Late Report: A couple of sessions in Donegal, 1/6 & 4/6
Sun Jun 08, 2014 9:53 pm
People: 1st- David and Myself.
4th- Chuckaroo and Myself.
Duration: 1st-2 hours, 4th-5 hours
Tide: 1st- up to high, 4th- dropping
Weather: lovely, slight breeze both days
Bait: Frozen Mackeral
Rigs: flappers and pulleys
Results: Turbot, flounder and ray.
Report:Time for fishing has been short of late but with a week off the gear was crammed into the spaces in the car not filled with baby stuff in readiness to take any opportunity that came along
1st June
Headed to a favorite mark, Culdaff beach, for a short session on Sunday evening. My bro-in law Dave had never fished before and this mark is usually reliable for the flatties so it seemed like a good option. Arrived about two hours before high water and got set up. First cast Dave got a double of small turbot so the pressure was off now that the first-timer had caught. I was content to fish with a light spinning rod, one hook rig and a 1 oz. lead just flicked into the suds. I was surpried how lively small flatties can be on a light set-up. Good craic and there was a constant stream of small turbot and a few flounder mixed in to keep us both amused. No monsters but an enjoyable wee session on a beautiful evening on one of my favourite marks.
4th June
Arranged to meet up with Chuckaroo in the hope of a ray or two. He had seen on the 'most common fish you've never caught' thread I'd never caught one despite trying a good few times so he agreed to help me out and get the monkey off my back! We agreed to fish a mark outside my usual Donegal territory of Inishowen so it was good to fish a new mark too. Arrived at the spot about an hour after HW and got set-up. In my enthusiasm I'd bought 5 packs of frozen mack, which in hindsight was overkill but I think was just a reaction to how badly I wanted a ray
At least we had plenty of bait. Chuck was off to a great start with a nice wee ray inside the first 20 minutes or so. Unfortunately when unhooking it, it had a bit of a chomp on his thumb which hindered his fishing a bit for the rest of the session but at least we knew there were a few about. It wasn't long before I got a few nods of the rod and my first ray on the shore. Mission accomplished- not a biggie but I wasn't complaining, just very happy to finally get one! We fished on for several hours with only one more ray between us, no doggies showed up at all surprisingly. It wasn't hectic fishing but with target species achieved we said our goodbyes and hit the road. Thanks again to Chuckaroo for putting me on the ray- see you again soon mate!
4th- Chuckaroo and Myself.
Duration: 1st-2 hours, 4th-5 hours
Tide: 1st- up to high, 4th- dropping
Weather: lovely, slight breeze both days
Bait: Frozen Mackeral
Rigs: flappers and pulleys
Results: Turbot, flounder and ray.
Report:Time for fishing has been short of late but with a week off the gear was crammed into the spaces in the car not filled with baby stuff in readiness to take any opportunity that came along
1st June
Headed to a favorite mark, Culdaff beach, for a short session on Sunday evening. My bro-in law Dave had never fished before and this mark is usually reliable for the flatties so it seemed like a good option. Arrived about two hours before high water and got set up. First cast Dave got a double of small turbot so the pressure was off now that the first-timer had caught. I was content to fish with a light spinning rod, one hook rig and a 1 oz. lead just flicked into the suds. I was surpried how lively small flatties can be on a light set-up. Good craic and there was a constant stream of small turbot and a few flounder mixed in to keep us both amused. No monsters but an enjoyable wee session on a beautiful evening on one of my favourite marks.
4th June
Arranged to meet up with Chuckaroo in the hope of a ray or two. He had seen on the 'most common fish you've never caught' thread I'd never caught one despite trying a good few times so he agreed to help me out and get the monkey off my back! We agreed to fish a mark outside my usual Donegal territory of Inishowen so it was good to fish a new mark too. Arrived at the spot about an hour after HW and got set-up. In my enthusiasm I'd bought 5 packs of frozen mack, which in hindsight was overkill but I think was just a reaction to how badly I wanted a ray
At least we had plenty of bait. Chuck was off to a great start with a nice wee ray inside the first 20 minutes or so. Unfortunately when unhooking it, it had a bit of a chomp on his thumb which hindered his fishing a bit for the rest of the session but at least we knew there were a few about. It wasn't long before I got a few nods of the rod and my first ray on the shore. Mission accomplished- not a biggie but I wasn't complaining, just very happy to finally get one! We fished on for several hours with only one more ray between us, no doggies showed up at all surprisingly. It wasn't hectic fishing but with target species achieved we said our goodbyes and hit the road. Thanks again to Chuckaroo for putting me on the ray- see you again soon mate!
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Re: Late Report: A couple of sessions in Donegal, 1/6 & 4/6
Sun Jun 08, 2014 11:38 pm
no bother at all Robin, it was enjoyable
aye, that ray took a bite outta the top of my thumb alright, i havent seen the like of it before. all the thornbacks that i have seen in the past have had just the blunt boney plates around their mouth but this guy had TEETH, and blo*dy sharp teeth at that too, deadly. i barely touched them and my thumb was latched on to. aye it made a bit of a mess and for tricky fishing the rest of the day, but its well on the road to recovery now
i caught a nice pollack today from a boat just off Rathlin Island, will maybe put a wee report up tomorrow
i have attached a couple more pics here for the sake of it. and one of those f*ckin teeth
yip, see you again at some stage soon mate
cheers
oh yeah, i ate that ray. it was good, but not fantastic..
aye, that ray took a bite outta the top of my thumb alright, i havent seen the like of it before. all the thornbacks that i have seen in the past have had just the blunt boney plates around their mouth but this guy had TEETH, and blo*dy sharp teeth at that too, deadly. i barely touched them and my thumb was latched on to. aye it made a bit of a mess and for tricky fishing the rest of the day, but its well on the road to recovery now
i caught a nice pollack today from a boat just off Rathlin Island, will maybe put a wee report up tomorrow
i have attached a couple more pics here for the sake of it. and one of those f*ckin teeth
yip, see you again at some stage soon mate
cheers
oh yeah, i ate that ray. it was good, but not fantastic..
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Re: Late Report: A couple of sessions in Donegal, 1/6 & 4/6
Mon Jun 09, 2014 8:06 am
Great photos lads, well done on the ray.
Re: Late Report: A couple of sessions in Donegal, 1/6 & 4/6
Mon Jun 09, 2014 8:31 am
Nice report, well done. Female thornbacks have flat crushing pads, much like smoothounds, whereas male thornies have sharper, back pointing teeth like the one that munched on your finger.
Re: Late Report: A couple of sessions in Donegal, 1/6 & 4/6
Mon Jun 09, 2014 9:56 am
congrats sweetwrasse, great smiles
catching your target in the sunshine, hardly gets much better
catching your target in the sunshine, hardly gets much better
Re: Late Report: A couple of sessions in Donegal, 1/6 & 4/6
Mon Jun 09, 2014 10:11 am
corbyeire wrote: catching your target in the sunshine, hardly gets much better
It surely doesn't- catching a few rays is always pleasant- boom boom
Re: Late Report: A couple of sessions in Donegal, 1/6 & 4/6
Mon Jun 09, 2014 10:53 am
Well done lads, mission accomplished.
By the looks of them teeth on that Ray it could have been a lot worse, ouchh.
By the looks of them teeth on that Ray it could have been a lot worse, ouchh.
Re: Late Report: A couple of sessions in Donegal, 1/6 & 4/6
Mon Jun 09, 2014 2:01 pm
well done lads the pictures of the ray are class love the one of it in the water , he isnt very thorny either but beautiful markings
Re: Late Report: A couple of sessions in Donegal, 1/6 & 4/6
Mon Jun 09, 2014 5:05 pm
Nice going....I see one of the rays has the black nose...