Donegal Bay Rock mark, 1 July 2014
Thu Jul 03, 2014 5:41 pm
People:Me
Duration:3 hrs
Tide:Low to half
Weather:Glorious
Bait:Power Isome worms, lug, hardback crab
Rigs:LRF jigheads, sliding float tackle.
Results:
Report:
Headed for a rock mark to try for a few wrasse and give the lrf rod a day out and if all else failed, at least I could work on my farmer’s tan. I was glad to see that the rod seems to be holding up well after the tip had started to splinter requiring some diy repairs. I arrived at low tide to dead calm water and could see right to the bottom. I set up the lrf rod with a small jighead and Power Isome worm to start. It was surprising to see the number of fish which came over to investigate but decided not to take the bait, some even darted away when I jigged a bit of life into the worm. However a persistent little sea scorpion wasn’t so easily put off and became first catch of the day. He was so well camouflaged that only his movement gave him away. A number of corkwing wrasse nipped at the bait while avoiding contact with the hook which I think was too big when combined with the leadhead, I think I will try dropshotting with size 12 hooks next time. As the tide filled the gullies I had a couple of more aggressive bites resulting in a corkwing and a couple of small ballans, then a 2lb ballan which on an lrf set-up seemed like a monster. I switched to a stronger spinning rod and lug bait and had another 2lb ballan and a couple of Pollack around the 34cm mark. In the hope of something bigger I switched to hardback crab for bait and sure enough something big grabbed it but despite my best efforts and a U-shaped rod, it went to ground. I waited about 20 seconds with a slack line to see if it could be lulled into a false sense of safety; it worked and the fish came out of the snag. I hauled for all I was worth and the fish was being dragged up to the surface when something snapped, not the line but the hook. So once more “the one that got away”. Perhaps he’ll be there the next time.
Duration:3 hrs
Tide:Low to half
Weather:Glorious
Bait:Power Isome worms, lug, hardback crab
Rigs:LRF jigheads, sliding float tackle.
Results:
Report:
Headed for a rock mark to try for a few wrasse and give the lrf rod a day out and if all else failed, at least I could work on my farmer’s tan. I was glad to see that the rod seems to be holding up well after the tip had started to splinter requiring some diy repairs. I arrived at low tide to dead calm water and could see right to the bottom. I set up the lrf rod with a small jighead and Power Isome worm to start. It was surprising to see the number of fish which came over to investigate but decided not to take the bait, some even darted away when I jigged a bit of life into the worm. However a persistent little sea scorpion wasn’t so easily put off and became first catch of the day. He was so well camouflaged that only his movement gave him away. A number of corkwing wrasse nipped at the bait while avoiding contact with the hook which I think was too big when combined with the leadhead, I think I will try dropshotting with size 12 hooks next time. As the tide filled the gullies I had a couple of more aggressive bites resulting in a corkwing and a couple of small ballans, then a 2lb ballan which on an lrf set-up seemed like a monster. I switched to a stronger spinning rod and lug bait and had another 2lb ballan and a couple of Pollack around the 34cm mark. In the hope of something bigger I switched to hardback crab for bait and sure enough something big grabbed it but despite my best efforts and a U-shaped rod, it went to ground. I waited about 20 seconds with a slack line to see if it could be lulled into a false sense of safety; it worked and the fish came out of the snag. I hauled for all I was worth and the fish was being dragged up to the surface when something snapped, not the line but the hook. So once more “the one that got away”. Perhaps he’ll be there the next time.
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Re: Donegal Bay Rock mark, 1 July 2014
Thu Jul 03, 2014 8:14 pm
Nice pics and report sounds a good day out;)
Re: Donegal Bay Rock mark, 1 July 2014
Thu Jul 03, 2014 8:52 pm
interesting wee session JW. Nice report, great pics
that was probably a good bass that got away.. but hey, what odds
c u 2moro
that was probably a good bass that got away.. but hey, what odds
c u 2moro
Re: Donegal Bay Rock mark, 1 July 2014
Fri Jul 04, 2014 8:04 am
is that an articulated jig head?