Antrim & Down 17th, 18th & 19th march LATE REPORT

People: myself, jordan & the dog (and drew on the 18th)

Duration: see below

Tide: see below

Weather: brilliant!! light winds and no rain for a change

Bait: rag, mack and sand eel

Rigs: 2 up 1 down and flappers

Results: turbot, brill, sea trout, flounder, pouting, plaice, coalfish, codling and a toothy green fella for jordan




Report: well not quite sure where to start with this one . i'm only getting round to getting the report written up due to my first fishing related injury that needed hospital treatment . but we''ll cover that one later in the report .

SATURDAY 17TH MARCH WHITEPARK BAY CO ANTRIM 3PM TO 3AM. HW 3PM LW 9.30PM

with the pleasent forecast due for the weekend it was time to get back to the marathon fishing sessions. i love just picking a stretch of coast, loading the motor up and heading off for the weekend. even our faithfull pooch was in toe this time ready for a weekend adventure of sniffing new smells and annoying crabs. (recently she has developed a taste for them ) we decide to fish this beach as you always get peace to fish, as it's a bit of a hike up and down to it. added to that if you hit it at the right time you just never know what oddity it will throw up . so with the car unloaded and parked up we made the 40min yomp up to our chosen corner of the beach. we have'nt fished here in months and the whole lay out of the beach had dramitacally changed. all the gullies had gone and it did'nt seem to be as deep, as the waves had eroded the shore and there was now more of a slope to the beach . added to that it was high water when we arrived so i spent 10mins assessing where the waves were cresting and breaking to try and identify where the gullies now lay. a suitably fishing looking spot was chosen and we set up in quick time.
we had decided to up the hook sizes and baits this weekend and persevere with 1/0 and 3/0 hooks to try for something bigger while avoiding the smaller stuff. the first 3 hours were tough with not so much as a nibble until a tiny turbo somehow managed to get his chops round a bit of mackerel on my 3 hook flapper tied with size 3/0 hooks. (well they are gobby wee fish ). but other than that the baits were coming back in untouched . so by 8pm we looked at eachother, admitted defeat and took the decision that the size 4 hook, 3 hook flappers were gonna get a taste of the sea. i know,, we did'nt stick to our guns too long, but it was agony sitting watching motionless rod tips for hours .
2 casts later i saw a tiny twitch and reeled in another turbo. still only a tiddler but we were glad just to see a fish . then nothing until about 3 hours into the flooding tide when jordan alerted me to the fact that my flattie rod was bouncing away on the tripod. as i started to reel the fish in i could feel it tugging away and started getting my hopes up that it might be a trout . i have'nt had one this year and it would be a welcome addition to the species list and stop me from getting slagged about my lack of a trout this year from jordan and doggie3131. HAPPY DAYS! a nice little trout was duely landed, photographed and returned and i felt aptly smug . oddly he had ignored the sand eel on the top hook and had taken a belly strip of mack on the middle hook of the flapper rig. but i was'nt complaining as that ment it was another species to add to the tally for the year.
we got back to the fishing and to be honest it was pretty pants . even dropping down to the small hooks was'nt helping with untouched baits continually returning with each cast. jordan did manage a little pouting and a flounder to beat the blank, but it was now 2.30am and we decided to just load up the hooks with fresh bait on all the rods and give them a good 30min soak then pack up and head up to the motor for a bit of sleep. so 30 mins later the rigs were reeled in and to our surprise we both had a single fish each . jordan was first with a flounder and i had a small brill. even thow he was only a tiddler it was another new species for the 2012 list. i've been making sure to closely check all our turbot for the last 2 years as it's easy to mistake a brill for a turbo as they are almost identicle when under a pound or so. the simple test to distinguish the 2 species apart is just to lightly run your finger over the coloured side. turbot have boney lumps on their backs called "tubercles" and brill don't. so if they are smooth to the touch they are a brill. NOT a turbot an easy mistake to make. so with the session over we got packed up and made the hike back up to the motor for some well deserved sleep. i was chuffed to get a few new species for the year and jordan just happy to have beaten the blank

SUNDAY 18TH MARCH CO ANTRIM MIXED GROUND MARK 10AM TO 7PM. LW 1.20PM HW 8PM

we woke up to see the sun high in the sky and the prospect of another nice day to be out fishing in . so after a few pints of coffee and a packet of orios between us and the dog we upped sticks and headed to our next mark. the rods were in the water by 10am and we kicked back to soak up a bit of the sun . we knew that things would be quiet until later when the light began to fade, but it was just nice to be out . i was sticking to my guns today and reverted back to the larger hooks while jordan just wanted to catch anything and was on the size 4's. a few plaice came in for jordan and i was missing tiny bites. but i was adament to stay with the bigger hooks. then out of the blue i got a call from drew who informed me that he had wheels today and fancied a chuck. so a plan was hatched and he was on his way up the coast . jordan decided to make room for drew's arrival and put one of his beachcasters away and broke out his flimsy little telescopic rod. he quickly baited up a set of tiny herring feathers and went mini bashing over the clean ground at our feet. he battled with a sea scorpion for over half an hour before it finally obliged and took the bait instead of attacking the 1oz lead . it was fun watching it dart out of the kelp onto the clean sand tormenting jordan again and again .
drew landed in around 3pm and i moved over onto the bigger rocks to give him a spot with better footing as he's not so good on uneven ground . he was having a clear out of tackle from his vast treasure trove (the tart ) and gave jordan an abu ambassadeur 6500 ct sports mag top bloke. jordan was made up and can't wait to choose a new rod to pair it up with. so a big thank you to drew . drew opted for the rigs with smaller hooks and plenty of bling and was rewarded with a plaice from the first cast . i was the only one who had'nt had a sniff of a fish yet, but was gonna stick with the bigger hooks holding out for something better . as the day went on both jordan and drew had catch after catch with codling, dab and coalies coming in at a steady rate. drew must have caught every place within a mile radius ending up with close to 20 while i sat watching tiny fish and crabs eating all my lovely presented big baits . even our bloody dog appeared with a plaice at one point . i've no idea where she got it from but it was flipping and flapping away and went back and swam off none the worse .
but i saw a nice tug on my distance rod and reeled in a lovely chunky plaice of 30cm. happy days!. blank beaten and a lovely thick set plaice as a reward for sticking it out with the bigger hooks . i was chuffed to bits, and baited up again and cast out to the same spot. drew and jordan were having fun fishing for flatties by sight to my right. the water was gin clear and over the sandy bottom there was flounder and plaice chasing their rigs . it was amazing to watch as the fish seemed more interested in the leads than the bait on the hooks. but every time drew or jordan thumped the lead on the bottom, flatties appeared from under the sand and attacked the puff of sand the lead made . as we started to lose the light a shoal of decent coalies moved in and hammered the baits. i got one not far off 40cm and both jordan and drew got in on the action. it was frantic . then jordan and drew noticed the shoal had moved in over the clean ground where they were being tormented by the flatties and they both tried to hook a few up. it was mad watching so many fish ignore or just nip at the baits without actually having a go and taking them. some of them were pretty decent fish too at around 2lb, but they just seemed to wise to our efforts with only a few getting hooked . before too long it was dark and we all had to pack up and head on home as a dawn pike raid was on the cards for the morning. but the last hour was madness fishing by sight for flatties and coalies
it was great to wet a line with you again drew and i can't thank you enough for the reel you gave jordan. he'll put it to good use man

MONDAY 19TH MARCH CO DOWN PIKE LAKE 6AM TO 1PM

well, it was over to the dark side for jordan's first crack at the toothy green fellas for 2012. the alarm went off at 4am and we were lakeside with rods in the water by 6am before dawn broke. not much to report on my end. i did'nt get a single run on either the float rod or bottom rod in the whole session. but junior (in normal form) had 3 runs. lost 2 and hooked and landed a nice pike at 6lb 2oz RESULT!. he was made up to get a pike on his first go this year and things for me,,, well they went from bad to worse . i was clearing away some old dead bull rushes with my hand when i grabbed a long stem and an inch long length of it broke off penetrated into my bloody thumb . my first reaction was to jam my thumb in my mouth and begin frantically sucking to get the bugger out, but it was buried deep down the length of it. when i did finally get a hold of it with my teeth i could'nt believe the length of the sucker!! it was over an inch long and stung like hell when i was pulling it out. but other than bleeding like a stuck pig i payed it no more attention and just stuck a plaster on it and forgot about it. well, i woke up on tuesday with mu thumb swolen up to twice it's normal size and feeling like it was on fire . so it was off to the doctors to get some anti biotics, something i thought would be straight forward enough. but the doc was'nt happy and told me to start the tablets, but if it still had'nt closed over or was pussing by thursday to get myself down to a&e pronto. and true to form i woke up on thursday, took the dressing off it and things did'nt look good . what i can only describe as the filling from a cadburys cream egg was oozing from the small puncture wound, so it was off to a&e . so i got there and a doc had a look at it and gave me 2 options.
1. wait another hour or so sitting about to get a few injections in the thumb to freeze it so she could cut it open with a scalple to flush it and get the bits of bull rush and puss outta it
or
2. let her go at it with the scalple without the injections and be out in 5 mins.
much to my mistaken full hardy macho blokish attitude i foolish opted for option 2. BIG mistake!!
she must have thought i'd been reincarnated as a monkey in a past life. coz some of the noises that came out of me when she was hokeing about inside the wound were not human! i sounded like i was a fluent speaker of chimpanzee with lots of ohh hee ahhaa haha hoos! being yelped out
but i did get some pretty groooovy painkillers to go home with that tend to make things feel, well,,,,, all floaty whoo hoo, result!.
the only down side is that my fishing is gonna be knocked on the head this weekend until the wound heals up
i can almost hear the fish out there clapping their wee pectoral fins togeather with glee knowing i'll be outta action for a bit,,,, or mabey it's just the pain killers

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oh i cant wait to come home for easter.well done guys

top class fishing boys well deserved for the hours put in looking forward to meeting yous guys in a month or so when yous are down this way and jordan can put the reel to good use pulling in the hounds

the only down side of cocodamol 30/500's (i assume thats what they gave you) is that you can build up a resistence to them and you dont feel their effect anymore, which is a bollox when you have broken your humorous, esp since the doctors have nothing stronger to prescribe you.


still rememeber my first time taking them.......good times

top stuff al - some nice fish had there.

thats some pike to jordan.

dave

Brilliant report Some very nice plaice there and a great mix of species. Hope the thumb heals up quickly!

it was great to wet a line with you again drew and i can't thank you enough for the reel you gave jordan. he'll put it to good use man

Amazing report Al, no wonder it took so long to get it up... thought maybe the narrower spool would suit Jordan for the clean beach fishing, once again, the craic was mighty and the banter flew.... a BIG THUMBS UP from me!

Great report but sorry to hear about the thumb. Option 2 sent a shiver down my spine at the thought!!

That was some read Al.. Hope the thumb is on the mend soon..

Nice fishing guys

great read and fishing duely Rewarded for the effort ye put in.a couple of new species for the year always a great feeling , lovley mix of fish and some cracking plaice and fine pike!jaysus thats grim about the finger hope it wont effect your fishing.and sure the next time a lovley bass might take to your 3/0s.i bet it wouldnt take long for the size 4,s to dissapear
Gr8 fishing

Great report well done.

another informative report Al, great stuff
class to read about the clear-water clean-ground fishing - really visual, interesting and fun fishing i bet
i woud say that that wee session there well made up for the poor session at wpb - albeit that you got a few very decent species there to add to the years count! "turbot".. "brill" .... drool.. haha
hope the thumb heels soon

good to see a report from whitepark al, is one of my fav beaches but can be either class or shocking. was up that way afew weeks a go sussing out afew marks and there was a boat right in the middle of the bay close to the shore. wonder what he was doing . always seems to throw up afew trout this time of year.. as for second mark, ggod goin and good to see the plaice starting to make an appearance.the past 5 or 6 years has seen a drastic decrease in numbers and size in that area due to overfishing.. wont be long and itl b time for the cuckoos...

Al, you've just given me a great 10 mins reading that report,,,,thanks . Sorry to hear about your war wound, but you can wear the scar with honour, and now you have another fishy tale to tell ,,,,get well soon

oh i cant wait to come home for easter.well done guys

you'll be arriving back just in time for the fishing to improve brian
did you not get any fishing done while you were away man?

top class fishing boys well deserved for the hours put in looking forward to meeting yous guys in a month or so when yous are down this way and jordan can put the reel to good use pulling in the hounds

thanks man. yeah, it will be good to tie in with a few of the lads we have'nt fished with before off the site this summer. our usual smoothie and bass pilgrimage on the east coast will race in before we know it.

the only down side of cocodamol 30/500's (i assume thats what they gave you) is that you can build up a resistence to them and you dont feel their effect anymore, which is a bollox when you have broken your humorous, esp since the doctors have nothing stronger to prescribe you.
still rememeber my first time taking them.......good times

not so " HUMOUROUS " when that happens brian (sorry, could'nt resist that one).
i only got the 15/500's and they are powerfull enough , a bit rough on the tummy thow. but better than the pain from the thumb. bloody thing feels like it's on fire with a pulse throbbing in it.

top stuff al - some nice fish had there.
thats some pike to jordan.
dave

cheers dave, i think i'll stick to the sea fishing from now on. at least when you get cuts and grazes around the sea there is plenty of salt on everything which keeps things a bit more sterile. i've lost count of how many cuts i've picked up on my hands when out sea fishing and there has never been an issue with infected wounds. go bloody pike fishing one dam time and pick up a nasty infection. mabey old neptune is trying to tell us something

Brilliant report Some very nice plaice there and a great mix of species. Hope the thumb heals up quickly!

cheers man. hopefully everything will be sorted enough for us heading out west next weekend

it was great to wet a line with you again drew and i can't thank you enough for the reel you gave jordan. he'll put it to good use man

Amazing report Al, no wonder it took so long to get it up... thought maybe the narrower spool would suit Jordan for the clean beach fishing, once again, the craic was mighty and the banter flew.... a BIG THUMBS UP from me!

thanks man. fishing by sight for the flatties was cool as *+%!. it seemed that they were more interested in attacking the leads. it was like follow my leader with the puffs of sand on the bottom . but it did give a great insight to the theory of fishing for flats with a rolling lead. those wee boys seemed to love chasing it about the sea bed

Great report but sorry to hear about the thumb. Option 2 sent a shiver down my spine at the thought!!

thanks frank. well it did with me too. but the doc was a very cute blonde in her early 30's, and i did'nt want to appear like a wuss . she said it so off the cuff, like it was'nt gonna be a problem. boy did i regret it well that's what i get for acting the ejitt

That was some read Al.. Hope the thumb is on the mend soon..

cheers tom. well it pales in comparison with the way you ended up a few years back man. that was a hell of a rough deal you had man. just makes you realize that no matter how bad you think you have it yourself, there is always some poor bugger far worse off

Nice fishing guys

cheers man

great read and fishing duely Rewarded for the effort ye put in.a couple of new species for the year always a great feeling , lovley mix of fish and some cracking plaice and fine pike!jaysus thats grim about the finger hope it wont effect your fishing.and sure the next time a lovley Bass might take to your 3/0s.i bet it wouldnt take long for the size 4,s to dissapear
Gr8 fishing

very true man. i usually set out with just beating the blank as my target for the day. but i'm really trying to hold out with the bigger baits and hooks in the hope of something decent coming along. but sadly the antrim coast has all but been raped to hell with the commercials constantly working less than a mile off shore . things have got so bad that another few lads i know who used to be into the shore scene have all but given up on it. when you look at what gets taken off the beaches in england, scotland and wales you can understand why the lads have given up. it can be costly when you take into account petrol, bait and tackle to fish all day for wee flats in the mid 20cm bracket

Great report well done.

thanks samo

another informative report Al, great stuff
class to read about the clear-water clean-ground fishing - really visual, interesting and fun fishing i bet
i woud say that that wee session there well made up for the poor session at wpb - albeit that you got a few very decent species there to add to the years count! "turbot".. "brill" .... drool.. haha
hope the thumb heels soon

cheers charlie, the next time we hit that spot jordan wants to bring his fly rod to christen it with a few flats or coalies. i'll have to bring the video camera for that one and get a vid up to go with the report

good to see a report from whitepark al, is one of my fav beaches but can be either class or shocking. was up that way afew weeks a go sussing out afew marks and there was a boat right in the middle of the bay close to the shore. wonder what he was doing . always seems to throw up afew trout this time of year.. as for second mark, ggod goin and good to see the plaice starting to make an appearance.the past 5 or 6 years has seen a drastic decrease in numbers and size in that area due to overfishing.. wont be long and itl b time for the cuckoos...

cheers ghostie, i'd hazard a guess that if a boat was out there you'd be looking at a net . with the undercurrents and rips you'd be kissing goodbye to any pots. we fished there 2 summers ago on an overnighter and at about 3am a small boat came round from the ballintoy direction and sat about 800 yards off shore. he was only there for about 5 mins when we turned our headlights on from the beach and looked out at him. the deck lights went straight off and he turned tail and went back in the direction that he came from a hell of a bit quicker than on the way in. very suspicious indeed.

Al, you've just given me a great 10 mins reading that report,,,,thanks . Sorry to hear about your war wound, but you can wear the scar with honour, and now you have another fishy tale to tell ,,,,get well soon

thanks dave. you see,,,,, i should stick to the sea fishing. not that oul dirty fresh water stuff

Thoroughly enjoyable read Al and plenty of fish porn pics too , fair play for sticking out with the big baits can be a lonely stance when lots of small fish coming in left right and centre.