johnwest Rides Again! Donegal Bay, 30/08/2017

[johnwest]

“A Man May Fish” wrote Kingsmill-Moore in reference to trout and salmon, “A Man MUST Fish” writes johnwest in reference to any species. Three weeks to the day after I was on the slab having holes cut into me, the fishing bug was biting severely. She who does not make sandwiches was away from early morning minding grandchildren so on the pretext of visiting my mum, I secreted a couple of rods, reels and bait into the car and after making a few sandwiches and filling the “fleshk”, (Cork-speak for flask), I headed west along the road. I’m pain-free but tire very quickly so the chosen mark was one where I could fish “out of the car”, it’ll be some time before I would chance a 20 min hike with tackle box, rods and grub. I set up a float rod with wrasse in mind and baited up with frozen hardback crab. It wasn’t too long before the float slid away under the surface and a nice little ballan put a bend in the rod. Another smaller one took a new bait, whole cooked shell-on prawns from the freezer in Tesco. I had tried these earlier in the year and had a few bites but no hook-ups, more careful presentation with generous quantities of bait elastic did the trick and also tempted a small but beautifully marked pollack as well as a couple of missed bites. I think smaller wrasse will tackle these prawns but find them a bit of a mouthful. At one point I dropped the remnants of a prawn in the water at my feet and watched them suddenly disappear, followed by a glimpse of a large paddle tail heading for the bottom. Fresh bait was dropped in and it too disappeared, quick strike and fish on. This was the best of three and put up a good scrap before registering just under 3lb on the scales. A small corkwing, my first of the year, took half a prawn and added to the species list for the day and the year. The wrasse fishing petered out so I set up the beachcaster and cast out a 3 hook flapper baited with squid strip, mackerel and frozen lug. I switched the float rod to a similar setup and fished it in closer. Bites were slow enough but a small plaice with more than his fair share of spots, perhaps he had measles, eventually rattled the light rod. A small dab followed a while later and the heavy rod produced a double of seastars, I had never got one of these until a few years ago but they turn up regularly now, this was my first double though. A couple of tiny pollack took a fancy to mackerel strip and a lone dogfish put a bend in the heavy rod. It’s hard to imagine how tired I feel at present but to give you an idea, by the time I reeled in the heavy rod, I was feeling a bit breathless. With the tide well into the ebb, I changed the heavy rod to a single clipped hook with a sizeable slice of mackerel for a last roll of the dice. Eventually a half-hearted bite developed into some resistance on the retrieve, a 31cm dab and a nice fish to finish the day. Not the most hectic of days but with 6 species and about a dozen fish in total, it was probably as much as I was fit for! I don’t suppose the “tidy” litterbug who placed all his trash (including a carrier bag big enough to hold it) neatly together in the corner will read this but your rubbish is now in a bin!

[venbugtrap]

Glad to hear you're feeling better. Great report too, thanks!

[rushnaldo]

Good man Paddy great to see you back in action. Some lovely fish and species. Pity to have to carry others rubbish home it happens all too often. I'm sure you were well glad to get out fishing again great stuff

[jd]

Good to see you back. Nice report.

[chuckaroo]

Great stuff Paddy. Am sure you would have enjoyed getting out and the fresh air. Welcome back 'onboard'.
take her easy though!.. Lucky you didn't hook into a bluefin tune or blue shark, or similar...

[5turbo]

Fair play, great report

[zeke]

Great to read your report again paddy, welcome back!

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[Teegerstk]

Great to see that you're back in action JW, great report!


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[eoghanb]

Great to see your back at it ,great report as usual

[Tackleholic]

Great report. Well done!

[keymcg]

Good to see you back in action Paddy.

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[johnwest]

Good to see you back in action Paddy.

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Literally!

[keymcg]

Good to see you back in action Paddy.

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Literally!

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[keymcg]

Good to see you back in action Paddy.

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Literally!

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The West is awake!!

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[booner]

good to see you out again