Galway...mostly 21,22,23 oct

People: me fein

Duration: around 3 hours all nights

Tide: high 7, 8, 9pm approx

Weather: dry light winds mostly clear skies

Bait: frozen lug, wraps, mac, sandeel

Rigs: 3 hook flapper, pully

Results: 1 flounder, 1 whiting, 1 coalie

Report: have had a few places in my head that i wanted to try for some time at this time of year when conditions would be optimum hoping to see are they barren wastelands or is there ever any hope of a few fish on them

headed off to ballyconeely on the monday
had fished this beach south of the golf course twice before, both blanks - place covered in those skinners
originally i went out there to fish the beaches/rocks mentioned in the CFB guides but there was no access when i looked
so with some amount of stubborness i tried this beach to the south again

on first view a load of weed was on the beach after the springs 2 days before but none was in the water
fished the eastern end where there was less
nothing for the first hour but no skinners so thought that must be good
then on the top of the tide got a flounder 31cm
next cast i got a whiting 17cm
was thinking this was it top of the tide is when this place fishes - but no - that was it
chased the tide out for another hour and half - to be sure
verdict - pass of a session - but wont be running back there anytime soon

on the tuesday had a session of a different kind monday night, so the sore head didnt want to travel
so i tried a spot in the inner bay - fished once before about 7 years ago
now with all my expert knowledge i thought i would definetly catch fish if they were there

there was a nice bit of weed but it was fishable
nothing on the top of the tide and the chase was on
was doing well avoiding snags but then lost one in an area i wasnt expecting - the old OSI overheads arent as amazing as you think!

anyways it was getting late and i was wrecked when a coalie decided to come in around the mid 20cm mark
delighted to see him and that was enough for me
verdict - pass of a session - will be back as its so handy in the inner bay and have caught plenty nearby - and this beach slopes even steeper!

tuesday off down to clare/galway border - wanted to try a beach i always seem to catch one flounder on but no more
thought with the conditions and the tides being right i would surely have to do better
arrived on site and there was a mountain of weed on the beach and huge rafts in the water
i had to come up with a plan quick and basically made a bad decision

headed down the road 20mins to a difficult beach to fish - with only a narrow clean area to bring your rigs back in in the centre - there were bits of weed around that kept knocking me into the rough terriritory on either side - after an hour and a half got tired of this and decided to leave
ive had about 7 sessions on this beach now - 4 blanks, 1 sea trout, 1 dog, 1 rockling
dont think ill be going back

with the blank on my mind and plenty of bait i headed to the nearest pier - which was under construction
this should ahve been a sign from the gods but like a gluton i went to the next pier - further away from home - and duly blanked there for an hour and 20 mins

a lot of time and a lot of juice but thats fishing
im nearly more eager to get back out - it barely scratched the itch

sure as you said thats fishing but keep at it and the rewards will come

Ahh sure your still gathering useful information with regard to marks every time ya fish them.
Cool report.

Fair play on getting out Brian. At least you 'know' now
Must get out for a sesssion before long.

well reported lad,even when you do come away without a few fish,you still come away with info you wouldnt have got if you werent there...good job laad

thanks all - hope they were biting if you were able to get out to fish over the long weekend

jeese brian, that was tough going man. at least you're getting out and trying new spots. you're due to find a gem with all the hours you put in thow. keep the faith buddy

i was hoping the scattergun approach would eventually throw up a gem in inner galway bay
to be fair there has only been one real mark and at that it was my mate who found it!

headed down to lacken for a few flounder last night - got meself another blank
i double check everytime now that the trace is actually on the end of the line and that the crab arent left on the counter back in the shop

Ten out of ten for effort even if the returns were a bit meagre. Fishing is like a young niece of mine; "Can't be good all the time!"