cork, valentia, kenmare 31may 1/2 june, Screeming reels

People:myself, seirt, Mike h

Duration:3 days

Tide:all

Weather:fantastic except for the E word with the wind

Bait:all types

Rigs:the usual

Results:Bluemouth, Red, Tub, Grey gurnard, ling, conger, LSD, Whiting, Pollock, Haddock, poor cod, pouting, Ballan & cuckoo Wrasse, Launce, dab, Mack ( eventually)

Report:Well, what a weekend, both in weather, but unfortunately lack of fish! Especially b….y mackerel.
Started the weekend with a Rosies comp out of Aghada on the Sunday, different format for this comp, though effectively still a species hunt.
The idea is that each species has a points value and there is a limit of five fish per species.
We started the day on the bank, trying for macks and for launce, soon had the launce, but macks proved illusive, we then decided to head offshore to the smiths, here we actually picked up 10 macks, and that was it for the day, not for the want of trying.
We also picked up some nice grey gurnard.
Another move, this time to the lings as the sea was calming down nicely, we elected to anchour as there was a nice drift, this proved a good move, with a number of different species coming to the boat, with some nice ling and a lovely conger for myself of 12kg.
It started to slow so another move to the drift was in order where we picked up some nice red gurnard and a lovely tub gurnard, all returned .
By now the sea was flat, and the sun v hot a lovely evening, and was time to get back to the slip at 5 pm.
We managed to win the comp with a score of 880 points and 14 species, with a tie for second place between the boats of predator 2 and reefer on 570 points each.
So not a bad day .
I then set off to valentia , to have a go at the bluemouth, and hopefully a few rays.
Next morning arrived at the slip to be greeted by donal d, and he was getting ready to head out, I launched and proceeded to go and get some mackerel, WRONG, after 1 hour and many marks, not a sniff, loads of Pollock, but not a mack in sight, last drop as I was heading past the western most point of the island, and bingo 2 macks, and that was it, with these I set off for the bluemouths.
Arrived at the mark offshore, and it was perfect conditions, calm with little or no drift, first drop down, bang , good bite and up came the first Bluemouth, result!!
Two more came up in the next two drops and then it went dead !
Plenty of other fish came on the feed, but no more bluemouths, ling, Pollock pouting, ballens, cuckoo wrasse , but no more blues.
By this stage I was joined by predator 2 and Apollo, and we fished together for another hour, with no results, I decided to leave and try a bit of clean ground fishing on the way back towards the mainland, little did I know that the Bluemouths would come onto the feed big time with Tony and Donal who had a ball after I left with double shots coming up, but not one specimen caught.
I tried many marks, with only one whiting to show, then I headed towards the bay where I had a ray blitz last year, well, NOTHING, only one dog and a dab, But, I did manage to pick up a dozen mackerel, in 20 feet of water, typical.
I really needed them for my next day in Kenmare.
Arrived in Kenmare next morning full of hope, I met up with Mike Hennessey of fisheries board fame who lives in the area, and of we set from fantastic facility on the south shore near Dinish Island, There is a fee to launch , but well worth it, plenty of space to park trailers etc ,pub and B&B all within staggering distance of each other
Well we set of with high hopes weather fantastic, but, and there is always a but, it proved to be a fruitless day, the wind was in the east, so who knows, it really is a cracking venue, with lots of good marks within 5 miles of the slip, and would be sheltered from all winds except westerly.
We hit a reef after a good few hours trying for the Spurs to no avail, and had some conger, huss, Pollock, Ballen and cuckoo wrasse, poor cod,
We spent the last few hours still trying for the spurs , but no joy, that’s fishing.
Headed home that evening very tired, but was REALLY happy when got stuck behind a circus convoy traveling at 30km h for 30 km !!!!! the tailback must have been massive, and of course there were the garda on the only bit of straight road nicking anyone who dared to overtake!!!! That’s Life

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Great report,

Really nice few days there Martyn. Patchy.... by the sounds of it, but no where near as patchy as the east coast At least you managed some decent fish all the same. Really nice Tub.

Kev

Beautiful fish there Martyn.
Would the bluemouth survive in a live bait well until September?

Jim, they won't survive in the livebait well, you need to set up a saltwater aquarium for sept.

Hi, i used the live bait well to give them time to recover, and it was very successfull with all returning alive.They appear to be like the gurnards, and able to regulate there swim bladder
As for september, i have an aquarium at home that is currently fresh water, but can be used for salt!! so dont give me some idea's!!!!
regards
screeming

nice selection of fish well done,nice to see the Bluemouth,lovely fish

nice selection of fish well done,nice to see the Bluemouth,lovely fish

After last weekend they have been add to my list of “vermin fish” (mackerel, whiting, pouting. pollack and now bluemouth )
Nothing worse than when you’re out trying to catch a few fish for the lads in your local you run into a shoal of blue mouths to spoil your day.