Bray harbour, 29 Dec 2012

People: Me

Duration: 16 h 30 - 17 h 30

Tide: low at 17 h 30

Weather: clear, not too cold, not too windy

Bait: fresh lugworms

Rigs: 2 hooks flappers (size 1 and 2)

Results: 4 rocklings, 1 codling




Report: I had a couple of hours to spend and I needed some fresh air, so I grabbed 2 rods and 20 lugworms and headed to Bray harbour for a short session. I promised myself to avoid Greystones pier on windy days and when the temperature is below 10 degres... Ok, I'm a softy. I also wanted to check if there was some Eyesreilly's christmas magic left there . It took me a while to avoid the crabs and the rocks, but then I had constantly small bites resulting in rocklings. I missed a few. I think my hooks were to big. The rocklings were all around 15-20 cm. The highlight of the session was a double rockling - codling. The codling was small (around 25 cm), but it was my biggest so far.

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I realised that it was probably the last session of the year, so I looked back in my reports (not all are published here ) to make my list of species for 2012. I realised that I caught almost all the usual suspects that you could expect on the east coast. There may be a plaice in my flounders (wasn't sure, the spots were redish). I am also unable to tell what kind of rocklings and sea scopions I caught. There must be common and starry in my list of smooth hounds, most of them were pups. But I was adviced well enough to get a good fight from a half decent sized one (thanks Alan !). I also met the mythical Bass ! The mackerel is missing in the list... I wanted to try feathering last summer, but the busy piers and the flying leads made me change my mind each time. Anyway, I'm amazed by the variety of species you can catch from the shore, without speaking the pleasant feeling of been outdoors and by the sea (I'm from an inland part of the continent, so I'm feeling in holidays each time I see the sea). All the fishes were released alive, exept the deeply hooked ones, like some greedy whitings.

A trusty 2 hooks flapper and fat ragworms were responsible for most of the catches. But I also have to mention the huge amount of help I found on that forum. I also added my 2011 list, just to show the improvement since I'm on that forum. I was a beginner and joining a club wasn't my cup of tea. This forum was the perfect introduction to sea angling for me. So thanks everybody !

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Fair play to ya for Brayving the elements..

[JPA]

Fair play to ya for Brayving the elements..

Thanks. Actually, the weather was fine during the hour I was there... I could find shelter behind the wall and there is even a little bench for sitting !

Edit : Ha Ha Ha, I just got the pun ! Good one !

Last edited by JPA on Mon Dec 31, 2012 12:56 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Fair play for heading out. Fish sizes are becoming disheartening I haunt caught something decency this year since the boat went into storage.

Fair play for heading out. Fish sizes are becoming disheartening I haunt caught something decency this year since the boat went into storage.

Thanks. I can't tell about the size : this is my first year of "serious" sea angling, so I can't complain as long as I don't blank or catch only whitings and crabs.

Well done JPA ,,, But I think I left my Mojo there That's a 5 bearded rockling by the way p.s. that bench is for taking photos on, not sitting on,,,haven't you seen the creepy crawlies that live in it

Well done JPA ,,, But I think I left my Mojo there That's a 5 bearded rockling by the way p.s. that bench is for taking photos on, not sitting on,,,haven't you seen the creepy crawlies that live in it

What ?! I didn't know I wasn't alone . I'll have a better look next time... Anyway, I was to busy to sit. A 5 bearded rockling ? Ok, so it's my first one !

Didn't touch your Mojo. I'm sure you'll find it intact there