Lough Swilly, Co. Donegal

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Lough Swilly, Co. Donegal

Postby arthurg » Tue May 04, 2004 8:44 am

First report of the year .......................

Sunday, 2nd May.

Last minute trip - we only decided to go out at lunchtime so everything was a bit hurried and there were only five of us fishing. We fished over high tide on a blustery day on a fast drift.

Went first to the Laurentic wreck. The drift was one and a half knots, so not ideal, however we got a few Pollock to six pounds, as many Coalies as you could shake a stick at - basically if you had on three hooks you got three Coalies. Most were 'counters' but we tried hard to avoid them. One Pouting also joined the party.

After a while we moved back inside the Lough to fish the mixed ground. Red, Grey & Tub Gurnard and a few Mackerel.

The boat went back out on Monday 3rd fishing Kinnegar hoping to latch on to a Tope. Unfortunately none were caught though they did catch several reasonable Thornies.

The mood on the day was very subdued due to the regular reports of the missing (later found drowned) fishermen around the coast off Downings. I would urge everybody to wear flotation suits at all times and pay the sea the greatest respect. We all love fishing but it is not worth taking risks when the consequences are so extreme.
arthurg
 

Lough Swilly - Saturday 15th & Sunday 16th May.

Postby arthurg » Mon May 17, 2004 12:17 pm

First Lough Swilly S.A.C. league trip of the year. A good sign was that there were too many of us to go on our usual Sunday so we had to split into two with half fishing Saturday. One exception was Charlie Devlin who will miss some of the more productive trips during the summer due to work commitments so was allowed to fish and count both days - more of him later.

Our scoring system is quite simple. Each species is allocated a number of points depending upon their scarcity, e.g. Pollock, Coalies, Dogs, Pouting, and others get 4 pts per fish, Red Gurnard 5, Ling Tub & Grey 10, Haddock Cod Ballan Cuckoo 20, etc. We also award 5 points per species. You can catch 5 of each species at the aforementioned rates, however we also award 1 point per fish above the first five caught regardless of the species.

I fished Saturday and we spent two and a half hours at the Laurentic and roughly a further two hours 'inside' - 5 hours in total from first 'drop'.

There were as many Coalies over the wreck as you wanted, though many were short of minimum size. Pollock were also there in good numbers to around 7 Lbs. There were also counting Pouting and a solitary Ballan Wrasse.

The fishing inside the lough was patchy. There was a drift of one knot and we fished from low tide onwards. Red, Tub & Grey Gurnard, one Haddock, two or three flats and another heap of even smaller Coalies.

Top points scored were 138 Charlie Devlin, 106 myself, 91 Johnny McCormack.

On Sunday, the fishing was much the same. Slower drift, less Coalies, more Pouting, a Cuckoo instead of a Ballan, a couple more flats, a couple of Whiting and Ling and a few more Gurnard.

Top points on Sunday were 147 by that man Charlie Devlin again - two counting flats on the last lift of the day!, 144 Niall Doherty and 110 Hugo McLaughlin. Usual high scorers Pat McGinty and Angela Crerand were a little further down the field.

So, in league terms it is all to fish for and this weekend will not rule anyone in or out. In general, the Swilly is fishing well. On the same trip last year we were scoring significantly less. Each week will see improvements and I'd recommend a wee trip out to anyone.

We fished as usual on the Enterprise 1 out of Rathmullan - details on the boat page. Bait tended to be frozen Mackeral supplemented by the few fresh ones that were caught. The two Wrasse were on frozen Peelers. The Pollock were on anything from Red Gills to Mackeral strips. I also tried my new Storm shads to great effect though both are now firmly lodged somewhere on the wreck! Just been out to the shop to buy more - I really liked them.
arthurg
 

Postby Drew » Wed May 19, 2004 9:23 pm

Jaysus???? Is Angela Losing the touch??? Last time I was out of there She cleaned up.... Love Swilly, Pity I live 180 odd miles away....
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Postby arthurg » Thu May 20, 2004 1:17 pm

K2 Xtreme wrote:Jaysus???? Is Angela Losing the touch??? Last time I was out of there She cleaned up.... Love Swilly, Pity I live 180 odd miles away....



Just a 'blip' I'd say! Particularly for Pollock, there's few to touch Angela!
arthurg
 

League trip - Lough Swilly - Sunday, 20th June.

Postby arthurg » Mon Jun 21, 2004 9:37 am

Rough old day with the wind coming from the NorthWest.

Fished an ebbing tide as well, so far from ideal conditions.

Too rough to get to either the wreck or even to the reef at Fanad lighthouse, so settled for half the day near the Swilly Rock and the other half between the 16 & 17 over sand / broken ground.

This was the first time I'd had the chance to fish near the Swilly rock for two years. We had to stay about 300 yds north of the rocks due to the weather - read any site that mentions shipwrecks in the Swilly and you'll realise that the rock is not one to be messed with - but we were still on the start of the rough ground.

For a dirty old day, the fishing here was excellent. Real good Ballan Wrasse fell to Rag - I caught a particularly nice one - photo to follow. Very good Pollock to an estimated 8Lb were also caught along with some decent Coalies and a few stray Gurnard.

Out on the sand we got a fair mix with the usual suspects of Red, Grey & Tub all showing along with the ever present dogs. We also got Whiting and a few flats and a small but counting Turbot being lost at the side of the boat.

All things considered, a good days fishing. I had seven species which wasn't at all bad for the conditions. I was also extremely pleased with the biggest of the Wrasse and also for a really good Grey Gurnard.

As for league points - I got pipped on the day by Pat McGinty who scored a creditable 179 with myself only two points behind.
arthurg
 

Postby Tanglerat » Mon Jun 21, 2004 12:00 pm

Arthur,

Where do you get your Rag? I don't mean tell all about where your secret dig marks are, just can it be shop bought locally?

I'm going to be over for 3 weeks soon, I'd love to try dragging a bit of Rag in the Tory Sound............. :D

Also, is that tackle shop in the Port road still open? How's his bait supplies?
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Postby arthurg » Mon Jun 21, 2004 12:54 pm

Tanglerat wrote:Arthur,

Where do you get your Rag? I don't mean tell all about where your secret dig marks are, just can it be shop bought locally?

I'm going to be over for 3 weeks soon, I'd love to try dragging a bit of Rag in the Tory Sound............. :D

Also, is that tackle shop in the Port road still open? How's his bait supplies?


Wish I had secret digs - costs a fortune unfortunately.

I get mine from Top Tackle in the Port Road (Tel: 074-91-67545). They get it sent down from the north. The down side is that there is a minimum order of 5Lbs - so if there is a competition on and there are a few ordering then you're OK, but if there's a quiet week and you only want a pound then they cannot do it.

You need to order by Wednesday for a late Friday/weekend delivery. They cost €12.50 / Lb.

Quality is definitely variable. Two weeks ago they were rubbish. Joe gave the suppliers a rocket and in fairness yesterday's were very good.

There are no viable rag beds that I have heard of over here in the north-west, so we don't have much option but to buy.

I've some left over from yesterday and I'm hoping that they stay alive until Wednesday when I'll give then a try again from some shore mark (depending upon which way the wind blows). Hopefully a good wrasse or two might oblige. Alternatively might try them for some good flats - haven't fished for flats for years.
arthurg
 

Postby Tanglerat » Mon Jun 21, 2004 8:27 pm

Cool. 8)

I should have some anglers over with me (gotta do my bit for Bord Failte) so a bulk order is feasible.
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Postby arthurg » Tue Jun 22, 2004 10:47 am

Tanglerat wrote:Cool. 8)

I should have some anglers over with me (gotta do my bit for Bord Failte) so a bulk order is feasible.


Give Joe / Sean in the shop three days notice and you should be OK.
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fishing wednesday

Postby dingbat » Tue Jun 22, 2004 5:36 pm

Hi Arthur

No fishing this week work committments are the curse of the angler

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