Donegal Bay, 24th and 25th July, 2012

People:Just me

Duration:6 hrs on Tues, 5 hrs on Wed.

Tide:1hr ebb, 5 hrs to almost high water.

Weather:Rain, little wind on Tue, sunshine and light breeze on Wed.

Bait:Lug, frozen razorfish and sandeel, limpets.

Rigs:2/3 hook flappers on Tue, single hook flapper and float on Wed.

Results:1 small plaice and 4 ballan wrasse.




Report:
First time shore fishing in a while and sadly not a lot to report. I started off on Tuesday on a beach but after an hour of constantly dragging in kelp every cast I conceded defeat and moved to a rock mark. By this time it was raining steadily making the rocks very slippery. I didn't have decent wet gear with me as the forecast had given the north-west to escape the rain so I headed for another spot where I wouldn't be too far from the car to avoid the worst of the rain. As I got out of the car I was lucky enough to see a dolphin with a young one breaking the surface about 30yds offshore and managed to get a quick photo. I fished 2 rods for 5 hours and got only one rather anaemic looking small plaice and one other feeble attempt at a bite which came to nothing. 6 hours for 1 small plaice; time to pack up for the day. As I was leaving the sun broke through and produced a fine sunset.
Wednesday started with wall-to-wall sunshine so I headed for the rock mark. There was a bit more swell coming in than I had expected but I eventually found a couple of spots to fish. Fishing was slow but eventually I got a few ballan wrasse, 2 on the bottom and 2 on float gear. The fish were all around the 30-32cm mark and all took lug though I missed a couple of half-hearted bites on razorfish on the bottom. Limpets didn't provoke any interest at all. All in all, not a great session but it was good to get out again.

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Nice pics
At least you found some fish . Hopefully the worst of the red tide is over now .
Good luck .

Nice Wrasse, the photo of dolphins and sunset are brilliant

Terrific picture of the dolphins!

Very nice pics there John the fishing seem to to be though going in some places after the red tide but hopefully another few weeks will see it pick up!!

Beautiful pictures and at least you had a few Wrasse for your Efforts gorgeous fish what weight would you put on 30-32 cm Ballen?still gave a good account of themselves id say!
Tightlines
fergal

Beautiful pictures and at least you had a few Wrasse for your Efforts gorgeous fish what weight would you put on 30-32 cm Ballen?still gave a good account of themselves id say!
Tightlines
fergal

I would say they are around the pound to pound and a quarter mark.

is that defo a plaice? guessin that the spots on it arent just quite red because its a juvenile?

nice pics there jw. class wee dolphin
heres a pic of the same sunset taken from the north antrim coast:

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Great pics both of you..... Jw at least you got a few..

looks like a flounder

JW - any signs of red tide effects? Alan.

is that defo a plaice? guessin that the spots on it arent just quite red because its a juvenile?

nice pics there jw. class wee dolphin
heres a pic of the same sunset taken from the north antrim coast:

looks like a flounder

JW - any signs of red tide effects? Alan.

The dull colours don't look very plaice-like but other features like the bony ridge on the head, rounded tail and herringbone pattern visible on the other side indicate plaice. The water at that mark was still showing signs of red tide, it was very murky and dirty looking and this may have affected the colouring of the fish.
Chuckaroo, that certainly looks like the same sun I saw! (But I think my clouds are nicer....)

Chuckaroo, that certainly looks like the same sun I saw! (But I think my clouds are nicer....)

defo the same sunset JW and, by the looks of it, at a very similar time. it was tuesday night. i was fishing myself.
yes, your clouds are very nice but what beats me is how you managed to take that pic whilst still fishing from the pier....