SAI-SAC MA 5 Cashen Estuary, Kerry.

[petekd]

People:Myself, JW, JD, Seanie, JP, Donal D, Alby, Boycie, Fintan, Lee, Ian, Marco, Love the male chicken, Keith, Dennis, Kev, Jonathan

Duration:12.30-5.30

Tide:Fished over LW

Weather:Sunburn all round.....

Bait:Crab mostly, Rag, lug and mack for those reprobates who dont know how to fish estuaries and still kicked our asses.......

Rigs:3 hook flappers mostly, some blinged up, some dumbed down.

Results:Lots of flounder, a couple of tiny turbot and a freckly mackerel....




Report:
17 of us gathered at Cashen on a lovely morning for leg 5 of our MA series. It was a totally different venue to our usual beach marks and with only a narrow channel in front of us to fish in was going to be interesting if nothing else. Pegged at the top end alongside Seanie and JW, 3 lovely crab baits hit the channel, game on....! 7 minutes later after a couple of cracking bites, I had a fat flat on the deck of 34 cms, looking down the line, it was clear that a few of the lads were getting into early fish too. A second followed a half hour later for myself but news from below was that there were a few lads getting numbers of fish. Sean beside me managed a couple also.

Marco seemed to be streaking away with a steady succession of flats coming to the stick, his secret?? Those tried and proven estuary baits of rag and mackerel.... With things incredibly quiet at the top end, it was a case of if you cant beat em.... A quick call to JP had him pottering up in the 4x4 to drop off a fork and some frantic digging ensued. Some 3 day old mack "borrowed" from Seanie and Marco and a few rag, "borrowed" from JW had me reaching for the size 6s and a change in tactics.

6/7 fish followed for me with 3 making size. The comp came to a close and funnily enough, with Marco and Lee clear in first and second respectively 6 of us had finished on 5 fish, Myself, Paul, JP, Donal, Dennis and Kev. A couple of cms here and there making the difference on the day between 3rd and 8th......Groan.......

Not to worry however, a pleasant afternoons fishing in some of the most comfortable surroundings and weather I can ever remember fishing a comp in. Well done Marco and Lee for blowing the crab/estuary theory clean out of the water on the day. Congrats to Marco on his win, well fished that man. Interesting that worm and fish baits did the damage, proof if any were needed that no matter where you're fishing, you should always bring a variety of baits with you.

Some nicely toasted heads on display at the end of the day with a lot of us getting caught out in the first flurry of sunshine in a long time...

[teacher]

I was pegged up the other end where things were quiet for myself and Fintain. Tried various crab, lug and mack baits all day with only a 16cm flounder to show for it. With 10 minutes to go I needed something to show for the trip. A jumbo crab roll on a size 2 hook right across the channel to just a few metres short of the far side produced a nice 40cm flounder.

[round_ourway]

What a weekend for fishing!! if it was anything like up here you were already on a winner!

well done pete, its hard to admit sometimes you need a change of tactics during comps. well done.

Teacher - That is a huge flounder, well done fella

[thescotsman]

Great day - fish, sun, good craic......doesn't get much better on day's fishing.

So glad I brought that mackerel, I was very close to only bringing crab after having "you only need crab" drummed into me by a site member who shall remain nameless .

Crab worked well at the start, but went off as soon as the tide dropped away. Luckily I was beside Marco and he revealed the secret of his success to me - mackerel and a floaty bead. I didn't need telling twice and the switch to mackerel (definitely would have been a lot longer before I would have tried it otherwise) paid off as I started pulling in a few more fish. Slowed down for us both at the end as the tide was filling, and left us nervously looking up and down the beach for the last 45 minutes or so in case anyone was going to catch us. Great stuff, and even my drunkenly tied traces from 1am that morning didn't let me down.
Great to get my first fishing prize (legitimate one anyway ), but owe a large part of it to Marco (and that conveniently placed hole full of fish in front of us ).

[croppyboy]

i cant wait to fish there again even though i blanked
i think it was a great venue and should become a regular venue


fintan

[JOHN LYNCH]

We had a comp with Waterville sac on the other side of the Cashen yesterday fishing similar tides as yourselves. It followed a similar pattern with most fish been caught in the first hour and a half to crab, after the tide stripped out it seemed that most baits worked. 11 flounder won with alot of people on 8, 7 and 6 fish.

I have fished 4 comps in the cashen now and have been lucky to finish 2nd twice, all down to what peg you draw I think. Not the fairest match stretch. There seems to be a big variance in depth in places, with the best fishing in the deeper slower moving pools where the flounder seem to sit. Some areas are so shallow you could nearly walk across.

Interesting point about the bait, the first two comps Tralee bay sac fished there it was all about crab. That seems to have changed this year. Could be down to the fact that it has been fished so hard this year with crab baits.

[MC]

well done to all who made it, well done marco what a great win looking forward to making my first comp this year, at least i hope tro make one

[jd]

some photos
(dog had swum for miles !)

[teacher]

Should have kept him as a club mascot.

For those who weren't there, the dog came floating down the estuary paddling like mad. In true Bay Watch ("Well-Boy-Watch"?) style JP waded in and rescued it from oblivion.

[MC]

Should have kept him as a club mascot.

For those who weren't there, the dog came floating down the estuary paddling like mad. In true Bay Watch ("Well-Boy-Watch"?) style JP waded in and rescued it from oblivion.

nice catch JP, pity that "doggie" doesnt count;

[hughcronin]

for all of you who fished cashen for first time just letting you know it never fishes as well as it did for ye last saturday. results that'l prob never be repeated! that polution problem with the toxic dioxin stuff coming down the river feal seems to be getting worse. best bait for cashen though are shrimp rigs!
There's no bass in kerry,right lads!

[jd]

Sorry Hugh, we decided we will be back. All those toxins must have put us in a good mood!

Had 4 flounder, 2 of size. Took a while to find the spot, but fishing died pretty soon after I did.

[corbyeire]

looks like an interesting mark - test your tactics anyway

[hughcronin]

well-worth a shot

[JOHN LYNCH]

for all of you who fished cashen for first time just letting you know it never fishes as well as it did for ye last saturday. results that'l prob never be repeated! that polution problem with the toxic dioxin stuff coming down the river feal seems to be getting worse. best bait for cashen though are shrimp rigs!
There's no bass in kerry,right lads!

Heard about that toxic dioxin stuff coming down the river feale into the Cashen alright, apparently they are going to awful lenghts to dispose of it, I heard that they are pumping dogs full of it and then throwing them into the river and letting them wash out to sea.

Hugh aren't you from Cork anyway!!!!

[hughcronin]

think of me as a colonial superpower. my imperialist intentions are to use the natural resources of the former kingdom of kerry for my own personal pleasure.
kinda like the Peoples Republic of Cork, I mean China, in the Himalayin kingdom of tibet. anyway sham, someone had to learn em to fish like!