Donegal Bay, 21st and 22nd April 2015

I hadn’t been sea fishing for a while so dusted down the rods and headed for a deep water mark to see if there were any rays about yet. A good slice of mackerel on a long trace and plain lead was cast out while a second rod was kitted out with a 3 hook flapper and a selection of lug, mackerel and prawns to scratch for smaller stuff. The larger baits didn’t get any interest during the session but the smaller baits attracted 5 dabs up to 26cm and a few other bites. The dabs were wafer-thin, I would have thought they would have been ravenous but quite a few bites failed to materialise into fish; a couple of tugs and then nothing. I was surprised at the number of starfish I got, no crabs but about 6-7 stars. I gave the LRF gear a go in the rocks and weed at my feet but not a sign of anything.
The following day I headed for a beach to see if the shallows would be any better. There was a very gentle surf but judging from the amount of sand missing from the beach it had been a bit rougher in the winter. I fished the last 2 hrs of the ebb with only 1 flounder to show. As the tide started to flood, a few sandeels started to pop out of the sand between waves, they are now in my freezer. Nothing much was happening so I cast as far as possible and began retrieving a few yards every few minutes to see if I could search out a fish; just as I put the rod into the rest I felt a distinct bump followed by a couple more rattles, this produced the best fish of the day; a 28cm flounder. Another couple of flounder and a welcome turbot for variety finished the session. Glorious weather but less than glorious fishing but with rumours of a few shore-caught mackerel in the bay recently, things will surely improve.

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Nice report. Thats a nice flounder on the beach and turbot. Same with us on those marks, plenty of dabs on the deeper marks and the odd doggie but no rays showing up yet on the shore. Plenty of mackerel about on the north side of the bay but hit and miss if they come close to shore range.

Well done JW. Nice read. A few nice flatties for your troubles all the same..
Nice to get a report from your way

Any eating in those starfish?

nice fishing j.w

Some nice flats there, the turbot are a stunning fish. Well done.

Nice catch John, the Turbot are a class looking flatfish, lots a reports of Mackerel around Sligo & Donegal bay the past couple of weeks!!

Nice one jw. Beaches fishing fairly well up here at the moment. Rocks still very quiet unfortunately hopefully it will pick up before long. No sign of any rays either yet

that grass looks familiar, is it the gunwell? just a shot in the dark like