Sea Angling Ireland

So with reports coming in all week of some serious tope action from some local beaches I made a plan to head out late last night armed with a box of mackerel and wire traces. I got to the venue for about 11.30 pm baited up a full mackerel and cast out as far as possible. 4 hours had past and it was coming up to slack water without even a sniff so in a desperate effort I baited up with a petty small mackerel bait to try and get Some extra distance before the dogs start feeding over slack water. I made the cast set the rod in the stand and while I baited my spare rig my ratchet screams picked up the rod fish on as the fish ran up and down the beach all I could think of was how the fook am I going to lad her as I was fishing alone but fortunately she managed to beach herself. After a quick photo she was released.

ShaneH wrote:So with reports coming in all week of some serious tope action from some local beaches I made a plan to head out late last night armed with a box of mackerel and wire traces. I got to the venue for about 11.30 pm baited up a full mackerel and cast out as far as possible. 4 hours had past and it was coming up to slack water without even a sniff so in a desperate effort I baited up with a petty small mackerel bait to try and get Some extra distance before the dogs start feeding over slack water. I made the cast set the rod in the stand and while I baited my spare rig my ratchet screams picked up the rod fish on as the fish ran up and down the beach all I could think of was how the fook am I going to lad her as I was fishing alone but fortunately she managed to beach herself. After a quick photo she was released.

Great work Shane Nice 1

unbeliveable fish well done!

Any idea of the weight it looks like a pretty big Tope from the shore
mickser

nice fish they can fight and realy scare you great fishing mate

mickser wrote:Any idea of the weight it looks like a pretty big Tope from the shore
mickser

Id say she was around the 25lb 30lb mark

It looks heavier than 30 lb nice fish from the shore
mickser

mickser wrote:It looks heavier than 30 lb nice fish from the shore
mickser

She could well be mickser as she felt very heavy. i didn’t weigh her as she was to big to fit into my weigh sling and being by myself she was hard to handle so I just got her back as quick as possible.

Lovely fish Shane, pity you didn't manage to weigh her, looks like a strong candidate for another Shimano badge!

Congratulations, well done - very few on the west coast at the moment

great catch Shane ,hard going when your alone ,who took the photo

family guy wrote:great catch Shane ,hard going when your alone ,who took the photo

where there’s a will there’s a way

Great Fish well done ... patience rewarded !

Well done Shane, great fish would you reckon it was the extra distance gained by using a smaller bait that put you in the zone?
Regards MichaelC

Michael+C wrote:Well done Shane, great fish would you reckon it was the extra distance gained by using a smaller bait that put you in the zone?
Regards MichaelC

I’m not sure because the night after my mate had a 53lb tope with a 30 40 yard cast.
The bit of distance definitely help me that night though. I think my bait must have landed in front of her because I only put the rod down for 1 minuet at most before I got the run

Well done ...... I need to learn ya how to take better fishing selfies though

masterkeane wrote:Well done ...... I need to learn ya how to take better fishing selfies though

You wouldn’t have to if you came fishing more

Cracking Fish well done!