swilly thornie hunt sat 31st march 2012

People: myself, jordan, drew and fishermannum1

Duration: 3pm to 11pm

Tide: LW 7pm

Weather: flat calm, dry and sunny

Bait: mackerel, squid, rag and sand eel

Rigs: 2 up 1 down and 4/0 pennel pulleys

Results: thornies and doggies




Report: with the warmer weather holding out and rumours of mackerel and wrasse returning to our shores it was time to get the thornies ticked off the species list for 2012. so after a few phone calls a team was put togeather and we were donegal bound . fishermannum1 had arranged to meet us at the mark so it was just myself, jordan and drew in the wagon for the short 1 hour 30 min drive up the road. we got to the mark and were unloading the car as fishermannum1 pulled up. so we all got sorted and headed over to our chosen spot. i am still on the wounded list with the thumb, but i had'nt had my fishing fix in almost a fortnight. so painfull or not i was going fishing!. althow my screams mid cast when my thumb touched the rod did provide entertainment for the rest of the lads
as usual the milk of human kindness was flowing as freely as cold roofing tar in siberia as the rest of the lads kept giving me the thumbs up . but sure i always reckon if they are laughing at my expence then some other poor git is getting left alone .
on the very first cast fishermannum1 was into a ray, but it did the old suction trick into the soft sandy sea bed and was'nt shifting for love nor money. eventually it snapped off and it was first blood to the rays as we all gathered around my tripod for a good old laugh at al trying to bait up one handed, jordan's k2 was getting pulled off his tripod . he raced across the sand and struck into and landed the first ray of the day and 2012 . it tipped the digital scales at 5lb 8oz and jordan was duely smug
then it was don's turn to land 3 sucessive rays on the trot up to about six and a half pounds. then it was my turn and i got a nice thornie of 4lb . so by now we all had rays (apart from poor drew ) and it was time for fishermannum1 to head on home.
great to wet a line with you again don . there were a few lads to our right and they seemed to be having good sucess with the thornies too landing about 6 between them and even a big mackerel . i thought it might be a sea trout at first glance as they were 100 yards down the beach from us. but the guy came up for a chat and confirmed it was a big bruiser of a mack
as we began to lose the light the fishing died a death and pretty much nothing happened for another 3 hours. drew even resorted to fishing 3 rods in desperation at trying to beat the blank . but then all at the same time we all had our rods nodding away together . jordan and drew both got dogs and i lost another thornie on the retrieve. these things have better suction into the sea bed than a dyson!. i had no sooner reeled in my rig when my other rod began nodding and the biggest thornie of the session came in at 7lb 7oz sadly this fella had taken both hooks on the 4/0 pennel pulley and it took a bit of messing about to get him unhooked. but we were patient and he swam off without a hitch
i was made up, but poor drew was still waiting for his first ray which sadly did'nt come. but there will always be next time man
in the end the scores on the doors was,
ME - 4 thornies to 7lb 7oz
JORDAN - 1 thornie and 1 doggie
FISHERMANNUM 1 - 3 thornies
DREW - 1 doggie

not the buisest of sessions, but no blanks and a new species ticked off the 2012 list
and the penn powerstix pro 15'9 paired with the shimano biomaster xsb 8000 performed well with the heaviest thornie of the session. well chuffed indeed

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this is the last of my pics, but fishermannum 1 got some good ones on his camera that i'm sure he'll put up

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good stuff, well worth the drive, hoping to finally catch a ray myself this year, nice pics to whet the appetite

next time we're heading up there brian you have first dibs on a seat in the motor mate

well done lads great to see the ray starting to show cant wait to give them a bash when they arrive on my mark

next time we're heading up there brian you have first dibs on a seat in the motor mate

WOO HOO!!!!

Nice report Al, good to see the thornies back in the swilly.

Nice one, well done guys, must try and get up soon. Would be nice to get a bend back in the rods and actually know there is something on before reeling in!!

mission accomplished unlucky drew next time having tried desperatley last year targetting ray and failing miserably ive never caught a fecking ray excuse the language sore spot i never knew they are inclined to go to ground either (cheers)will bear that in mind when the pigs fly and i get me a thornie!lovley looking fish!
ferg

Cracking looking fish man, well done to you.

Love the pics,
Monty

well done all

big well done lads and nice reading on your report Al nd great pics too

Great stuff lads loads of fish as always

Great fishing lads and good report and photos , love the thumbs up photo Al

nice going al... so you dont need to come to galway this year for ray al.... good on your species...... i hope to redeem myself for the last session i had this week.......

great session even tho' it was a short one for. but it was my first time wetting a line in a very long time and i enjoyed it, as Al' sail they were unloading their gear as i landed, so when i got up the beach i set up just to the left of Drew, two rods out with pully rigs baited up with mac' and squid, Drew came down for a banter and we noticed one of my rods starting to give a few nods so i lifted into it.
felt a good weight and it started kiteing of in the current, but then got back down to the seabed and stuck tight, kept the pressure on it tell he came loose but on the way up he came free then in a short time i had another one on, my best of the day, landed and released, then right away i was into another one, then it was time for me to hit the road, but enjoyed that wee session with al' drew and the wee man, and hope to get back out soon.
few pic's

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Lot of happy looking faces there

don i think you could have put a pair of underpants on that dangly lad before the snap! nice session and nice weather too

well done lads great to see the ray starting to show cant wait to give them a bash when they arrive on my mark

cheers man. it's great to be getting back into fishing for things that actually put a bend in the rod

Nice report Al, good to see the thornies back in the swilly.

cheers paddy. hopefully with the summer species coming early they might even hang about for a bit longer too this year

Nice one, well done guys, must try and get up soon. Would be nice to get a bend back in the rods and actually know there is something on before reeling in!!

cheers dave, .sure beats tiddler bashing

mission accomplished unlucky drew next time having tried desperatley last year targetting ray and failing miserably ive never caught a fecking ray excuse the language sore spot i never knew they are inclined to go to ground either (cheers)will bear that in mind when the pigs fly and i get me a thornie!lovley looking fish!
ferg

still early days ferg we plan to head down to tralee this summer to try for a few of the harder to get ray species. might try to round up a few lads for a few days ray fishing in august if you fancy it man. only a 2hr drive or so over from cork

Cracking looking fish man, well done to you.
Love the pics,
Monty

cheers monty

well done all

thanks tom. if only we got them at the dee think of the money i'd save on diesel

big well done lads and nice reading on your report Al nd great pics too

thanks zeke. have you been getting out at all yourself lately?

Great stuff lads loads of fish as always

cheers man. great to get them on the first attempt . we'll have to get dan, brian and drew up for a go at them soon too

Great fishing lads and good report and photos , love the thumbs up photo Al

cheers man. it's not healing at all, so it's back to a&e this week for an x-ray to see where the last bits of debris are still inside the thumb. so it will be a slice and dice job and a rubber glove for the next lot of fishing trips
mabey i'll get a pair of pink marigolds that ought to keep the mackie bashers and tourists away from us while we're fishing

nice going al... so you dont need to come to galway this year for ray al.... good on your species...... i hope to redeem myself for the last session i had this week.......

cheers alan. still early days man. i have plenty of other excuses for justifying more trips out west in the coming weeks

great session even tho' it was a short one for. but it was my first time wetting a line in a very long time and i enjoyed it, as Al' sail they were unloading their gear as i landed, so when i got up the beach i set up just to the left of Drew, two rods out with pully rigs baited up with mac' and squid, Drew came down for a banter and we noticed one of my rods starting to give a few nods so i lifted into it.
felt a good weight and it started kiteing of in the current, but then got back down to the seabed and stuck tight, kept the pressure on it tell he came loose but on the way up he came free then in a short time i had another one on, my best of the day, landed and released, then right away i was into another one, then it was time for me to hit the road, but enjoyed that wee session with al' drew and the wee man, and hope to get back out soon.
few pic's

great pics don and good to wet a line with you again mate . must be time to start planning the fishing/camping trips around innishowen with all the crew again . it will great to get back out with tom, ivan, cathal and dylan again
we'll all keep in touch and get something arranged with roger when he comes up in the next few weeks

Lot of happy looking faces there

does it show pete
we could'nt have asked for more. we all got thornies (well apart from drew ) and the weather was great. could'nt believe it's only march!!

don i think you could have put a pair of underpants on that dangly lad before the snap! nice session and nice weather too

aye right enough roger. just as well there was no dog walkers behind don in that shot or they would have thought that there was a seriously disfigured flasher on the beach

still early days ferg we plan to head down to tralee this summer to try for a few of the harder to get ray species. might try to round up a few lads for a few days ray fishing in august if you fancy it man. only a 2hr drive or so over from cork

Most Definetly count me in on that one!