East Cork/Kerry 19th - 24th Oct

[Marty Harrison]

People:Myself and Mate (Petekd for one evening too)

Duration: 5 Days inc. travel

Tide:In out shake it all about

Weather:October in Ireland so a bit of everything

Bait: Flys, Kilty lures, Surface and Subsurface Plugs, Lug, Mackerel, Peleer Crab, Razor Fish, Squid & Sandeel

Rigs: Flappers, Pulleys 2 hook clipdowns etc.

Results:18 Bass

Catch and Release:: YES



Report: I wont be mentioning any specific marks so if you disagree with that prob best not to read on.

Day 1: East Cork.

Arrived mid afternoon and had a quick look about and threw a few lures about to no avail, very heavily coloured water with alot of weed made going impossible so we moved on to fish a storm beach on a dropping tide with bait for a night session with Petekd. Difficult conditions on the beach with a fair rip left to right made it hard going for everyone, results reflected this with one bass about 3lb for myself on lug, Pete had a flounder and doggie from mem and my mate had a codling about 1.5lb. We fished on till midnight or so but no more fish came our way so it was time to move on and set the tents up for the night and get some kip, had been a long day with the travel etc. A big thanks to Pete for the Peeler crab he gave us, helped boost the bait situ for a day or two.

Day 2: East Cork

We fished a lovely broken rock/reef mark at low water/rising tide with plugs and spinners and the fly rod. Again the water was like choc with lots of weed so it was hard going and neither of us had so much as a take or follow. This was a fantastic mark that in the right conditions has produced lots of Bass inc some very big ones to my mate, Ill be back to try it again that's for sure.
In the afternoon I fished the beach beside the rocks in better water conditions with bait right thought the top of the tide into evening when I was joined by my mate, we then fished on well into dark again to the bottom of the tide. All baits where tried over the session but all that was caught was a very small Pollock (3 inches long) and a schoolie Bass for my mate on Lug/Squid cocktail.

Day 3: East Cork/Kerry

We both got out of the tents to be greeted with a big sea and even bigger southerly breeze, fishing wasn't on for the day in the conditions so time for a plan. We got the OS maps out and went driving but no shelter was to be found and camping was gonna be even less fun than trying to fish in the conditions, time for plan 2! A drive to nearest town to get some Internet access saw us both looking at lots of weather and swell reports for the bottom half of Ireland, didn't look good for the south and east coasts but Kerry seemed like a good plan with a chance of some relief from the weather, quick nutritious lunch of the local garages finest junk food and coffee and we where on our way. Arrived in Kerry mid afternoon and headed for the Dingle peninsula, made a quick stop on Inch (has to be done) and the conditions looked good so back in the motor and headed for the north side of the peninsula as it looked the best bet for the coming weather conditions. Looked at a few diff spots and decided to stick the tents up on one of the storm beaches and fish that night on the dropping tide with bait, conditions where great, we made a fair effort but no joy, bed time!

Day 3: Kerry

Early start and we hit the surf with lures in the chesties, again conditions where great and better still the fish though so too, 2nd cast and I got a huge hit on a kilty lure that I had cast beyond the last breaker, one hectic scrap later and I'm having my pic taken with 8lb 3oz of lovely Kerry Bass one seriously happy man. Fish returned and we fished on but nothing else appeared so time for coffee and a bit of food then pack up to find the next spot to try.
We chose a lovely beach again beside a super looking rock mark and got setup for some more lure fishing along the rocks on the dropping tide at dusk. Tried plugs and kiltys and as usual with me the kilty did the business taking a schoolie and a nice fish about 4lb. Mackerel arrived in serious numbers making it impossible to fish without hitting them instantly so we caught a few for bait and returned to the beach for some serious bait fishing through dark. Another perfect beach in perfect conditions and not a fish to show for it, becoming a bit of a theme by this stage but you have to try. Bed called so quit for the night about 01:00.


Returning the 8lb 3oz Bass to the surf

[img]http://www.fishingtalkireland.com/host/8lb3oz.jpg[/img]


Day 4: Kerry

An early start again fishing the rocks that produced the night before at dawn over low water/start of the flood. Perfect conditions but drew a blank, while walking back to the camp we met an ex charted skipper form the area that told us the locals had been trawling the bay hard for "mackerel" the 2 days previous and that the fishing prob wouldn't be great, the mouth of the local estuary had even been netted :twisted: :twisted:. Not gonna start the rant besides to say something has to be done about this as its illegal and they bloody well know it!!! Time for accountability in the restaurants as to where they get their bass.
Another dive to find the camp for that night and we where out again with the lures fishing hard over mixed ground for the start of the rising tide. I chose a spot that looked perfect to me for a flooding tide and got to work, 5 mins in and I got my first hit, a nice fish about 4lbs. the next 2 hrs of the flood saw me working the rocks, gulley's and wave sets hard and I took another 13 Bass, biggest about 4.5lbs with only 2 of them under 3.5, nice sized fish and lots of fun on a balanced spinning rod setup and again all on a silver Kilty lure despite trying various plugs etc. As the tide rose it wiped the mark out and the fish moved on so like the proverbial dog with 2 dicks I retired to the camp to setup my tent and relax for a while. I headed back to the same mark later on the dropping tide at dusk but conditions had changed and my confidence want there anymore in the mark, fished for an hour with no joy so retired for the night not bothering to fish bait on the beach back at camp as I felt I`d had more than my share and should be damn grateful for it.

One of the 14 :)

[img]http://www.fishingtalkireland.com/host/perfection.jpg[/img]

Day 5: Kerry to Home :(

Got up, packed up and headed for Belfast, sad it was over but all good things must come to an end, cest la vie. All in all a great trip in 2 of the nicest places on the earth with fishing to match.




A few more pics


Flying the surf

[img]http://www.fishingtalkireland.com/host/flying%20the%20surf.jpg[/img]


Doing it in style

[img]http://www.fishingtalkireland.com/host/hardcore.jpg[/img]


Sunrise in heaven

[img]http://www.fishingtalkireland.com/host/sunrise.jpg[/img]



Nearly forgot - A special mention and much respect must goto Caoimhe the bass dog for putting up with 2 tired, smelly and sore anglers for days on end

Go Caoimhe!!

[img]http://www.net-workz.co.uk/coppermine/albums/uploads/normal_EXPERI_229.jpg[/img]

Regards,

Marty

Last edited by Marty Harrison on Wed Oct 25, 2006 10:59 pm, edited 5 times in total.

Great fishing there lads......must say i hate this place :lol:

Nice fishing marty ,good report and pics .

Great report Marty and some super pics, glad to hear you got among the fish. Well done lads sounds like a fantastic trip. Interesting to hear about the sheer amount of fish on a silver Kilty lure, I have a box myself full of every breed of plug you can think of......results from same....zilch! Simple kiltys it is to be then so. :D

I think its a confidence thing Pete. I have massive confidence in the kiltys so I fish efficiently with them, think thats the main reason I get the results on em. Its one less thing to worrie about as such so I can concentrate on the water etc. Of all the Bass I`ve caught I can count the num not on kiltys on my fingers, have another mate who is the same with em now after seeing my results over time.

Credit for the pics goes to my mate apart from one or two of em, chees mate!

Marty

More time fishing, less time spent with head buried in tackle box trying yet another plug.... Theres a lot of sense in that alright.

nice report Marty. some good fishin- sounds like yee earned it!

Where specifically were you fishing marty? Only messing, great report and great pics.

In Ireland :lol: :lol:

Congrats on a fantastic few days fishing.


I have used plugs successfully for years. This year, while fishing a new spot, a local told me that the Kilty was the business if you wanted bass. The next day, armed and equipped with the magic lure I caught a nice bass. The following evening I was back with a friend and gave him the Kilty while I used plugs. Guess who caught a bass..!!!!!. In certain places the Kilty seems to be the business.

I find certain plugs are brilliant in certain places. For instance a Sliver can be brilliant from the boat in deep water. A J-13 is brilliant near where I live, when fishing over the rocks in shallow water. Bass will not go down after a lure. So a Sliver will not work if it is fishing in a depth below the bass. Kilty lures fish just below the surface and I think that this may be why they work so well.

I have lots of poppers but despite hours of using them no bass has obliged me by grabbing them. I think I see a Lucky Sammy beside on of the bass pictures. These lures have the best action that I have ever seen in a surface lure. Unfortunately I have yet to tempt a bass with them.

If one lure does not work after a while I reckon that a change will often yield results.

On the conservation side it is a shame to see people netting "mackerel". Do the local people not realise that visitors leave a lot of money in the local community but such reckless raping of the bass population by a few greedy fishermen puts money in the pockets of a few selfish criminals. The fisheries officers or local cops should always be given a call if these nets are seen.

Great report-thanks for the effort in putting it together!
jd

On the conservation side it is a shame to see people netting "mackerel". Do the local people not realise that visitors leave a lot of money in the local community but such reckless raping of the bass population by a few greedy fishermen puts money in the pockets of a few selfish criminals. The fisheries officers or local cops should always be given a call if these nets are seen.

I couldnt agree more Stan and belive me if we had witnessed it ourselves the authorities would have been hounded with lots of pictures and video and even more adverse publicity if they didnt do anything.

Marty

in one sense it was handy the local skipper came over and told you - at least you could stop wasting your time fishing there - its a double kick to the teeth otherwise

hi marty, very good report, glad to hear you both had a good time. well done on your catch.

good report marty, great fishing too, if only it could be so good up here!!!! probablt is somewhere.....just gotta find it yet!!! :lol:

Well done.Great fishing and pics.Given the right conditions the whole kerry coast is alive with bass at the moment.Even SeanP is catching :shock: .In fishing in Kerry for the last 5 years I have never caught/seen so many bass.

[img]http://www.worldseafishing.com/forums/images/smilies/yeah.gif[/img]Just had another 8lber tonight Col [img]http://www.worldseafishing.com/forums/images/smilies/spiteful.gif[/img]
Superb report Marty, well done,
Sean,

Brilliant report, and great to see your hard work, and long traveling payed off. Its also great to see anglers happy to comment, on what was a great trip, and no one ruffling any feathers about locations/venues. Marty has shown that you can find your own.
The netting thing is a pity, as local guest houses, and B&B's are ultimately loosing out. Poor catches = anglers going somewhere else. In the picture of the lure caught fish, is that a "Sammy", lure?

[Marty Harrison]

The lure caught fish was on a Kilty, the plug is in the pic as it dropped of my waders while getting the phone out to take the pic. Its not a Sammy guys its the cheaper Sure Catch 15g " Tommy" lure copy of one, still it has a superb action and comes in around 8 yoyo`s or so, I picked it up on the way through Cork.

Marty

Last edited by Marty Harrison on Fri Oct 27, 2006 3:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Great report Marty. Excellent read and well done on the Bass. You earned it for sure.

Kev