Tigger II, Cork Harbour, 31/07/2007

People: Me, Mother-in-law, wife and kids

Duration: 18:00-21:30

Tide: HW 18:45

Weather: Sunny, slight breeze

Bait:

Rigs: tobies and hokkais

Results: few pollack and mackerel

Report: Not really a fishing trip, meant to be seeing the dolphins, but they let me down - not a sign of them. MIL seemed happy enough to be out in the boat anyway, so we did a tour of the harbour on the way back in. Kids got the pollack on the hokkais and I got a couple of macks on the toby out over harbour rock. Like PeteKD on Saturday we also saw a big fish breaching just off Haulbowline but too far away for a positive id.

Hi what do you think the big fish was

Hi Tom1,

As I said, a bit of a distance off, so hard to tell, but I suspect a salmon as it would have been a big sea trout if it was. Would often see the odd small sea trout jumping out around the harbour, but never managed to hook one yet.
Only other types of fish I've ever seen jumping out of the water was a pollack (which I think was hitting sprat from below and just shooting out of the water - I managed to get it just dangling a toby at the surface anyway) and what I think were some small mullet which seemed to be leaping around for no apparent reason.
So I guess on the law of averages most likely a salmon??

I've done a fair bit of fishing around Haulbowline and fish that I've seen jumping quite clear of the water have been mullet and quite large ones at that. The first time I got a clear look I was surprised as I had assumed that they were sea trout but no, most definitely big mullet!

Size wise I guess it could have been a biggish mullet alright. Petekd had one jump at his rod tip the other day in the harbour and he said it was a salmon or seatrout. Short answer is I don't really know what it was :) - coudl have been any of them....

Aye, what jumped at the side of my boat looked most probably like a salmon to be honest, definitely wasnt a Mullet.... I could have reached out and touched it it was that close.

Not disagreeing with you at all Pete. Just offering a possibility based on my experience. If you were that close then you couldn't be mistaken in your id. Incidentally, on the other side of the harbour at East Ferry you often see Sea Trout (or Salmon) jumping clear of the water and boy they are big buggers!!

It was most likely a salmon or peel as the main run of salmon into the river Lee system pass up Haulbowline. Its not a rare sight to see them around there at all. They "back off" a boat or other obstruction by leaping back from it, so can get right up close to one at times.

Jim