Weekend Past: Co.Antrim 19/20th Nov

[chuckaroo]

I've lost count now of how many times I've tried for a bass from the north coast shore of the country, certainly between 20 and 30 anyway. Some say that a north coast bass is worth 10 from the south, I'd have to agree at least that, as I have yet to get one! So, a favourable forecast saw me persuade johnwest to join me on Saturday for yet another attempt. If he couldn't get one then who could!(?)

We met at 2pm to overcast conditions but thankfully the rain stayed off and some blue skies actually emerged. It was cold but we were both well prepared; we started fishing a dropping tide.
johnwest got into a fish pretty much straight away, a wee flounder, blank saved and time to relax a little And as the day and evening progressed he continued to catch a succession of flounder (with a turbot thrown in for good measure), he was doing alright I guess.
I eventually came up with a fish though, a flounder of 30cm (I was focusing on quality rather than quantity , which I knocked on the head and had if for breakfast the next morning. Unfortunately no bass were caught by either of us but it was an enjoyable session nonethelless - if only for the scenery and the clear starry night. We packed up around 9pm after JWs tackle box had decided that it fancied a dip in the waves - thankfully most contents were retrieved. When we returned to our cars we found them well frozen up, my thermometer read -3C.

There were plenty of anglers on the shore that day, we were flanked by a couple either side of us and we heard of others on beaches close by. Any chat I had was the same sort of tone: Aye, there was a bass of 3lb caught here 2 weeks ago, a 6lb fish 3 weeks before that, a few schoolies in between, etc. But its only when you tried to quantify things that you really got the bigger picture, which was that there were a LOT of anglers putting in a LOT of hours for those few fish!


Sunday saw myself head down to the Glens of Antrim for a short session in the afternoon to see if I could improve on the weekend fish tally, but I only managed a small cod, a scorpion fish and a small rockling over a few hours. Had plenty of small bites but they came to nothing most of the time and the rod at distance, which had a bigger bait, was completely untouched.

Another nice day though and I had a good chat with a few guys diving from the pier, they showed my some great underwater footage once they had re-surfaced. Cathalger came down for a chinwag too, and I packed up about 5.30pm when nothing continued to happen into darkness either..
A few pics

chuckaroo
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Last edited by chuckaroo on Tue Nov 22, 2016 9:43 am, edited 3 times in total.

[chuckaroo]

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Last edited by chuckaroo on Tue Nov 22, 2016 12:05 am, edited 1 time in total.

[chuckaroo]

A few pics from the wee Sunday session:
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Last edited by chuckaroo on Tue Nov 22, 2016 8:40 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Nice report Chuckaroo, just about spot on but you forgot to mention how you were mobbed by fans......As for my tackle box in the water spewing out its contents into the waves, it had fallen from the rock (not hit by a wave) after sitting there contentedly for maybe an hour. We grabbed as much as we could including Chuckaroo retrieving what he thought was just a reel case full of water and sand, in fact it contained my newest reel so thanks for that Chuckaroo. I got most things back including 3 multipliers which need stripped down to remove the sand “ Something for you to do tomorrow “ says Chuckaroo, as if lying in all morning and lying up on the sofa all afternoon wasn't enough.

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[chuckaroo]

Nice report Chuckaroo, just about spot on but you forgot to mention how you were mobbed by fans......As for my tackle box in the water spewing out its contents into the waves, it had fallen from the rock (not hit by a wave) after sitting there contentedly for maybe an hour. We grabbed as much as we could including Chuckaroo retrieving what he thought was just a reel case full of water and sand, in fact it contained my newest reel so thanks for that Chuckaroo. I got most things back including 3 multipliers which need stripped down to remove the sand “ Something for you to do tomorrow “ says Chuckaroo, as if lying in all morning and lying up on the sofa all afternoon wasn't enough.

cheers Paddy
yeah those wee girls could talk! and that dog went for me at one stage. i was glad to see them dander off..
and yes, I think you did all right under the circumstances. Think that the only thing that you didn't get back was your measuring stick. I would have settled for that. Hope you have the mess cleaned up now, sure it will only give you and excuse to purchase some 'much needed' gear if there's anything else missing..
And I hope you are all ready for another go at these bass again soon...
Here's the pic that I took a couple of years ago that I was telling you about..

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Last edited by chuckaroo on Tue Nov 22, 2016 8:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.

There were plenty of anglers on the shore that day, we were flanked by a couple either side of us and we heard of others on beaches close by. Any chat I had was the same sort of tone: Aye, there was a bass of 3lb caught here 2 weeks ago, a 6lb fish 3 weeks before that, a few schoolies in between, etc.

Some way of verifying those stories by diving in yourselves at that temperature

You're putting in the hours these days Charlie! When that North Coast bass finally bites you'll definitely deserve it!

You're putting in the hours these days Charlie! When that North Coast bass finally bites you'll definitely deserve it!

Maybe one will pop up one day Robin. I won't be holding my breath any more! Lol

Good luck on the bass