Enterprise, Rathmullan 24/07/05

[petekd]

People: Me, Keary, Danny Mac, 5 others and ArthurG

Duration:10.00 to 5.00
Tide:No Idea

Weather:Breezy but Sunny and hot most of the day

Bait:Mackerel, Jellies

Rigs:Baited Feathers, Shads, Jelllies, Flowing traces

Results: Approximately 15/20 pollack, biggest around 4 1/2 pound, 1 red gurnard, numerous pouting, 2/3 LSDs, 1 small whiting, 5 thornback ray.


Report: Started with the traditional bait stop and moved over to the Laurentic Wreck, a combination of spring tides, wrong wind direction (NE) and numerous RIBs filled with divers prevented us from fishing the wreck to any great degree of success. The drift was proving much too fast to attract anything other than voracious Pounting of varying sizes and the occasional Pollack. Due to the wind and lumpy seas we headed for a smoother sheltered area on the eastern side of the Lough. Drifting down along and close in to cliffs produced pollack sporadically to baited feathers, shads and jellies. Long periods of inaction would be followed by 2 or three coming into the boat together. We headed back towards Rathmullan and anchored up just past Dunree for Thornies. The biggest messiest bloodiest baits seemed to do the trick here. 5 Thornies were landed, got 2 myself and was pleased to tick another species off the list with those as they were my first.

A poor enough day aside from that, despite one or two of the lads best efforts at "groundbaiting " in the lumpy seas! Granted, not the skippers fault, Cecil tried his best to put us over fish but conditions prevented us from fishing the wreck properly and from some of the better ground on the west side of the lough. I cant help wondering what has happened to the fishing in the Swilly this past year or two. Maybe its just me but the results on the trips our group have both this and last year had have seriously declined from what they were. Anyone out there got any other opinions on it?

Did get to meet ArthurG from the forum though and a civil big fella he is too. No sign of the madness that seems to grip him when he is sat in front of a PC posting a report (check back through some of his posts and you will see what I mean!)

A special mention by the way to Keary Smith who unfortunately went to buy 2 bags of cement on Saturday and arrived home 10 hours later rather the worse for wear (with no cement I might add) Fair play to ya mate for turning up and heading out. They say blokes are no use at multi-tasking, rubbish! Good old smithy managed to rid himself of all that evil beer and chinese food from the night before and continue pulling in his pouting! Maybe thats what put the fish off?

[Adrian]

Maybe its just me but the results on the trips our group have both this and last year had have seriously declined from what they were. Anyone out there got any other opinions on it?

The red tide is currently effecting lough swilly and that might have something to do with the poor performance this so far this year or Maybe it's just less available fish.

[arthurg]

I have to come to the defence of the Swilly (and the Enterprise).


I was crew on the Enterprise on both Saturday and Sunday last weekend and the fishing could be described, at best, as mixed. However, certain things have to be taken into account.

On Saturday, we had a group of Poles / Lithuanians / & Latvians who were pretty inexperienced. Three got sick very quickly and 'retired' downstairs for the duration. Of the remainder, some were just happy to catch Mackerel all day. With help, the others picked up some Gurnard and Pollock and a Turbot.

It would never be described as a great haul, but it wasn't a bad day considering the group that was out.

On Sunday, Pete brought a group over from Buncrana. I think it is fair to say that most were total novices. Now there is absolutely no criticism in this, it is simply that they would not have the range of experience to know how to fish for different species and in breezy conditions. Also, there was a north-easterly blowing which is about the poorest of winds that we get for fishing (other than a straight northerly blowing directly down the lough. We went out to the wreck, but as Pete says, we had the twin problem of having to avoid groups of divers and also a 1.3 knot drift which was a bit fast for inexperienced guys. Also, one guy was sick all day and a few others had their moments.

Because of the circumstances, we moved in to shelter off Dunaff - an area that we wouldn't normally target, however the compromise was made to get us out of the rougher water. This was inevitably going to reduce the fishing prospects, however there were still decent fish to be had. I tried my best to show the new guys on board what might work and even off Dunaff, one of the boys managed to lift three Pollock on the one drop (Hockeyes with long strips of Mackerel). That is not bad fishing anywhere and showed what was available. I can't help but think if we had had maybe 8 or 10 experienced guys on board we'd have been pulling in considerably more Pollock and the takings would have seemed much better.

With some still feeling uncomfortable, I was asked if we had any other options. Cecil and I suggested that we could tie up south of Dunree where we could spend the last hour getting Thornback and Dogs in calm water. That was agreed. After about 20 minutes without any bites and mutterings of discontent, I dropped a trace down myself. Within about 5 minutes I had lifted a Dog. Within about another 5 minutes I had a Thornie, followed by another five minutes later. In total we had five Thornies within the hour. Not too bad.

I admit that there seems to be less Gurnard than usual in the lough, however there are still plenty of fish to be had.

I would also say that in my nine years in Rathmullan, I have never heard of so many Tope being caught in the lough and around as far as Culdaff. It is also thick with Mackerel, albeit there seems to be a lot that are smaller than usual (though maybe that's a good thing for next year?)

[petekd]

Dont get me wrong Arthur, I wasnt having a pop. Yourself and Cecil did everything you could to put us over fish and more importantly to stem the flow of "groundbait" over the side! I have absolutely no complaints of skipper or crew on the two trips I have taken aboard Enterprise this year. Efforts were certainly made to put us over fish in far from ideal conditions. It was just a general observation. Granted, the majority of the crew on board would have little experience but several of us have fished the Lough regularly over the past few years and this year in particular seems to have been a lot slacker than usual. Dont know whats going on with the size of the mackerel, 3 or 4 weeks ago they were 2 or 3 times the size! Could just be bad timing on our part, you would certainly have a far more balanced picture as to how the lough is fishing this year, I can only comment on my own trips.

Will look forward to a hopefully better day next time, not being able to fish the wreck properly was a pain in the proverbials because you can usually build up a decent mixed bag over that if its tackled right.

Is it a fact that the western side of the Lough is more productive? Reason I ask is I have a small boat myself that would be suitable for drifting around the reefs near fanad etc. Was delighted to pull in the two thornies by the way and thanks for the bait tips, never had any of those before so its good to tick them off the list!

[paulbryson75]

Pete,
Have to agree with Arthur think it was just a bad day. NE'Ly winds not good for the laurentic. The laurentic itself is also a fussy wreck i have been out there days where we have caught very little for hours when all of a sudden you can't miss - an hour or a slight change of location can make a huge difference on this wreck. With the weather conditions and divers down obviously your ability to move was somewhat limited. I do think the divers will spook the fish or move them off a bit.
The ground (16') is still a little early with august definitly being the best month, i do agree we did not get as many haddock last year as the preceeding couple of years but i havn't noticed much difference with the other species, one day in particular last month the gurnard where at nusance proportions where i had to move to get away from them.
The Swilly this past 2 years has been full of good thornies, evenly distributed through most of the lough all summer, i've had catches of over 40 ray in a day last year in July. There seems to be just as many around this year although not the best sport can still put a bend in the rod. There are also the other flatties to try up the lough Flounder, plaice and always the chance of a turbot or brill if your lucky. With regards to tope, this year has been my best so I can't complain about them not being about.
All in all the Swilly is a great spot, though of course not as many fish there as one where, i do agree though that often people fish the swilly with only one or two options ie fish the ground and then the wreck then home - when the fish feeding as they sometimes do there is nothing better and i've had some great days sport doing just that. There are other fish there and somedays we have to change tactics to go after something else.
Cheers and tight lines
Paul

[arthurg]

Is it a fact that the western side of the Lough is more productive? Reason I ask is I have a small boat myself that would be suitable for drifting around the reefs near fanad etc. Was delighted to pull in the two thornies by the way and thanks for the bait tips, never had any of those before so its good to tick them off the list!

Pete, a small boat opens up a load of possibilities.

There have been good catches of Tope in shallow water off Inch Island (more or less opposite Ray).

For whitefish, I'd personally use a small boat to search out the bays and inlets that are inaccesible to the charter boats and even more importantly the trawlers. There are loads of flats in these sandy coves (and I'm sure there are occasional Bass though very few target them).

If you want an hour or two with guaranteed Thornies, use big, durty, bloody baits on the bottom at anchor (or tied up though you're not supposed to so I never said to do it!). For Thornies, have your trace below your weight and basically just leave it sitting on the bottom. I'd try the buoy we were on, or alternatively Kinnegar buoy, or at anchor directly off Rathmullan pier (far enough out not to be getting in the way of the ferry or other traffic.

Fanad reef has good Pollock and if the drift is in an easterly direction (ie away from shore) as you come off the reef you start hitting good Gurnard, with a chance of Whiting, Haddock, Turbot, etc. There is also a small reef 20 yards off the rocks in the bay immediately south-west of Fanad light (about 50yds west of the lighthouse landing platform). From the shore I have had twelve species, so a well-positioned small boat should do well. Again, be careful of this reef as it would be very close to the surface at low water (though I've never seen it break the water). Incidentally, the species were Mackerel, Pollock, Wrasse, Garfish, Conger, L.S.D., Thornback Ray, Blonde Ray, Red Gurnard, Grey Gurnard, Flounder, Dab.

If you are absolutely sure you know the ground (and only of you are sure because it is not a place to get into difficulty), Swilly Rock can be superb (in fact it is my favourite fishing in the lough). There are great Pollock and specimen Wrasse, but I cannot stress too much the danger if you are unsure fo the ground. If in doubt, don't go there until you get loads of experience from someone who knows it inside out.

There's also the big rock on the Eastern side near (north of) Dunree. Cecil tells me that for whatever reason, he finds it impossible to get boats like the Enterprise near. Trawlers would also give it a wide(ish) berth. It looks to me to be set up for good Pollock.

Good luck - hope to get back out with you again, hopefully in better conditions.

Tight Lines,

Arthurg

[petekd]

Will try those alright, thanks a mill for the info Arthur. Hopefully see you out again at some stage. Is it ok to launch off the slip at Rathmullan as I know that in Buncrana there are signs up everywhere about the slip being "For Ferry Use only" which granted is studiously ignored from time to time! Beats me what the slip was for before the ferry started up

[arthurg]

The slip is for everyone's use .............. though avoid the times that the ferry is coming in!

Good luck.