Mayo, and West

People:ME

Duration:8am --->

Tide: Rise to low onto the rise

Weather: Beautiful, sunny, warm

Bait:Rag, Lug, Sandeel,

Rigs:mackerel rigs, flappers

Results:2 Thornies, 8 Dogs, 1 Mackerel




Report:
Well it started out down a dusty road, Well that what was playing on my radio as well!! I was Finally in the West, been along time since I was over there, in fact Toooo long, but heading to a place I didn’t know, I was thinking to myself isn’t this what fishing is about! Hop in the car and head off, Yes fishing a mark you know well is easy, but fishing a mark you’ve never fished before, learning the ground, damn it brought the sense of adventure back to me! And if it didn’t pay off with TWO Personal Best which I know I’m going to struggle to beat again!!

First mark was a known fjord in Mayo, I heard that during WW2 the Germans used to use it to hide their submarines in during the war as its so deep and narrow, which they could drop right out of sight! It was 8 am sun was beating down there was a strong wind blowing up the channel. Set one rod to see what was about, and the spin rod for mackerel, locals told me that i needed a licence to fish for salmon and sea trout, I tried desperately to assure them I was going after something else Ray, Plaice, Flounder, Pollock etc.. But they insisted that only Salmon, Sea Trout, and mackerel were to be got there…. Well coffee drunk, lit a smoke, (it is still legal I thinks) and damn the bait rod pulled down, then again, grabbed it and FISH ON, after a good ol fight a male Thornie was on the tackle box weighting a healthy 3lbs 4oz, well chuffed just a little over my best, and sent him back, with the mackerel gear out was having fun and bang Mackerel on only one but his little run on the light gear set my heart flyin!! This is Fishing! Then looked over no soon had the mackerel in the cooler box, the bait rod took another knock twice down then slack lined!! Took me an age to get this one in, as it kept stripping line off me But landed it safely which turned out to be a lovely female Thornie weighing in at 4lb.5oz my PB this one was a keeper, as my kids said they wanted to try ray. With the tide running out decided to look for an access to the really deep water marks (some place they running at the very least 30 meters so I was told!!! All fishable with a good cast) but every mark I drove to I had to cross farmers land to gain access so tried to contact various farmers without much success, (id rather make an effort, then to be lookin down the barrel of an ol’ shotgun!), So unsuccessful in my quest, I decide with tide and time running out I hit Clifden, so glad I did… ventured out onto a rock, perched over the sea with the tide draining slowly out sun just right in the sky that it wasn’t blinding me as I looked on the tips..2o minutes of nothing quiet and peace,…….was ruined with a hard knock on the rod, first rod nearly doubled over!??! Hound? Ray? Bass on rag? What the Hell is this… It fought like mad as I reeled in, It was dark on top, then with a swish of its tail it threw the hook? Ok excitement just got great.. reeled in both rods, that fish went after fresh sandeels , so put on owner hooks and baited up again, BANG fish ON! Happy Chappy on top of a rock with his rod bent into a fish! And it was fighting, line went off, reset the drag just enough to control it, and ended up w ith a 1lb doggie, then the next rod took a serious knock and after plaing that fish in another doggie, and that’s the way Clifden left me! My last fish (due to my arms killing me now at this stage was a 3lb 2oz doggie… another personal best! BOOM! “ in one session Happy days!

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....you need to get out more Creep!

Nice one glad u were rewarded for your efforts
And well done on the pb

I'm in love with the West!!

I know how you feel my first ray from the shore was from achill happy days

Now that's what it's all about thanks for sharing.

Yappo

nice session there, if you are back again try fishing about 500m further out towards the cliffs, better chance of ray plus dabs and conger. i work on the salmon farm there and we were watching you guys heading down, nice climb out!!!!!!!

excellent stuff creep.i totaly forgot bout you coming west as you had mentioned in one of my earlier posts.next time il try hook up with ya.ya the loacal are quiet clannish back there...next time you ask them do they fish and if they do ask them if they have a licence .i find most people that remind you and do fish themselves normally are the ones that dont,,,,as for your mark ive an idea where you were.never fished it but an english guy told me about it years ago and the way you have it desribed seems similar to the one he told me about,,,anyway might get back there soon,,,,tell me was the ground clean all over around you,,was it hard sand or muddy,,,,also would the likes of plaice.flounders and prime*(turbot,brill,sole) reside there


thanks for any reply

brian

Hey Mate, One area i was fishin the ground was clean no snags BUT very weeded bottom but only on the gripper weights (that brown slude stuff, thats where i got the Rays), BUT within the Deep pools VERY VERY VERY clean! BUt theres a shelf about 40 ou, in which to get over you'll have to reel in fast BUT its stunning to watch as you do a normal power cast and then watch your line disappear into the deep REAL REALLY have to get back over there... Im in love with the West and I am sooooooo jealous of you... Its beautiful there!!! And damn your right about the people talk about giving nothing away!! your looking at somewhere really really fishy and ask a local....."Nope no fish were ever caught there, you need to go further out!" WTF?!?!??! I smiled and was polite "Ah sure i'll give it a bash anyways" ..."Mind the Farmers they dont like people!"

bit narrow minded there lads!! as an angler and a local if you follow the info i gave in my previous post i can assure you that the chances of catching more than bloody lsds is greatly increased.

Hey Mate, One area i was fishin the ground was clean no snags BUT very weeded bottom but only on the gripper weights (that brown slude stuff, thats where i got the Rays), BUT within the Deep pools VERY VERY VERY clean! BUt theres a shelf about 40 ou, in which to get over you'll have to reel in fast BUT its stunning to watch as you do a normal power cast and then watch your line disappear into the deep REAL REALLY have to get back over there... Im in love with the West and I am sooooooo jealous of you... Its beautiful there!!! And damn your right about the people talk about giving nothing away!! your looking at somewhere really really fishy and ask a local....."Nope no fish were ever caught there, you need to go further out!" WTF?!?!??! I smiled and was polite "Ah sure i'll give it a bash anyways" ..."Mind the Farmers they dont like people!"

well done on getting a few fish,the farmers on the galway side are much the same as on the mayo side of the fjord but there are a few spots that you don't have to cross any farmers land,if you are heading down again i can point you in the right direction
i have met a lot of the farmers around clifden bay and they are a lot nicer,one fenced off a mark i fished because of cows falling in to the sea but he left a gap with a pallet in it so lads could get to the shore,another farmer has left a step over the fence and put pipe on the barb wire,any farmer i have met around clifden was very nice but i cant say the same about them at the kilary

if you want marks for fishing i will give them to you because i am not a local,i had the same problem when i move in to the area but i found most of the marks on my own

i am surprised at the locals that they don't help make fishing more assessable around Connemara as a lot of business depend on tourist coming in to the area,this weekend alone over 20 lads contacted me about fishing around clifden and they will all leave a good few euro in the area and if the fishing is good they will be back again

if you want wrasse marks the locals wont tell you the good spot but just look on the rocks and you will see all the limpet shells and bits of crab they leave behind them:wink:

thanks for that creep....is that a bottle of beer i see on your box they reckon some parts of that are up to 50 metres deep.i wonder would you get tope in it

Hey Mate, One area i was fishin the ground was clean no snags BUT very weeded bottom but only on the gripper weights (that brown slude stuff, thats where i got the Rays), BUT within the Deep pools VERY VERY VERY clean! BUt theres a shelf about 40 ou, in which to get over you'll have to reel in fast BUT its stunning to watch as you do a normal power cast and then watch your line disappear into the deep REAL REALLY have to get back over there... Im in love with the West and I am sooooooo jealous of you... Its beautiful there!!! And damn your right about the people talk about giving nothing away!! your looking at somewhere really really fishy and ask a local....."Nope no fish were ever caught there, you need to go further out!" WTF?!?!??! I smiled and was polite "Ah sure i'll give it a bash anyways" ..."Mind the Farmers they dont like people!"

great report kevin, felt like i was there with you man
sometimes it's great just to get away somewhere on your own and kick back and relax man .

as jim morrison says the west is the best

[quote="saving private brian"]thanks for that creep....is that a bottle of beer i see on your box they reckon some parts of that are up to 50 metres deep.i wonder would you get tope in it


Nope a bottle of Rootbeer a friend was over from the States, (and after being there a few times) I love rootbeer!!


[quote="gfkelly1969"]
if you want marks for fishing i will give them to you because i am not a local,i had the same problem when i move in to the area but i found most of the marks on my own
i am surprised at the locals that they don't help make fishing more assessable around Connemara as a lot of business depend on tourist coming in to the area,this weekend alone over 20 lads contacted me about fishing around clifden and they will all leave a good few euro in the area and if the fishing is good they will be back again
if you want wrasse marks the locals wont tell you the good spot but just look on the rocks and you will see all the limpet shells and bits of crab they leave behind them:wink:

Thanks mate: will do, by the way didnt mean to sound if I was giving out about the Farmers or Locals, I was amazed that they were so eager to protect the Licence Fish, personally I thought it was great, nor did I want to offend any farmer by crossing his fields. But seriously thank you for the future marks, and i promise you i will take you up on that offer before the year is out, Cant help dreaming of that place!!! I was just beautiful, next trip I'm taking my son with me!! and camp it!

And thanks lads, I hear that West road a calling me again!!

bit narrow minded there lads!! as an angler and a local if you follow the info i gave in my previous post i can assure you that the chances of catching more than bloody lsds is greatly increased.

Will deffo try, But the LSD's were caught in Clifden, and the fight they provided I'm tellin ya here and now I was VERY temped to take a few back home to the East coast alive and set them off over there... Cause if we had LSD's over here that fought that hard...NO WAY WOULD YOU CATCH ME AT HOME!!! East Coast LSD's just sit on the damn bait dead weight, the West coast Boyos are a different keetle of fish altogether!! Be proud of your LSD's!!

Will deffo try, But the LSD's were caught in Clifden, and the fight they provided I'm tellin ya here and now I was VERY temped to take a few back home to the East coast alive and set them off over there... Cause if we had LSD's over here that fought that hard...NO WAY WOULD YOU CATCH ME AT HOME!!! East Coast LSD's just sit on the damn bait dead weight, the West coast Boyos are a different keetle of fish altogether!! Be proud of your LSD's!!

you bring the lorry and a few barrels and i wont be long filling them for you

[

Thanks mate: will do, by the way didnt mean to sound if I was giving out about the Farmers or Locals, I was amazed that they were so eager to protect the Licence Fish, personally I thought it was great, nor did I want to offend any farmer by crossing his fields. But seriously thank you for the future marks, and i promise you i will take you up on that offer before the year is out, Cant help dreaming of that place!!! I was just beautiful, next trip I'm taking my son with me!! and camp it!

And thanks lads, I hear that West road a calling me again!!

if your son is young there is one of the ray marks pretty safe for kids,i brought my 2.5 year old there a few times and there is camping near by as well
let me know when you are heading down and i will send on some information

get your head down kev and score a few brownie points and come with us the weekend should be a good session if the weather plays balls

Great read on the report, if I was there beside u well done on pbs

It was great reading Kev, by your report I can imagine what a great session you had, even being on your own
some good fishing Kev, well done