoned as i would have had to have left the motor in a carpark overnight where boy racers tend to congrigate at the weekends . i don't think i could have fished all night without worrying about the car, so decided on a handy fall back mark that always produces something up the antrim coast. no jordan this time as he got injured playing football in the morning again and was at home with his foot up on ice. honestly, he picked up less injurys at ju jit su. so i was off and as i drove up the coast the conditions seemed perfect with no wind to talk of and blue skies from horizon to horizon .
i did worry thow that my intended mark might already be occupied by anglers given the conditions, but was chuffed to bits to arrive and see it free . so the car was unloaded and me and the dog made it down in double quick time . as i got on the mark the inevetable signs of nicer weather returning was all to clear . feather packets, bait packets, pop cans, baby wipes, sweetie wrappers and a fully baited string of feathers all left at some lazy scumbag's arse was there to greet us. so after a 5 min clean up i filled a tesco bag with rubbish and made the place look more like a rock mark and less like a dump. honestly, some people need their attitude towards littering fine tuned with the back end of a claw hammer . i had no sooner got the place tidy and got bait in the water as 2 lads appeared to fish the mark. but thankfully i got in before them and they moved off to my left and got down to a bit of float fishing. i'm not sure how they ended up doing, but they left at 630pm when the light went.
i was really surprised to get a few flats while it was still light, but a flounder and place did nicely before the headlight went on . the only problem i was finding was that the crab population was out in force attacking anything that moved. and they were all brown crabs which was odd. i've never had so many of them in the one session from anywhere before . you had barely got the rod back on the tripod from casting before that old tell tale rythmic nod, nod, nod was visible indicating an eight legged bait robber was on your gear , but i suppose crabs have to eat too . they should all just count themselves lucky that i'm not fond of brown crab or i could have went home with a fair few pounds of them in the bucket. there was no small ones as they were all around the 1lb weight or bigger. the biggest one measured 27cm across his shell from side to side and honestly had me convinced i was reeling a huss in . sadly the crabs were the only things feeding for the first hour or so of the pushing tide, but then as if a switch had been flipped the bites and fish came on all at once . i was on bigger hooks tonight hopeing to avoid the smaller stuff by loading the hooks up with bigger baits but to no avail. it was all sort of run of the mill stuff and i know i missed more fish as they were just nibbling at the baits. as the tide picked up a bit the trace at distance was moving about a bit. even with the 6oz lead the rig was moving from right to left, but i just let it be as i was covering more ground and it seemed to help keep the crabs at bay while still picking up fish . while i was busy with the fishing my poor oul mutt cody was getting demented with the rats. every so often i could hear her growlling and tear off in pursuit of the furry fellas i would'nt fancy only having her to back me up if i was ever in trouble as she displayed all the heroics of an italian cruiseliner captain when she finally cornered one of them. she just stood there barking at it and it seemed to have more game than her. it reared up on it's hind legs, let out a squeak and lept at her cody duely turned tail and bolted and got behind me . the rat gave a wave of his paws (which i could have swore was it flipping the bird!) and casually hopped off across the rocks, no doubt off to tell his mates of his heroics .
i tried a cast or 2 just below my feet to see if anything was feeding close in and was rewarded with the porkiest shore rockling that i've ever caught. this big momma looked like she was ready to pop and measured in at just over 30cm but the girth of this thing was massive i tried to get a good pic of her to show how thick she was, but the pics really don't do her justice. but i did'nt want to mess her about too much and got her back into the water asap.
after 2am things had died off with only a doggie and codling for an hours fishing so i started to do a tidy up of my gear and begin the process of packing away. while my back was turned i heard the bell on the top of the k2 give a jingle. i struck into a wee fish and began the process of reeling in. but i had noticed that the roller on the bail arm of this reel had stopped turning long ago and was stuck solid. i usually have this reel spooled with micro fine 35lb braid but tonight i was on 15lb mono. the repeated use of braid over years had cut into the metal of the roller and was shreading the mono. so i was only slowly reeling it in as i was over clean ground inspecting the damage as i went. then all of a sudden "thump" the rod arched over and something was tugging on the other end with a substancial bit of weight . i only got bout another 20 turns on the reel when it went light and i knew i had lost something really decent . i half expected to reel in the rig missing a hook or complete snood, but was more baffled when the hook and snood returned in tact including the head of a wee codling something had well and truely munched this poor wee fella only leaving a bit of his head on the end of my hook. i was gutted as whatever it was had only missed my hook by millimeters . so that was my mind made up. it was time to pack away and go and have a good huff i'll never know what it was, but i'm guessing conger. something i would have loved to have got for my 2012 species list. but sure there's still all summer to go yet
all in all not a bad session and it was just good not to be blanking again . there was nothing big caught to talk. of but still fish none the less

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Last edited by Al and Jordan on Sun Mar 11, 2012 1:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.

some more pics

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last pic

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well done al plenty of fish to keep you busy

Well done Al, plenty of fish. Certainly is some gut on that rockling. Sounds like a conger might have taken your codling. Suppose the only other thing would be a seal but i don't think they feed at night.

nice array or species and a bit of excitement at the end

Good fishing there Al and unlucky with the one that got away!!!! Have had that happen quite a few times - one time years ago on Glenarm beach my dad fought a double-figure fish for about 20mins and it came off right at the shore when we shone our torches to see what it was. Whatever it was bent his old 70's brushshaft beachcaster in two - no mean feat. All that was left was the head of a 2lb+ Codling!!
Gut-wrenching, but still, keeps the excitement/enthusiasm levels up for the next sessions.

well done plenty of fish and a few different species

Looks like a lot of craic had Some great fish caught, fair play to ya

Keep 'er lit!
Monty

Nice one,your right that rockling has had a few feeds in its time !and you,ll always be wondering what you were so close to getting,a few decent flats there aswell good stuff as is the norm
ferg

Fair play Al pity Jordan missed that one that's looks like a good size doggie and something had a good dinner on your codling and you beat the dreaded blank

Great report as usual al. Well done putting the hours in on your own.

Well done Al, great report as usual. I havn't wet a line in a few months (i hate working, need the lotto badly) but your reports make me want to get back out asap. Looking forward for the next one.

Thats a brute of a Shorey Al! Cracking fun! I wonder what ate that codling... it's a mystery! lol

Did you find me a brick?

Dawsey and I were talking about a little foray tomorrow so I'll probably be in contact later...

Nice mixed bag mate. Nice to hear you got a few in the day light we had to wait til about 6.30 before we had any fish last night.

That poor wee codling got nailed man, must have a been a conger like you say.

great fishing al if only shories were on the specimen list

great session Al, good list of spesies mate, well done

well done al plenty of fish to keep you busy

cheers man. not one of the busiest sessions given the time spent fishing. but with my luck recently i'd take it over blanking any day

Well done Al, plenty of fish. Certainly is some gut on that rockling. Sounds like a conger might have taken your codling. Suppose the only other thing would be a seal but i don't think they feed at night.

thanks francis. sure was a pork fella . i reckon it was an eel too as i've never seen a seal at that mark before. i have seen porpoises, but that would melt my head even more thinking i'd missed one of those fellas by millimeters . obvously, i'd never intentionally target those guys, but could you imagine hooking into one

nice array or species and a bit of excitement at the end

cheers brian. it got the heart pumping alright

Good fishing there Al and unlucky with the one that got away!!!! Have had that happen quite a few times - one time years ago on Glenarm beach my dad fought a double-figure fish for about 20mins and it came off right at the shore when we shone our torches to see what it was. Whatever it was bent his old 70's brushshaft beachcaster in two - no mean feat. All that was left was the head of a 2lb+ Codling!!
Gut-wrenching, but still, keeps the excitement/enthusiasm levels up for the next sessions.

thanks dave. stuff like that is what makes sea angling so exciting. you just never know whats out there

well done plenty of fish and a few different species

thanks mark

Looks like a lot of craic had Some great fish caught, fair play to ya
Keep 'er lit!
Monty

cheers monty

Nice one,your right that rockling has had a few feeds in its time !and you,ll always be wondering what you were so close to getting,a few decent flats there aswell good stuff as is the norm
ferg

cheers ferg. the fishing is lean enough at the minute . but before too long spring will be here and the wrasse will return . gotta love float fishing for them on light gear. pound for pound they have to be one of the best fighting fish available to us with relative ease from the shore. i'd take a 4lb wrasse over a 4lb bass any day man

Fair play Al pity Jordan missed that one that's looks like a good size doggie and something had a good dinner on your codling and you beat the dreaded blank

cheers sparkey. anything above blanking is a bonus for me at the mo

Great report as usual al. Well done putting the hours in on your own.

thanks billy. sometimes it's just good to get out for a session on your own for some chill time

Well done Al, great report as usual. I havn't wet a line in a few months (i hate working, need the lotto badly) but your reports make me want to get back out asap. Looking forward for the next one.

cheers man. you have'nt been missing too much recently i've had a fair few fishless sessions all over ireland. but it's just par for the course for january to march. roll on spring!!!

Thats a brute of a Shorey Al! Cracking fun! I wonder what ate that codling... it's a mystery! lol
Did you find me a brick?
Dawsey and I were talking about a little foray tomorrow so I'll probably be in contact later...

no pet brick on this trip man. most of them were attached to the rock face i was fishing from
what have you started you should have a shop on ebay for them. i can see it now,,,,,,,, DESIGNER PET BRICKS BY DREW!!

Nice mixed bag mate. Nice to hear you got a few in the day light we had to wait til about 6.30 before we had any fish last night.
That poor wee codling got nailed man, must have a been a conger like you say.

cheers man. still tough going during the day poor oul stuarty was as game as a badger going out the other morning. gotta get him out after dark for a session to christen his new salt

great fishing al if only shories were on the specimen list

cheers andrew. i know man, she was a beast . but at least i have a few quality pics of her for the album

great session Al, good list of spesies mate, well done

cheers grady. might head out over to west donegal on saturday if the weather plays ball. sure give me a shout tomorrow evening if you fancy meeting up again for a session mate

Some nice Fish Al & report that's one fat Rockling We'll have to plan some good Wrasse sessions this year

lovly bit a fishing ther al, great mix of fish thats one stubby rockling,,well done,,,,,,,,,,