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Nominated Species Competition 2012 - Sponsored by Ullcatch
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April - Shad / Turbot Ullcatch Nominated Species

Fri Mar 02, 2012 11:49 am

April - Shad / Turbot Ullcatch Nominated Species

Reports only please.

April - Shad / Turbot Ullcatch Nominated Species

Sun Apr 01, 2012 8:57 pm

Open for reports of Shad and Turbot..

Inishowen tae-bags, 08-04-12

Sun Apr 08, 2012 8:57 pm

People: Just me

Weather: Moderate NW, mostly dry, 11C.

Rigs: 2-hook flappers (size 2s)

Bait: Mack, sandeel and squid.

Duration: 0845-1300, LW about 1330.

Results: 2 small turbot, 7 flounder.

Hit a local mark this morning in the hope of dinner-plate sized turbot, flounder and maybe a seatrout. Reality, of course, is another matter. One 15 cm flounder in the first 2 hours didn't exactly get the pulse racing :( Ah well, it was a nice fresh day, the surf was rolling nicely and the fishing was comfortable. Fishing picked up as the tide dropped, as it does at this venue and I managaed to pick up a few turbos (13cm and a whopping 15cm respectively) along with a good few palm sized-flounder. All fish taken on mack, with the sandeel and squid ignored completely. Maybe not prize-winners but they are turbot :lol: :roll: Nothing ventured nothing gained as they say............
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Re: Inishowen tae-bags, 08-04-12

Mon Apr 09, 2012 12:11 pm

was thinking brill when i saw the first pic on the measure!

glad you got your target species

Re: Inishowen tae-bags, 08-04-12

Mon Apr 09, 2012 3:04 pm

NIce one man new you would manage to get some. The beach looks class.

Re: April - Shad / Turbot Ullcatch Nominated Species

Sun Apr 15, 2012 10:33 pm

People: Tightlines & Bro, Originalsin, and Me

Duration:4pm------> I think 2am not sure

Tide: low to high

Weather: windy at start then settled and cold

Bait: rag, mack, lug, mussel, peeler, sandeel,

Rigs:mainly flappers, pulleys, pennels

Results:1 Turbot, 12 flounder, 1 dab, 1 plaice, 1 pin whitting, 1 shore rockling, 2 Bass

This report is along time coming though I was fishing, just nothing really to report apart from a few blanks and pin whitting, gave fishing a rest for a week then received a call from the lads ….you know .. its “THE” call… “Creep ya headin out?” I’ve been work, and my time off was spent fixing cars… so I said feck it why not, was feelin tired but figured the fresh air would blow out the cobwebs….. WELL it was a trip and a half and rekindled the fishing bug once again!!!

Arrived down to the beach, and wasn’t expecting much, wind was blowing from the North but there was a nice surf up and the place looked VERY bassy, got the lines set out and casted in… Tightlines and his bro were down just before me and Originalsin, so went over to see if anything was about “nope not a tip yet”. Oh well that’s fishin and I’m out of the house..went back to the rods. Did my eyes deceive me?? Was that a knock? YEP it’s a knock, flattie knock! WOO WOO reeled in expecting to see a flounder … when a little Turbot broke the surface! Was well chuffed, and told Originalsin that’s it we’re going home! first cast a Turbot! Yippee!! (still excited over it!)
Anyways reeled in the second rod, flounder, but this little chap swallowed BOTH my hooks! And the same with the second flounder, in this trip I was on the flat fish nearly every cast. As night fell, notice one of the rods take another knock, but this knock was stronger, then the rod pulled was I quick enough? Yep fish on! What happened next was just pure fun!! The fish ran and took line off me, was heading down beach with me walking the line, figured Im going to get fit now!! Had not a clue what it was till the fish broke the surface, It tail walked a distance out the flash of silver then the fast swim towards the beach and surf… as soon as it bellied it ran towards me in the surf, reeled and reeled and had it just at my feet a nice size Bass well over the 2lb mark, Then the fish flipped on the sand and snapped the snood a wave washed in taking the fish!!!!! Arrrrrraaaaaaaaagggghhhhhhhhh!!!!!!! Lost, gone, crying!!! A lad five pegs down heard me curse!
Thinking to myself this isn’t going to happen again changed the snood up to a higher level, when I casted out again the same knock and similar run though this was a smaller bar of silver, figured if I can land it that’s it off the list, it ran in and dove behind some ledge that was a short distance out, and I figured let him take it out relaxed on the spool, when the rod pulled I felt that horrible instant snap, the weight and fight had left the rod.. reeled in to see this fish was bigger then I had given it credit for, it broke the snood just at the hook eye! Arrrraaaaaghhh again! Fixed it up again with a stronger snood, casted out, and got the kettle on, had a coffee, and grumbling to myself in my cod cabin!!

Originalsin wasn’t doing to bad either with a nice schoolie Bass, and followed by another schoolie and then the real fish...a Pin Whitting!! .

As for Tightlines and his bro… the managed to get a flounder, plaice, and shore rockling.

So I don’t think there be any mention of me blanking this time around

TIGHTLINES ALL!!

LINK TO FULL PICTURES OF THE OTHER FISH and to leave replies ... here please:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=39176

This is only for Turbot and Shad
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Re: April - Shad / Turbot Ullcatch Nominated Species

Mon Apr 16, 2012 12:11 pm

Was down south on Saturday doin some Bass fishing but had a chuck for flats while the light was still up. First cast got a Flounder, Turbot double. First Turbot so was delighted. Will print the Ullcatch logo for future reports
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Re: April - Shad / Turbot Ullcatch Nominated Species

Sat Apr 28, 2012 10:48 am

FROM OUR BELMULLET AND ERRIS TRIP OVER EASTER

People: myself and jordan. with doggie3131 and jason on tuesday

Duration: see below

Tide: see below

Weather: patchy rain and sunshine. 15mph sw gusting to 30mph

Bait: lug, rag, razor, mackerel, cockle, mussel and sand eel

Rigs: 2 up 1 down 3 hook flappers

Results: flounder, launce, plaice, turbot, dab, brill, pouting, whiting, pollack, dogfish, shore rockling and the most sea trout we've ever caught!!




Report:

well, sore thumb or not this trip had been made months in advance so it was wagons west yet again
i've been researching a few marks around the area for a while now and some of the mayo lads put me onto a few too. thanks doggie3131 . so with my folder of maps, ariel photography and admralty charts we headed off to our first intended mark determined that the forecast of pretty grim weather was'nt gonna get us down.

BEACH 1 SATURDAY 7TH APRIL 7PM TO 1AM. HW 7PM. JUST ME AND JORDAN

we got onto the beach just at the top of the tide and it was a flounder a cast. mostly palm sized, but a few nice ones over 30cm . jordan was fishing a beachcaster at range and messing about with his little telescopic rod bouncing a 3 hook flapper around in the surf with a 1oz ball lead. oddly enough it was the little telescopic that he had most of the fish on which was great sport for him as it's an ultra light set up.
around midnight he let out a yelp that had me thinking he'd got a trout. but he came running up the beach with a big launce wiggling about on the end of his hook that had tried to eat the ragworm on the tiny size 4 hook. yet another species he has on me for the year now jordan was made up and added to the little plaice he had the cast before it, it now had him on 3 species for this beach while i was still fighting my way through the flounder on just the one . by 1 am we called it a day and went for some well deserved sleep. the scores on the doors ended up with me getting 15 flounder and jordan (in usual form) giving me a proper thrashing with 24 flounder, a plaice and a launce.

BEACH 2 SUNDAY 8TH APRIL 1PM TO 1AM. LW 1.30PM HW 7.30PM. JUST ME AND JORDAN

after a good sleep we got up ready to do it all over again on a new beach we had a good feed and a pint of coffee each. so were ready for a marathon 12 hour session. i wanted to get 2 cycles of tide in on the mark to try and sus it out a bit for future reference . i scouted out a nice few gullies and we got set up and cast out for 1pm. there was nothing for the first hour or so, but as the tide began to turn and come back in the flatties came on the feed with me getting a few turbot and jordan getting a few flounder. no monsters, but some did get over the 30cm mark which is always good. the only odd thing was that all the fish were crawlling with lice some of the poor flounder had massive lice on them that looked like tiny sting rays . we sort of felt sorry for the wee fish and gave them a good de-licing with the foreceps. we counted 32 lice removed from just one fish
while we were doing this i noticed that my in close rod was slack lined. so i gave the flounder to jordan to return to the sea and i reeled in my slack line and struck into a nice sea trout of 40cm happy days!!! he fought well and even did a wee leap out of the water in an attempt to throw the hook in the shallows. but we got a few piccys, removed the lice and returned him none the worse for his ordeal on dry land. this picked us up no end as we now knew that there was trout out there and jordan fancied his chances for one too . but it was'nt to be as i got the next trout while jordan was still getting flounder. a smaller one this time at 33cm which was almost the same size as jordans flounder. so a quick pic and they both went back after another de-licing. we were now 2 hours into the flooding tide and jordan was'nt impressed at not getting a sea trout after watching me get 2. but his patience was rewarded when he finally got one measuring in at 33cm. not the biggest, but jordan was just made up to have got one on his little rod. this wee fella got the same treatment with a quick de-licing and snap before returning to the suds. jordan had only rebaited and got the little telescopic rod back out when it got smashed good and proper. it almost leapt off the tripod and jordan started to reel in the heaviest fish he's ever had on the tiny rod. he gave it some slack and let it run up and down the surf and it even did a bit of tail walking which was heart stopping to watch as it thought it was gonna throw the hook on a few occasions. but jordan kept his cool and landed a lovely trout which turned out to be the biggest of the session at 44cm
to say jordan was well chuffed was an understatment he was beaming from ear to ear and recalled the tale of how he fought it in the surf a good dozen times or so before he gave my ears a rest
so we both baited up and got back out again and it was the turn of the flatties this time. i had a little turbot and jordan got a brace of flounder on the little rod again. then nothing until we almost lost the light and i got another slack line bite with a trout of 41cm on the end . this one was a bit sluggish and did'nt really fight, so was easily landed. just like the rest of the fish off this beach it was covered with lice so got the same treatment before getting released again. then nothing for almost 5 hours. so we called it a day and went for some well deserved sleep, chuffed to bits with our best ever sea trout session

MONDAY 9TH APRIL

we woke up to see the skies were black and the rain was hammering down with a vengeance. so a quick call to doggie3131 confirmed our worst fears with the forecast for the rest of the day. we decided on a change of plan and we drove over to his place in mayo to spend the day and get beds for the night top bloke. we arrived around dinner time and we caught up on all the usual fishy gossip and got to planning for our up coming trip to norway in july
he even had a roast chicken dinner waiting for us nom, nom, nom!!. we hatched a plan for the following day while sinking a few cans and got some kip with the intention of getting doggie3131 and jason over to a mark we had been put onto for the afternoon.

BEACH 3 TUESDAY 10TH APRIL 3.30PM TO 7.30PM LW 3PM. MYSELF, JORDAN, JASON AND DOGGIE 3131

things did'nt get off to a good start as we could'nt find our way to our intended mark at pollacappul. the sign posts leading to the beach had been turned around by some joker. so were pointing in all the wrong directions we drove down the road that looked right, but it left you overlooking the beach from a hill from across a few fields. we did spot a road running down to the beach, but it went through a farm and when we asked the farmer for directions he began shouting at us in a very hostile manner and turned his back on me while i was trying to talk to him . all i could make out from what he said was that the beach was private and we were'nt allowed on it. but due to his tone and behaviour we decided just to leave it and go else where. the guy seemed pretty miffed off and not in the best of moods. mabey we had disturbed him while he was interfering with the livestock or something. after all i would imagine that it's a pretty tricky prospect trying to get just the right ammount of lipstick on a sheep in his barn without us coming along and disturbing him he deffo had the banjo playing four toed look about him
but this area is an angling mecca, and there were plenty of other less hostile spots to explore. doggie and jason led the way and we got to another mark in just minutes . this beach had a mighty surf running and if there was ever a spot where you could fluke a mayo Bass, this looked like it . before i even had a rod in the water both jason and doggie3131 were into the flats. jason with a lovely flounder and jammy doggie3131 with turbot and a brill!. so things were looking up. i did finally get a bait in the water and within seconds it got smashed. i was thinking all the way in " please let it be a Bass, please let it be a Bass!! ". but it turned out to be a 38cm sea trout. so no complaints there, still a great fish . this got the attention of the rest of my fishing buddies and the fishing began in ernest. jason was still nailing nice 30cm+ flounder and doggie was on a turbo quest and poor jordan was still waiting for a bite. i had only cast the rod out when it got thumped again something a bit heavier this time that was giving a good account of it's self. another sea trout broke through the surf and this fella measured in at 44cm
i was made up and got a few piccys and returned the trout minus 18 monster sea lice. these things had eaten right into his flesh below his anal fin, poor guy. one had even attached it's self to his eyeball
i was well chuffed, another 2 trout to me. i had more in the last 2 sessions than what i had for all of 2011. brilliant!
the only thing with this mark was that the floating weed was getting to be a real nuisance and jason had a surfer turn up and kept zipping about straight in front of him . the guy had a good 1km stretch of beach to surf in but decided that just in front of jason was where he wanted to be . so by 7.30pm we called it a day and moved to a harbour mark where doggie3131 was sure he could finally get the dab he has been chasing all year for his species list

MARK 4 TUESDAY 10TH APRIL 8PM TO 1AM

with all the rest of the lads heading down the harbour to get to fishing i stayed up at the motor to get the grub on. all the lads bellies were grumbling so i got the pan on. so after 20 sausages and a bag of chicken fillets dished out between rounds of bread the fishing began again. jason had a few flats and so did doggie3131 (i think). before it got too late they headed on back up the road home to mayo and both myself and jordan fished on. it was great to see you lads again and we'll see you soon enough back out west or over on the east coast for the smoothies .
the lads had only left 20 mins before i got a bite and reeled in a little dab just what doggie3131 was after . jordan was having a bit of fun dangling a set of mini feathers up and down the harbour wall annoying all the 10 inch pollack that seemed to be about in good numbers. i had a little whiting and pouting before i began reeling in something that felt pretty heavy. i was hoping for a ray but was even more surprised to see a big spider crab clinging onto my gear i've recently had the notion of trying one of these fellas for the table. so i was convinced it was gonna pop off the hook as i tried to hand line it in. but the fishing gods were smiling down on me and he made it up the wall and into my cooler bag . i was well chuffed now and jordan put the feathers away and got back to bait fishing on his big rod. he ended up with a doggie, whiting and shore rockling before we called it a day and hit the hay as we were both exhausted.

all in all it was a great trip away and i could'nt thank doggie3131 enough for putting us up again. the hospitality he has shown us over the years has been amazing and i can't wait for july when we all head off to norway togeather to annoy some cow sized cod
we barely scratched the surface of the angling possibilities of this region in the short time we were away. so we'll deffo be back again in the summer with the tents to do a bit more exploring. while we were away we only saw another 2 anglers fishing the marks we were on. which seemed like madness with the fishing that was available from these venues. a truely untapped part of the coast that deserves a lot more exploration
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Re: April - Shad / Turbot Ullcatch Nominated Species

Sun Apr 29, 2012 12:53 am

People: Myself, Rob & Gav

Duration:about 3 hours

Tide: low up

Weather: Calm before the storm

Bait: Tasmanian Devils

Rigs: Spinning

Results: A few fish, Hopefully 2 specimens and 2 PB's

Report
With some heavy weather looming over the country and a serious case of Dry line, myself and the lads were looking for some fishing... Any fishing! Just a few hours out to shake the dry line was all that was needed. After a quick chat we decided that we would head to St Mullins after work and try for some Shad. It was a little early, but there had been some bid tides in the days previous so there was hope that maybe some of the Shad had started to run the river.

I managed to get to the river about 15 minutes before the lads, so I got the waders on and had a cast. The first cast in St Mullins is always something special. The anticipation in the air, will the fish be there?, will there be nothing?. It all runs through the mind before you start the wind of the reel. Luckily for me I experienced that hit from the "Baby Tarpon" on the first wind... I could feel the silly smile on my own face as I returned the shad to the water. First one since last year.

The lads arrived a few minutes later and I let them know that there was at least one fish out there. :) We fished on for a few hours with the usual criac, banter and plenty of slagging. Time flies when your having this much fun and even though it was a very short trip we all caught a few fish. Myself and Rob managed a PB each so we were chuffed to bits as well. Rob's fish weighed in at 1.22kg and mine was 1.26kg. It felt like we had only just started but the light was fading and it was time to hit the road home...

St Mullins is such a beautiful place to visit. In the words of Arnie, "I'll be back" :)

We were very lucky. The rest of the week brought wind and rain and very difficult fishing conditions. I'm glad I got the dry line sorted for a few days anyway :)
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Shad are such beautiful fish, they fight hard and if your lucky they'll put on an aerobatic display on the way in as well. They must be the best fun on light tackle that there is in Ireland. They are also endangered and there are very few rivers left in Europe that they run to spawn. They are on the last leg of the journey, similar to Salmon. Please give them a chance. They are not a hardy fish, so unhook them as best as you can and try to keep them in the water for a period before you weight & release them. I have often found that if you release them lightly they can sulk on the bottom and sometimes go belly up. I have found that a GENTLE throw, head first back into the river will kick them back into action. Just a foot or two over the water and a little lob, normally does the trick.

Re: April - Shad / Turbot Ullcatch Nominated Species

Tue May 01, 2012 12:13 am

North Coast Turbot, Ballycastle, Fri 27th and Sun 29th April


People: Friday: me and Darren, Sunday: just me

Duration: Friday: 3pm - 9pm, Sunday: 11am - 8.30pm

Tide: HW early afternoon

Weather: sunny but chilly. fresh cold wind both days

Bait: mackerel, sandeel, rag

Rigs: 3 hook flappers. 2 up 1 down

Results: flounder, dab, sea trout and turbot

Report:

For the last while now I have been trying to get a turbot from the shore but have failed on each and every attempt, until yesterday :!: :D I eventually got one :!: :!: :D :D :lol:

Turbot is definitely one of my favourite species and over the last few months the hunt for one has taken me to North West Donegal, the Inishowen Peninsula, to the Whiterocks in Portrush, and now to Ballycastle. And, believe it or not, it was Ballycastle, the place closest to home, that produced.

I have tried Ballycastle beach before knowing that there was a chance of one there but with a handful of blanks in the past I just hadn't got much confidence in the venue. However, having got wind of a few decent turbot having been caught off the beach only 2 weeks ago, I decided to cut my loses and focus all my attentions there. I decided I would spend both Friday and Sunday targeting turbot in Ballycastle.

On Friday I met up with Darren and fished with him from late afternoon into the evening. It was a fine sunny day, but cold, and the fishing was very slow, well, particularly for me anyway. It was Darren who produced the most fish as he managed a few flounder and dab, and he was happy with a nice wee sea trout of about 1lb that fell to a rag bait tipped with mack. I only managed two small flounder the whole session if I recall, things were just not to be and so I had to resign myself to returning on Sunday to increase my efforts.

Sunday came along and Darren met up with me in the morning to provide me with a nice box of fresh rag :), he just wasn't to be fishing that day. So, with fresh rag, frozen sandeels and mackerel, and with it being another fine sunny day 8) 8) , I was all set to go for yet another attempt; I just needed the turbot to turn up as by this stage I was beginning to think that they were something of a myth... :roll:

I put three rods out, all with three hook flappers and all with combinations of different hook sizes, rag, mack and sandeel baits. And, so anyway, to cut a long story short,..... on my first cast.... I caught a turbot :!: :lol: :lol: :D :D :D I couldn't believe it! :mrgreen: Seriously, i really couldn’t believe it :shock: :mrgreen: I had to take a double-take as i watched it come out through the surf, it had gone for a small mack bait. I thought eventually, after all this time and effort, that here was a little turbot right on my doorstep 8) Happy days.
He was a little turbot indeed, maybe 6inches in length, but I was more than chuffed as it was the first turbot that I have caught in 15 years - you just don’t seem to get them from the shore in Red Bay where I spend most of my fishing time. I had a bucket of fresh sea water handy that i used to revive the fish as I removed the hook. I released it and it swam off strongly into the surf :mrgreen:
I was well happy and with the spirits soaring after having been successful on my first cast, I was thinking that with whole day ahead of me then there would surely be more turbot to come... but there wasn’t :P I stayed in the same place for the next for 4 or 5 hours, only to stop for a bite to eat, and only managed just a few small flounder. I then took advice to try other spots along the beach which i did but having casted out all distances with all rods in all directions, I got not even one bite over the last few hours of the evening...

So that was that, all good. I got a little prize turbot in the end. 8) :D

Now to get a bigger one on the fly... :P :wink:

A few pics below:
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Re: April - Shad / Turbot Ullcatch Nominated Species

Fri May 11, 2012 9:03 am

Congrats to MAC (Kevin McClean) winner of the April Competition. A Ullcatch Hoodie is on the way to him.
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