Tide; 4 hrs flood, 1 hr ebb
Rigs; 2 and 3 hook flappers
Bait; Frozen lug, mackerel, squid, prawns
Results; 8 species
With the last of the turkey and ham picked out from between my teeth it was time to try and fit in one last trip for 2015. Weather forecasts threatened yet another storm, for Frank’s sake! Yet Wednesday offered a possibility so after a rummage in the freezer for some frozen mackerel, prawns, squid and some lug leftovers labelled “Scraps” as a warning, I hit the road. I wasn’t sure exactly what I would find in the scraps, I just hoped I hadn’t wasted ink on the “s” at each end. The weather to start wasn’t promising with still strong winds and heavy showers but by early afternoon the wind was decreasing and the rain dying out as forecast. First choice of mark was ruled out on arrival by a large tractor and trailer complete with a track digger engaged in shoring up some boulder defences against the sea. This is a low water mark so I headed for the second high water mark and started earlier than originally planned. First cast produced instant bites, the ubiquitous small coalfish, but this burst of activity died away quickly and for almost an hour, not a bite. Then a good determined bite and in came a 3 bearded rockling. At 30cm, it was no monster but it was nice to add to the species list for the year on my last trip. As the tide filled the bites picked up and a small pouting, then a 5 bearded rockling followed by a dogfish and rockling double shot added to the tally. Things went quiet again for an hour and a half before a flounder and rockling double gave in to hunger. The flounder was the type with orange spots which often lead people to confuse them with plaice; I think Tanglerat once referred to them as “Donegal Plaice”! The scrap lugworm wasn’t as bad as I had feared and along with the prawns accounted for most of the fish. Next up was the first whiting (27cm) of this winter accompanied by another small pouting. A shore rockling became another late edition to the species list and with bait almost depleted, a double of 5 bearded rockling on the last cast of 2015 made a welcome change from the final fish of the year being either a small coalfish or pin whiting. With a total of 8 species including 2 additions to the species list, I’d had enough and I’m not going fishing again until next year at the earliest.
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