CO ANTRIM AND DOWN HARBOUR MARKS 1st & 2nd march

People: myself and jordan

Duration: 1st march 4hrs. 2nd march 3hrs

Tide: rising and falling

Weather: 1st, mental 40mph winds and torrential rain
2nd calm, dry but cold

Bait: ragworm and mackerel

Rigs: 2up 1 down size 1 hooks. Jordan's LRF set up

Results: whiting, coalies, flounder, 5 bearded rockling, shore rockling, codling, pouting and a doggie




Report: SAT 1ST MARCH

we didn't like the look of the forecast for today, but with a pound of rag in the fridge needing used up we decided to stay local and take a scoot up the coast to red bay for a bit of scratching to see what was about
we got to the mark and cast 2 rods out each while Jordan entertained himself with his LRF set up just over the side. the water was murky and so was the weather, but we were only gonna be here for a short session so decided to stick it out.
we were pleasantly surprised when my first cast resulted in a flounder and coalie double shot, and Jordan was into the coalies as well. they were nothing to write home about weighing in at a whopping quarter of a pound each, but hey. a fish is a fish
bite detection was out the window as the winds were gusting at easily 40mph with the tripods getting blown over on more than a few occasions but we stuck at it as the fish were coming in thick and fast. all tiddlers thow but a nice mix of stuff. there seemed to be quite a few baby codling around too who were loving the juicy ragworm on the bottom hooks of our rigs. the biggest fish of the session was depressingly brought up in our bait net from over the side of the pier . a codling of about a half a pound. but Jordan was having great fun on his LRF gear over the side with 12 inch coalies fighting like 3lb wrasse . he did ask me a few times if I would like a go on the set up, but I declined and stuck to my 2 beachcasters.


SUNDAY 2ND MARCH co down harbour

we got all the usual sunday stuff out of the way by 4pm which gave us a few hours to try somewhere handy for a bit. so we opted for one of our old handy haunts. we got down to be met with flat calm seas and no one else there fishing and bright blue skies . this was a strange feeling as we haven't had conditions like this in quite some time. so we high tailed it to our spot with the same set up as the day before. from the off the fish were coming in with whiting and coalies being the staple of the day. but there were a few rockling about too and the odd pouting. the highlight of the trip was a doggie for Jordan,,, I know. not exactly anything to write home about. but it was nice to at least see a bend in a rod for a change . after an hour or so Jordan went back to his LRF set up and was having great sport with the coalies and codling again. they were the same monsters as the day before all coming in around the 12 inch sort of size , but he seemed to be having great craic with them. he tried to convert me to the LRF gear again, but I told him that i'll wait until the summer before I give it a go when we can fish rock marks where 3lb wrasse and 2lb Pollack are just knocking about over the edge

sorry for the lack of pics in this report, but it was torrential on Saturday and I didn't think that pics of 4 inch codling and 6 inch whiting were exactly gonna get you all drooling with excitement

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Another fine report, good to be catching something, hopefully this weather will go for a bit!..

good stuff from the two boyos as usual, roll on the summer

Another quality couple of sessions lads, top job.

Nice bit of variety there and as you say Al a fish is a fish. Well done boys.

cheers lads. fingers crossed the weather calms down for a bit at the weekend and we can get out on the boat for a bit of skate and spurdog fishing

cheers lads. fingers crossed the weather calms down for a bit at the weekend and we can get out on the boat for a bit of skate and spurdog fishing

Will you be needing a passport and a Kilt or will you be fishing locally




NO! don't say that.

just locally man. this skipper has good skate marks just a mile or 2 off the NI coast, so no need to head over to Scotland or use scales that weight everything twice it's actual weight

Nice mix of species kept busy