West Clare 06.09.12

People: Myself +1
Duration: 3/4hrs
Tide: Dropping
Weather: Sunny with light wind
Bait: Fresh Mack
Rigs: Pully Pennel & Flapper
Results: Ray
Report:

Having recently moved to Co Clare from Dublin I had been itching to try to catch my first ray or huss that freqent the Shannon estuary. I had recieved some very helpful PM's (thanks guys) over the past few weeks on possible marks and had picked a tide and mark that I fancied. I had fished this particular mark a couple of weeks previous with my efforts going unrewarded however the fella that was with me had a nice TB @ 4-5lbs.


I have been reliably informed that fresh Mack is the way to go and decided to stop off to stock up at a cliff top Mack mark that has consistently provided myself and my freezer with as many as I wanted. The only downside to it was the hight (100ft easy), the litter and dodging 6oz and hooks from the group of fellas with funny accents. Interestingly I managed to get 3 Scad which are in the freezer for a winter pike bait. I had never caught or seen these fish before so was delighted to tick another species off the list.


I got to the mark to find the conditions perfect with the tide dropping and not a soul around. Quick hop through the field dodging the bull (thanks Neil) and short hike and I was ready. Set up two rods and was in the process of putting on the mack when i realised that I had forgotten my bait elastic.... The last time I was here the crabs had an all you can eat buffet with my baits so i was not very confident of my chances.

First rod in the water about two mins and the rod tip was starting to show some interest then went very slack. Lifted into the fish and felt a nice weight at the end of the line and a kick. Having never caught a ray from the shore I was unsure what it was as it felt a bit like a large doggie. Anyway Nice wee ray arrived shortly on the shore- Happy Days!

The baits remained untouched for the next hour with us having to put new mack on every 10 mins due to the crabs. Eventually I got cheesed off with this and decided to put on a full Joey and launched it into the channel. Almost immediately another bite identical to the first resulted in my second ray which was slightly bigger than my first.


Decided to head off after this to stop off for some more Macs for the freezer. Great day and delighted to catch 2 new species.

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Nothing better than hitting a mark and catching what you are after!!! Congrats no the new species!

very nice report joe. happy days, well done. a few good pics too. that fishing mark is mental!
and nice to see a couple of scad, they taste great btw..

well done joe,,,now you are in a great county for species,,,neil is the man to talk too....congrats on new species

nice ray man well done the on new species

very nice report joe. happy days, well done. a few good pics too. that fishing mark is mental!
and nice to see a couple of scad, they taste great btw..

Chuckaroo i had heard that they were only fit for the cat....?

well done joe,,,now you are in a great county for species,,,neil is the man to talk too....congrats on new species

He sure is... Very helpful and a true gent.

Cheers lads, now for the Huss...

Its great when a plan comes together... nice one

very nice report joe. happy days, well done. a few good pics too. that fishing mark is mental!
and nice to see a couple of scad, they taste great btw..

Chuckaroo i had heard that they were only fit for the cat....?

no way. i believe this to be an untrue and unfounded rumour
another name for the scad is the horse mackerel, it is an important commercial species and very popular
the name horse mackerel and scad i think make it sound unappetising but i can assure you that its not
i believe it is related to the tuna/mackerel fishes and it tastes not unlike mackerel. its a bit less oily than mackerel and in my opinion even nicer
only one way to find out.. give it a try next time you get one. and always try and eat fish as fresh as possible, obviously

I bet that mac mark holds fine Ballan wrasse
It looks quite similar to a mark we fished 2 yrs ago off Kerry head which produced the best wrasse fishing I've ever experienced from boat or shore !!! Great Craic
Dave

I bet that mac mark holds fine Ballan wrasse
It looks quite similar to a mark we fished 2 yrs ago off Kerry head which produced the best wrasse fishing I've ever experienced from boat or shore !!! Great Craic
Dave

Dave the mark in the photo was not the one that I caught the Mac and Scad from, the cliff mark was 2 or 3 times higher than that . I had stopped off there before the ray mark in the hope that it would be fishable with SP for some pollock but the swell was awesome despite it being a lovely calm day. It does appartently produce a number of species including trigger, wrasse and pollock however the last time I fished it only the pollock were caught.

God bless the west coast

Well done on the ray Joe,great fishing and great report I found when I fished down that way and the crabs were out in force that a sandeel wrapped in squid and bound with elastic seemed to survive the crabs for a bit longer Looks like you moved to nice spot anyway,some cracking fishing to be had around there.Enjoy
Tim

just read your report and thats a fine ray,its always great to hear when a plan comes together.

well done
john a

Well done on the ray Joe,great fishing and great report I found when I fished down that way and the crabs were out in force that a sandeel wrapped in squid and bound with elastic seemed to survive the crabs for a bit longer Looks like you moved to nice spot anyway,some cracking fishing to be had around there.Enjoy
Tim

Cheers Tim. Let me know the next time you fancy heading west......... After all your probably sick of catching giant huss