N.Donegal again. Leenan, Culdaff and more.. 21st/22nd March

[chuckaroo]

People: me and a mate

Duration: 2 days, 4 separate marks, several hours at each mark

Tide: in and out, up and down

Weather: great! but the WIND was still there from the weekend

Bait: just mack and sandeel

Rigs: running ledgers and flappers

Results: not too much, a few fish

Report:
first day fished first mark for 3 hours. managed to get my mate his first ray albeit a very small one, maybe 1lb. i managed a doggie but that was about the height of it
packed up and went elsewhere to try a mark that ive been trying to target turbot at. but on arrival there was a stiff wind and again the waves were too big and fishing was going to be very tricky, if not pointless. decided to try a different more sheltered area not far away where my mate got 1 dog after 2.5 hours. cut our loses and went off to watch the football match and have a few wet ones

second day headed up inishowen peninsula as ive never ventured up that way before. tried leenan pier and culdaff pier but fishing was again very slow. at leenan there was a 'hurricane' blowing and fishing was very difficult. but we did persist and we managed a few coleys, a couple of dogs, and a rockling between us. went to culdaff beach and spoke to 2 guys fishing there, they had been there for at least 5 hours and hadnt had a sinlge bite so we opted for the pier. managed a few coleys from there

was wondering if most peolpe drive up through the Mamore Pass to get to Leenan? jeees thats some drive! thought the a*s was going to fall out of the car but a fantastic view from the top! (last photo)

all in all an enjoyable few days looking around us and getting the lay of the land - even though the fishing really wasnt up to much. reckon that i will leave it for a few weeks at least before i return.. when things will hopefully improve
a few pics below

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Last edited by chuckaroo on Sun Mar 25, 2012 2:50 am, edited 1 time in total.

couple more:

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Well done on getting some fish as it seems to be 'crab city' everywhere else at the minute. Those roads are pretty scary, my Mrs. was in tears driving from Rathmullan to Fanad at some parts. Wouln't fancy it on a Winter's night!!

congrats on your first ray

well done on the ray charlie
dawsey was up at leenan at the start of the week and said it fished terrible . so at least you got a few man .
i always try and avoid mamore gap it's like a stage out of the world rally championship. hairpin bends and scarey drop offs . on the way up all you can smell is the clutch under pressure and on the way down the brake pads getting a good cooking
we usually head straight on up through clonmany and sling shot round the top end of the penninsula doubling back on yourself to get to leenan. a lot easier on the oul wagon

nice fishing chuc, great pictures, well done mate

Well done lads, and the main thing is you enjoyed it and squeezed in a few wet ones.

Well done Nice Species

Well done on getting some fish as it seems to be 'crab city' everywhere else at the minute. Those roads are pretty scary, my Mrs. was in tears driving from Rathmullan to Fanad at some parts. Wouln't fancy it on a Winter's night!!

cheers dave. the roads are tight alright but that Mamore Pass is sometin else again. pretty spectacular but wish the aul motor would have been somethin more suitable for the job.. are you getting any fishin in lately yourself?

:D congrats on your first ray

cheers fishy, i'll let my mate know he was well chuffed

well done on the ray charlie
dawsey was up at leenan at the start of the week and said it fished terrible . so at least you got a few man .
i always try and avoid mamore gap it's like a stage out of the world rally championship. hairpin bends and scarey drop offs . on the way up all you can smell is the clutch under pressure and on the way down the brake pads getting a good cooking
we usually head straight on up through clonmany and sling shot round the top end of the penninsula doubling back on yourself to get to leenan. a lot easier on the oul wagon

cheers Al. yeah, i'll be avoiding Melmore Pass from now on mesel, the round-about way is much wiser. makes sense alright
haha! indeed, some reek off the clutch as i got to the top and the brakes were getting a thorough workout on the way down a class road but that motor of mine wasnt nearly up to the job

nice fishing chuc, great pictures, well done mate

thanks grady

Well done lads, and the main thing is you enjoyed it and squeezed in a few wet ones.

enjoyed it alright mate, and i'll be back when the fishing improves. ta

Well done Nice Species

thanks zud25

Fished Culdaff myself last week, 2 small dab was all I managed for about 4 hours fishing, pretty terrible really. Haven't heard of any of the usual Inishowen marks throwing much up of late.

you got a nice ray there chuck, well done , heading up that way myself on tuesday hope i catch sumthing the antrim coast is poor at the min so ill head up to the other side of lough swilly n.donegal u never know i mite get a fish r 2.

Fished Culdaff myself last week, 2 small dab was all I managed for about 4 hours fishing, pretty terrible really. Haven't heard of any of the usual Inishowen marks throwing much up of late.

very little going on up that way scrob. hopefully this decent weather will kick start things. cheers. good luck

you got a nice ray there chuck, well done , heading up that way myself on tuesday hope i catch sumthing the antrim coast is poor at the min so ill head up to the other side of lough swilly n.donegal u never know i mite get a fish r 2.

cheers fagan. that ray was only about 1lb ! antrim coast is abysmal at the moment mate. hope you can produce something up donegal way then - would be very interested to hear how you get on..

cheers dave. the roads are tight alright but that Mamore Pass is sometin else again. pretty spectacular but wish the aul motor would have been somethin more suitable for the job.. are you getting any fishin in lately yourself?

I've been doing bits and pieces every week mate mainly to keep me sane during my spell as a housewife , but it hasn't been great. Picked up a few Flounder, Rockling and Coalies locally at a few spots amongst the incessant onslaught of crabs, at night, but pretty much still dead in the daylight. About 3 or 4 weeks ago had an ok session at Waterfoot beach where I got a good mixed bag of 15 small fish myself with 4 Flounder around a pound, but even then it wasn't great. Most of the fish were caught 2 at a time during busy spells so a high percentage of the session was very quiet and there were even plenty of crabs there too. I even tried one of my Pollack marks a few weeks back as I had seen good reports of them from a guy in Co. Down, but only a few Coalies about - all a pound with just one over 2lb.
Morale is low though and I almost don't feel like digging bait and trying to convince someone to head out this weekend, but I wouldn't be surprised if I end up in Red Bay messing about with small flatties on the light gear. The only thing is i've heard a few guys mentioning plenty of crabs about there recently too, so long as it's not 5 hanging off each hook within 2 mins of casting!!

Had a bit of excitement on Fri when out of nowhere my dad's rod went bonkers and the hope was it may be a Trout. He was having a decent scrap off the fish and I went down to land it only to see it leap clean out of the water a couple of times. Friggin' pound and a half Coalie,

Picked up a few Flounder, Rockling and Coalies locally at a few spots amongst the incessant onslaught of crabs, at night, but pretty much still dead in the daylight. About 3 or 4 weeks ago had an ok session at Waterfoot beach where I got a good mixed bag of 15 small fish myself with 4 Flounder around a pound, but even then it wasn't great. Most of the fish were caught 2 at a time during busy spells so a high percentage of the session was very quiet and there were even plenty of crabs there too. I even tried one of my Pollack marks a few weeks back as I had seen good reports of them from a guy in Co. Down, but only a few Coalies about - all a pound with just one over 2lb

this is about the extent of exactly of what im getting myself around these parts too mate, pretty damn poor. crabs and coalies seems to be the norm.
yeah, waterfoot always a nice venue but all i ever see outta there are very small flats (and crabs, and pin whiting, and small coleys...), hopefully better fishing on the horizon.., if you can cast that far. (sorry, couldnt help that one! ). mind you, a couple of flounder at a pound weight is a pretty good result.

Had a bit of excitement on Fri when out of nowhere my dad's rod went bonkers and the hope was it may be a Trout. He was having a decent scrap off the fish and I went down to land it only to see it leap clean out of the water a couple of times. Friggin' pound and a half Coalie,

iv had this encounter many times on the fly rod - if it isnt jumping out of the water during the fight, or fighting near the surface, then i assume that its NOT a trout..

I've been doing bits and pieces every week mate mainly to keep me sane

me too mate.. but the poor quality of fising during some of my sessions hasnt been helping

give me a shout sure next time your heading Red Bay way if you fancy a fishing buddy. i'll PM you my number
cheers

the pics are class man especially the one of the coal fish, id love to take the bike down those roads nice and twisty ! Im determined to get myself a ray this year aswel

the pics are class man especially the one of the coal fish, id love to take the bike down those roads nice and twisty ! Im determined to get myself a ray this year aswel

thanks darol. hey if you are taking the bike down that road make sure the brakes are working!!!!!!!!! deadly!

3 of us came over on the ferry last year to meet up with Ronan in londonderry who proceeded to take us over the momore gap at midnight, good job it was dark cos we would never have come down at that speed if we knew what it was like.looking over from the pier it was like the hills in the "Italian Job" top man Ronan for putting us onto fish, hope to return the favour if he gets to the Shannon with us in June
Alan