Balscadden, Howth

People:Myself and mate Kev

Duration:3:00pm-8:30pm

Tide:High when we got there and started to come back in when we left

Weather:Showery

Bait:Sandeel, rag and feathers

Rigs:1 up 1 down & wishbone

Results:Mackeral, Pollock,Coalfish and Dab.(No Dogfish :shock: )


Report:
Went down to Balscadden yesterday on the spare of the moment, Mate Kev wanted some Mackeral for his dinner! First time fishing balscadden and was quite enjoyable, the only problem was the rubbish it was full of old line feathers hooks and loads of other crap! Got there at about three and there where a few people there raking in Mackeral on feathers, Kev was fishing with feathers and catching a few Mackeral every cast while i set up with Ragworm and Sandeel on a one up one down, Getting bites from the start catching Dab on the rag and Pollock, Coalfish and Mackeral on the Sandeel, the dab where absolutly tiny about 6-8cm long was hard job trying to throw them back without the seals chasing them! Every time someone was into a fish they where taking them off the hook! Most of the Pollock and Coalfish where quite small but finally hooked into a decent enough fish that was about three-four pound that put up quite a good fight, Then i saw it shoot up to the surface of the water, was admireing the size when a seal came up and took it straight off my hook(I know why it shot up now) :evil: :evil: :evil: Not sure what fish it was as it was eaten before i got him in but it certainly put up a scrap! Tide started going out and was losing my bait to crabs so stopped fishing with bait. I hadn't brought any feathers with me as i dont use them but i reeled in about 5 sets off feathers that where stuck to my line as i was reeling in and also 4 4 ounce leads and 1 3 ounce lead with them, so decided to feather for mackeral with the rigs that i had caught and get a few fish for bait! was getting three fish every cast kept 8 for bait and for the BBQ and shook the rest of the hook, stopped feathering after a while and went back to bait fishing with rag on a wishbone rig and had a few more small dab and 2 tiny coalfish before calling it a day! I have to say i wasn't expecting that much fishing in Dublin, had a brilliant day inspite off all the rubbish and the rain which resulted in about 60 Mackeral between myself and Kev, 6 small dabs, 3 Pollock and about 7 Coalfish and nearly a couple of seals :)

fair play!! i was up at balskadden today and got 29 macks and 2 pollack was a fun day

ian

Yeah the place is teeming with fish(and seals) it's a good place to stock up on bait! Might head down there to do some wrasse fishing some morning when the place is quiet, looks like a good spot for it!

i say it would be as long as you got a quiet day......i was suprised how close the macks are coming in......some of them were at the weed straight down under my feet!!!!!
ian

The seals mustn't have been that busy then i was having to cast about 100 yards the other day, the Mackeral were a nice size too i caught a few about 1 and half pound on the sandeel, yeah hopefully it isn't too bad early durin the week i wanna try for other species apart from macks coz it looks like a decent spot! well done on your catch by the way :) its great craic up there!

thanks and yeh the seals were getting feed.......a man there didnt eat fish so anything he caught he feed to the seals....althought the seal wouldnt get away from him after that!!

thanks and yeh the seals were getting feed.......a man there didnt eat fish so anything he caught he feed to the seals....althought the seal wouldnt get away from him after that!!

Well done lads.

The old mack put up a good scrap and free bait too - sure, where would you get it?

Jude

thanks and yeh the seals were getting feed.......a man there didnt eat fish so anything he caught he feed to the seals....althought the seal wouldnt get away from him after that!!

Catch and release to the seals mouth :arrow: thats a new one :roll: :roll:

No wonder there's so many seals there with all the free food there getting, It was a bit annoying watching people keep all the Mackeral because 'they didn't know what to do with them'!

that really gets me - people not knowing what to do with them - rubbish - defies logic - put them back in - even if they have handled them

leaving them on the pier/ledge is such a waste - never get these guys who go in and take plastic bags of mack and then spend the next day trying to offload them to friends and family for a few brownie points

pure waste :evil: :evil: :evil:

I have to say most off the people there where actually catching them to eat or catch some bait but there was a few there who where just killing them cause they dont see the reason in throwing them back they think its absurd to suggest that they throw back fish that they caught 'sure whats the point in fishing if you dont keep them' :?

thats ignorance for yea :roll: