Bangor harbour friday 8th july

[Al and Jordan]

People: just me

Duration: 11am - 2.30pm

Tide:low to rising

Weather: overcast' flat calm

Bait: rag, lug and cooked peeled prawn

Rigs: 2 hook flapper

Results: 4 goldsinny wrasse, 2 pouting, 4 poor cod and 1 flounder




Report: i slept in this morning so fishing the north harbour in donaghadee was out as i had missed low water so a trip to bangor was in order. decided to fish into the kelp beds to see what was about and i was straight into the goldsinny wrasse these wee guys were expert hook strippers. i had loads of bites but they were so fast that when you struck into it, all you reeled up was a clean baitless hook then up came the pouting and poor cod to join in. they were all small, not much bigger than the goldsinny wrasse but great crack just as i was about to move on round the harbour i got a real definite bite. the rod doubled over and the fish started taking line so i tightened the drag to stop his run. i was'nt worried as my reel was loaded with 40lb line and i tie my traces with 20lb line. but i only got 2 turns on the reel and bang,..... all i could feel was slack line i was gutted. i wound up fully expecting to see a little curly pig's tail at the end of the line where my hook should have been but no. the line was about 3 inches shorter and it looked to be a clean cut there was no sign of scrapeing on the length of the line leading to the cut that i could feel with my fingers. so i reckon that ruled out rocks cutting the line by rubbing. and at the time it snapped i was'nt dragging it up with any real force, but it felt pretty heavy so kicking myself i packed up and moved on round the corner to cast out into the sandy patches in the hope of a pollock or 2 to console myself so i loaded the hooks with lug and cast out. there was nothing for an hour not even a nibble so i was winding in to pack for home and it felt heavier than it should be thought it was probably just weed but to my suprise a flounder came to the surface RESULT! the third flattie of my angling career and i did'nt even know they are about here. this made up for my earlier loss and i headed home grinning about what i landed and with a "the one that got away" tale to tell

[nobuzz]

Nice going.

The flounder doesn't surprise me too much. Way back in the days of the old timber North Pier there were always a few flatties about. I remember getting a sole once.

My first fish ever was a grey gurnard off Bangor Pier, on a red & gold Mepps spinner!

[arkis]

Excellent report once again al , keep up the good work.

what sort of fish do you reckon caused the bite off ?

[Al and Jordan]

dunno, all i know was it hit hard, and hit fast and bit me clean off gonna need to invest in a couple of wire traces i know there are conger around there, but theres also sammy and sally the resident harbour seals to be taken into consideration. but i would'nt have thought they would have been interested in 3 fat juicy lug

[Christina]

good fishing again al. i think that there are a few more flatties moving back into the area, we have a few crab pots out there and we've had quite a few dabs turning up. were you using frozen lug or did you get it fresh?im gunna try to get down to the pier for a session at some point this week

[Al and Jordan]

i dug it fresh yesterday morning. i'm only just back in from bangor. there were 9 of em left from yesterday, which was all the reason i needed for a session on the float this morning while the float was bobbing about i chucked a trace of feathers out and got 16 mack from 12.30 to 2.30pm quality!!!!! most are now in the bait freezer and the rest are under the grill

[Dawsey]

Must have just missed you today Alister, I was down about 3.30 It was so dead, I only managed palm sized tiddlers today, and NO sign of any wrasse, was using lug and rag, which I couldn't go wrong with last week but this session was another story! I seen four macks takin today (all at once). I did have one extremely large bite today that scared the sh1t outta me to be honest but failed to land, it gave me hope and made me wonder what could have been

Alister would you stil be up for heading out tomorrow? I'm easy with location like, what you think?

[Al and Jordan]

yeah, we're heading down to bangor at 12 to start at mack strand and fish the tide in . we'll keep an eye out for you jonny. mabey between us all we might get something new to add to the species count .still have'nt managed a rockcook wrasse yet, and after the flounder, dab might even be a possibility i just hope the rain holds off for a bit

[Ronald]

I might take a run down this evening after work if you are still around . It looks like bangor pier is your second home now Al .

[Al and Jordan]

i know ronald it's the sheer diversity of what you can catch that keeps drawing me back. i've never fished a mark with such a selection of spots and species available during all phases of the tide we'll fish it into the dark provided we do'nt get soaked through too early on we fish right through the winter, and to be honest we saw less rain during the winter months than what we have this summer i'll keep an eye out for you m8. by the time you get down we'll probably be in the old harbour mullet hunting if they're about

[Dawsey]

Nice one guys, i'll be down by about 3 all being well and fish it right through til about 8 or 9. I'll more than likely start of on Mack strand. Your right Alister between us we should increase a few tally's with your better judgement and understanding of the area

[Ronald]

Not going to make it now guys ,just got a call ,mullet fishing with wee davy

[nifisher]

Al nice flounder there. You really are loving Bangor now. I took a walk down the Dee to see if you where about tut tut for sleeping in for FISHING work is acceptable. Where abouts is the sandy spot at Bangor?

Jonny