Duration:9.30pm to 1.00am
Tide:Ebb, Low, Flow LW @ 10.30 approx
Weather:Calm and mild, few spots of rain.
Bait:Fresh Peeler, Sandeel, Black lug, Razor
Rigs:Me-3/0 single hook clip downs, Mac-Various
Results:Honours even, 1 bass and 2 coalies each
Catch and Release:: Yes
Report:
Mac and myself had arranged to meet up for an evenings fishing as he had a, ahem, "business meeting" in Cork that absolutely, totally necessitated an overnight stay and sure how else would you pass the time...
We decided to hit one of the East Cork surf beaches in the hope of connecting with a bass or two. With the sea fining down after the storms of the previous couple of weeks, hopes were high of a decent evenings fishing. We arrived at the mark not long after 9 oclock to be greeted with a deserted beach, bathed in moonlight with a lovely small surf with loads of small breakers and tables running. We set to and tackled up, not wanting to have to keep moving, we kept the jeep around a hundred yards or so off the ebbing surf line and got cracking. I was using my favourite rig when fishing beaches such as this, a simple 3/0 clip down. I fished this off the Triplex and 525 mag combo. Bait for the first cast was to be a whole fresh peeler tipped off with a small section of sandeel. It was duly parcelled up and despatched about 40 yards out or so just behind the last breaker.
The rod hadnt been in the tripod more than a couple of minutes when, whilst I had my head buried in the back of the jeep, baiting up rig number 2, mac let out a roar signalling I had a bite. I watched a few twitches for a couple of minutes before deciding it was probably a flattie or something just having a nibble and popped rod back in tripod and went back to baiting my rig. 5 minutes later, as I glanced up the rod heeled over much more violently. I grabbed it and struck into the fish and began the high speed winding and walking routine trying to keep in contact with the fish whilst I made my way to the waters edge. After a spirited little scrap with the fish giving a decent account of itself in the breakers, Mac lipped out a lovely little bass of just over the 2lb mark. A scramble for the camera coupled with the bloody batteries dying meant the only shot we got of it was on Macs phone before releasing it.
Flushed with first cast success, I had another bait winging its way into the surf, this time a black lug and razor combo. 20 minutes passed and with nothing happening, I wound in and replaced it with another crab/sandeel combo. A few minutes passed and with a rattling bite signalling what I could have sworn was a small schoolie I struck and wound in. To my surprise, it turned out to be a coalie of around a pound or so. This was followed 20 minutes later by his twin brother.
At this stage, Mac who is currently leading the SAI Shore Master Angler comp was coming in for some gentle slagging..... (master angler my ar*e and the like
) No worries, he rose to the challenge. Whilst I was retrieving a cast at the waters edge, Mac had a bite that nearly pulled the rod from the tripod. After striking and winding down he found himself attached to a very p*ssed off lump of Cork Bass. After a spirited scrap with the fish stripping line on occasion as it hammered around the surf, after a couple of minutes I was able to lift out a fine bass of just under 4lbs for him, a lovely fish taken on crab and sandeel again.More was to come as over the next half hour or so Mac proceeded to level the scores with two identical coalfish around the 30cm mark. A while passed with frequent small rattles and pulls but with nothing getting hooked. With cloud closing in and some rain beginning to fall it was decided that home beckoned and we packed up. There was to be no sneaky last gasp coalie or flounder to enable a load of abuse on the way home so it finished honours even. But with "away" bass counting double I reckon Mac shaded it...
A super session with plenty of bites, rattles and activity to keep us occupied. A deserted beach on a calm night bathed in moonlight with a nice little surf runnng and fish coming to the shore is damned hard to beat.
I have a couple of pics and will insert them as soon as I find the bloody USB cable.
but i was getting a bit worried when at the start of the 2nd paragraph when you and mac "were greeted by a deserted beach bathed in moonlight" 
or maybe thats just my sick mind 
