The last few weeks - East Cork/West Waterford

People: Me

Duration: Various

Tide: Rising/High tide

Weather: Various

Bait: Lures

Rigs:

Results: See below




Report: I have been very busy with work so didn't get the chance to post up any reports for quite some time so here is a summary of the recent fishing:

29th September: The conditions looked good so I headed to an East Cork mark that can fish well in relatively calm weather. The water was still rather coloured but better than it had been through most of the summer. I worked my way eastwards with the rising tide but nothing was biting. After a couple of hours I got the eastern end of the bay. I tried a few soft plastics first then put on a Feed Shallow. After a few casts the lure was snatched by a bass about 25 m out. It wasn't a big fish with a length of 47 cm but fought well all the same.

I had another three takes in fairly quick succession after that, the first was only lightly hooked and came off after a few seconds, the second stayed on a bit longer before breaking off. The third stayed on all the way in, I had it at my feet and was trying to surf it on to the rock platform on the crest of a wave, but just as the wave lifted it the fish flipped over and shook the hook.

The tide pushed me back and I began fishing into narrow gulleys along the flank of a small embayment. As it was fairly deep water here I switched to a Zonk Gataride. After a few casts a small fish made a lunge for the lure and was on for a few seconds. I don't think it was a bass - more like a coalfish. However, shortly afterwards the lure was snatched by a bass right at my feet. As it was in so close it only took a few seconds to land, it was a plump 44 cm bass,

As the light began to fade the pollock came on the feed. I had about six plus one coalfish in quick succession, but no more bass.


4th October: I headed to a mark which had produced a few bass in mid-September in the last few hours to high tide. I arrived about an hour before dusk. The sea was much rougher than I had anticipated. I was not too hopeful of catching anything at all but thought I may as well give it a go since I had driven all the way there. I used lures that have a fair bit of movement, such as the Savagear sandeel and the Zonk Gataride. After about 40 minutes a Gataride was hit by a fish about 30 m out. It fought very strongly and stayed deep all the way in to the edge of the shore. I was convinced it was a pollock until I eventually raised it to the surface and saw that it was a bass. Since I was standing on a ledge 1.5 m above the sea level for safety as big swells were crashing onto the rocks I had to try to land the fish on the crest of a wave. The fish had other ideas but eventually I got it on the rocks to a place where I could safely grab it. It was a very well fed 54 cm bass. Unfortunately in the struggle to land the fish the vane on the Gataride was broken off.

I switched to a large Savagear silver/white sandeel. A little later I had a bass take the lure about 20 m out. This put up a good fight but I was faced with the same problem of landing the fish. I tried to surf it onto the rocks on the breaking waves three times but it was a larger, more powerful fish and wasn't going to be taken so easily. On the third attempt as the fish slid back the braid caught on the edge of the rocks and snapped!!!!

Next time I fish there I must remember to bring a landing net!!!

6th October: It was a nice sunny Saturday afternoon. High tide was late, 10.40 pm so in the late afternoon I headed to the same location I fished the previous Saturday. The conditions looked good, not too rough, water clarity OK although there was a lot of fine rotting seaweed floating close to shore. There was not much happening but out to sea I could see several disturbances on the water with lots of seabirds diving or snatching sprat off the surface, presumably forced to the surface by shoals of mackeral. The bass were probably out there too.

Close to dusk the fishing began to improve. First I had a pollock of about 3-3.5 lbs on a large Savagear Sandeel followed shortly afterwards by a 48 cm bass on the same lure.

After that I could feel plenty of fish hitting the lure but they were not hooked, probably smaller pollock that couldn't get their mouths around the larger lure. I switched to a yellow tailed jellyworm and shortly afterwards it was taken by a small pollock. However, since I was really interested in bass I put on my last Zonk Gataride and fished on for a while but there was no more interest.


13th October: This was another nice Saturday - three good Saturdays in a row - that was something we did not experience throughout the entire summer!!! I headed to a West Waterford mark where I had some good bass last year but so far this year had fished very poorly. I reckoned it might be time to try there again. The water was quite clear so it looked promising but unfortunately the fish didn't think so. I worked my way westwards for several hours without a sign of a fish. I reached the western end of the bay which has a deeper water gulley. It was now close to high tide so I thought I would try for pollock. I got a few but they were small, 1-1.5 lbs. I began to work my way back, got to a small bay close to dusk and could see some fish activity on the surface. I fished a variety of lures and caught a number of pollock and a few coalfish but no bass. The total for the day was 13 pollock and 2 coalfish, but all fish were small, nothing over 1.5 lbs.

14th October: Another nice day so I headed out in the late morning to catch the start of the rising tide at a favourite East Cork mark. There was a moderate westerly wind blowing parallel to the shore which flattened out the swell but the water was still quite coloured. I worked my way eastwards without a bite. I got the eastern end of the bay about 2.5 hours before high tide. The rising tide had brought in clear water but still there was nothing. Then a large Savagear sandeel was grabbed by a bass about 40 m out. I had it on for about a minute before it shook the hook. But at least that indicated there were fish there.

A little later a small shoal of mackeral chased a shoal of small fish into the corner of the bay. I had a go at fishing for them as a diversion, got two on Xlayers and another on an Asturie but then they moved on. A little later close to dusk I noticed some more activity on the surface in the same area. I thought the mackeral were back but it was pollock and coalfish chasing the sprat. I caught about 10 pollock (1-2.5 lbs) and two coalfish mostly on Xlayers. I was hoping that there might be a few bass joining in the feeding frenzy and fished across the area with a Gataride, Feed Shallows and several other lures without any interest.

So in conclusion the bass fishing has remained tough despite some fairly decent conditions over the last few weeks. I had thought the poor fishing over the summer was due to the weather and expected the fishing to pick up with a improvement in the conditions. But now I think that the extensive netting that took place in East Cork last winter may have deciminated the bass population along what used to be a very productive stretch of coastline.

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Some cracking sessions there Frank, the big bass seem to be very ellusive, or are they just not there?

nice report rockhunter some marks up this way havnt produced much all year not one fish over 6 lb for me but i,m still hopefull of the big one over the next month if things roughen up a bit, the constant westerly or total lack of surf is never going to get the big ones in nice tides for a few days ,just looked at the forcast for tonight looks like good fishin weather

Thanks guys,

the big Bass seem to be very ellusive, or are they just not there?

The big bass are scarce alright - my biggest fish of the year at 7 or 7.5 lbs was actually the first bass I caught this year back in January. I have had very few above 4 lbs since then.

just looked at the forcast for tonight looks like good fishin weather

Maybe I am just getting old but tonight looks to be too uncomfortable to be out - although I do plan going bait fishing tomorrow (Thursday), there should still be a good surf but the wind will be a lot less and it looks to be dry too - that will be my first time bait fishing in ages.

Great report I'll be hitting an East cork mark mark on Friday night with bait which has thrown up a few nice fish this year. Hopefully I'll land something to report on

Great report,Some lovley Bass there frank a lot of effort put in and duely a few Bass came your way ,a pity about the ones that got away ,i can only hope your wrong and the Bass will Start to show in Larger Numbers soon Heres Hoping
Tightlines
ferg

Nice fishing. Bass are definitely scarcer this year. Hopefully, things will pick up

super report frank and great fishing all you hard work payed of with some great bass well done

Nice fishing there Frank, netting is still a problem along this coastline but I reckon the weather has played a big part in keeping the bass just a little bit further offshore too.

Thanks guys,

netting is still a problem along this coastline but I reckon the weather has played a big part in keeping the Bass just a little bit further offshore too.

I was thinking that the weather was the main problem but that stretch of coastline in East Cork that I was fishing was heavily netted last winter and a lot of bass were reputely taken - it must have had serious effect there - I would have expected to get more bass there over the last few weeks particular as conditions were not too bad compared to what they were during the "summer".

The West Waterford mark I fished last Saturday was a place where I had a lot of good size bass last year - almost every time I fished there I had bass. I have fished there at least 12 times this year and just had a single bass of 3 lb in late June. Most times the water clarity was good, with a bit of fizz in the water - it should have produced more fish. It leading me to the conclusion that it was most likely netted too.
Last year there were plenty of 3-4 lb pollock there too, this year there has been nothing over 1.5 lbs - the fish that got through the nets?

The West Waterford mark I fished last Saturday was a place where I had a lot of good size Bass last year - almost every time I fished there I had Bass. I have fished there at least 12 times this year and just had a single Bass of 3 lb in late June. Most times the water clarity was good, with a bit of fizz in the water - it should have produced more fish. It leading me to the conclusion that it was most likely netted too.
Last year there were plenty of 3-4 lb pollock there too, this year there has been nothing over 1.5 lbs - the fish that got through the nets?

It looks a bit like that to me aswell Frank, I fished there saturday, sunday and tuesday - had a few bass -every one of them around 2lb. All the pollack around 1lb.
In previous years I always seemed to catch a broad range of sizes there.

There is no doubt about the netting where I fish in W Waterford. I recently came across part of a net on rocks where I fish. It looked like the net had been caught on the rocks and cut to save the rest. ..... photo attached.

net.jpg

Another matter is that some anglers are keeping more that the 2 bass allowed. I was told of one incident where a guy kept 18 bass up to 10lb near Youghal.

The only way for these matters to be solved is for active policing by the fisheries. I realise that they are probably under resourced. If this is the case then it is time to hire more local men who will know what is going on where and when. Fisheries cannot be carried out on a central basis and it needs local knowledge.

One prosecution with lots of media attention would stop a lot of the bass laws being broken.

In the USA everybody pays a licence but this goes to employ officers specifically to take care of the local fishing laws. It works and as a result the fishing Stateside is in very healthy condition.

Of course the problem here is that if a licence were introduced the money would probably go to pay Angela Merkel

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Thanks guys,

netting is still a problem along this coastline but I reckon the weather has played a big part in keeping the Bass just a little bit further offshore too.

I was thinking that the weather was the main problem but that stretch of coastline in East Cork that I was fishing was heavily netted last winter and a lot of Bass were reputely taken - it must have had serious effect there - I would have expected to get more Bass there over the last few weeks particular as conditions were not too bad compared to what they were during the "summer".

Hi Frank,good to see you out and about again,as far as im concerned that east cork stretch has been destroyed [9 miles of nets over several tides ].Interestingly ive been lucky enough to fish other marks down south and the fishing has been a lot more consistant with decent numbers of fish at times and also lots of anglers too.The strange thing is that its been the same faces and ive never heard these marks mentioned through the grapevine also the fact that there has been no sign of certain cork boats is helping as well

Sad to see 3 sets of trebles on your lures - no point in people complaining about a lack of bass this year when they are being carved up like this.

One treble with the barbs flattened is enough to hook them up ..

Sad to see 3 sets of trebles on your lures - no point in people complaining about a lack of bass this year when they are being carved up like this.

One treble with the barbs flattened is enough to hook them up ..

,as far as im concerned that east cork stretch has been destroyed

Unfortunately it appears to be true - even the net hauled by the IFI from there on Monday had no bass in it.

Sad to see 3 sets of trebles on your lures - no point in people complaining about a lack of Bass this year when they are being carved up like this.
One treble with the barbs flattened is enough to hook them up ..

If a lure is designed with three treble hooks then that is how I am going to fish it.
I am not going to alter its dynamics by removing hooks.

In the USA everybody pays a licence but this goes to employ officers specifically to take care of the local fishing laws. It works and as a result the fishing Stateside is in very healthy condition.
Of course the problem here is that if a licence were introduced the money would probably go to pay Angela Merkel

I would have no objection to paying a licence fee it it were to go towards protection, but it would need a lot of licence fees to pay for even a handful of protection officers. More licences than there are anglers willing to pay, so part of it would have to be funded by Government and in the present economic climate that is not going to happen.

Nice fishing Frank and a great report as usual.. good to see you back

great fishing frank headed out to a east cork beach on Thursday myself place was full of weed couldn't fish the place .
after spending 2 hours bait digging ,O the joys.

Thanks Shane,

great fishing frank h

It wasn't really that great - previous years I would expect to get than many bass from a single session at that time of the year.

headed out to a east cork beach on Thursday myself place was full of weed couldn't fish the place

I was out myself on Thursday night - same thing, lost two shockleaders on the first three casts, tried standing out in the surf holding the rod vertical but still snagged a mass of weed after a few minutes.