Firing blanks

[plukeman]

Is it me, my style, choice of venue, bait, presentation or is shore fishing abysmal at the moment. The only sport I can find is LSDs and I dont mean the drug, other than that it is small fish, or mackeral, hardly sport.

Any positive suggestions would be gratefully received.

I am new to sea angling and have sought the advice of dealers, but no great luck. I had beginners luck when I moved to Cork in July, took 2 decent sized school bass within 10 minutes of each other on Garetstown beach near kinsale, since then nothing other than the above.

Would it help to find a tutor, does anyone know of anybody in the Cork area who teaches and is successful? Would joining a club help, or do they tend to keep their tricks and marks to themselves?

I realise I am opening up a can of worms, but please be gentle, stupid quesitons deserve stupid answers, but I am going crazy, I enjoy sitting by the sea and am not always bothered too much about the action, but some would be nice, otherwise I might have to go back to freshwater to remind myself what a bend in the rod is like, but I have seen so many programmes and seen the action fighting a good sized salt water fish is like, it would be nice to try it.

Look forward to any help/info you may be prepared to share.

cheers,

Phil

[Read]

Phil,

like yourself I am relatively new to sea angling, about 3 years now. This summer has been pretty poor overall, you can see my reports in the Cork marks [url]http://www.sea-angling-ireland.org/bulletin%20board/viewtopic.php?t=966[/url] . However I salvaged something out of the summer by pulling in two new species recently, a wrasse at Barry's Point by design and a three bearded rockling at Ballycotton by accident. On both occasions I was using fresh bait and above all else I believe this is the single most important factor in improving your catch rate and variety.

Take every opportunity to speak to the more experienced heads by joining a club, if that's your scene, talking to the guys fishing alongside you when you're out, or on sites like this. By the way Drseafish, who also posts on the Cork reports, is very knowledgeable on the East Cork marks and very patient with upstarts like myself . Chris Lipinski, aka Billy the Bass, keeps an up to date site at [url]http://homepage.tinet.ie/~fishy1tou/index.html[/url] and is also very helpful if you contact him. He does support Arsenal and likes cricket but I suppose he's more to be pitied than scolded .

Finally don't give up and remember the fish are there, it's just the nut at the end of the rod is the problem .

[plukeman]

Hi Read,
thanks for encouragement, I must admit, I was wondering whether I was just choosing bad marks, despite recommendations from my bait and tackle supplier or going the wrong time of day/tide or whether everyone had given up on the fishing. All I seem to meet are experts who stop to tell me how good the Mackeral fishing is from Kinsale bridge, or how many mackeral their son caught at Ballycotton pier, not met any serious anglers to speak of. Jim gave me a contact at Carrigaline SAC so I am going to try that out.

In the meantime, I will just get fatter, eating the sandwiches to pass the time by the rod.

Cheers,

Phil

[IDPearl]

Mix your fishing. Try using a 3 hook flapper with different baits on each hook. Don't be afraid to mix baits to make a cocktail. If you catch, see which bait it took. Try fishing far out, try fishing close in - 20/30/40 feet. Try mid distance - 50 to 80 yards. Try float fishing close to rocks with rag for wrasse. If you have 2 rods, fish one far out, one close in. Ledger with one, float fish or spin with the other. I HATE to blank, so now I have 3 rods!! 1 far out, 1 close in and 1 to spin with!!!!

Variety is the spice of fishing!!!

[kieran]

Hi

Very solid advice there for you plukeman

I think you need to pay attention to the tide and tidal conditions - some marks are best fished at low water others at high water. It is down to trial and error around this - but as a general rule I find gently shelving beaches fish best at low water. Equally pay attention to the size of the tide - certain species like whiting hate big tides and are best sought in calm conditions. Other species love the rough and tumble and like the bigger tides e.g. cod.

Mind you that is north Mayo, could be different down in hurling country (sorry Jakes if you're reading this, but they were the better team!)

HTH...

[plukeman]

Thanks for the responses and advice. I will try the three rod approach today, going to try the old bridge near ballinspittle, intend rigging up a 3 hook flapper with peeler and mackeral for flatties, a running rig with sandeel and/or peeler for bass and a spinning rod for Bass trying plugs, poppers and jellies/redgills. Will let you know how I get on.

Thanks

Phil

[Read]

Plukeman

I tried fishing 3 rods as IDPearl suggested but I found it hard going. Also I think missed some bites by not being able to give the baited rods my full attention. Let me know how you get on at the bridge. During the summer I dropped in there to see what it was like. Unfortunately I has no rods with me. It looks a nice place to fish, check out [url]http://www.worldseafishing.com/ireland/the_old_road_bridge.shtml[/url].

Best of luck.

[plukeman]

Hi Read,
thanks for the pointer, as it happens, I decided to go there after having found the exact article myself, another guy turned up there today, he had read that item too.

Anyway, another day of woe, not one fish, tried the 3 rods and came to the same conclusion you did. The tidal run is so string there and the due to the number of crabs around, you are forever rebaiting and recasting, therefore no real time for the third rod, tried it but as you said, you cant concentrate on your bait rods.

Anyway, tried one rod all day on a running rig with Crab, mackerak and Sandeel as bait, one at a time, nothing, possibly a couple of knocks, but with the tide bouncing the lead around as recommended on the worldseafishng site, it was difficult to tell a bite from a bounce, it was also very windy.

Second rod had either a 2 or 3 hook flapper with attractor beads, used mackeral and crab and a cocktail of the 2. Some definite bites, especially in the margins, but I am never sure when to hit them, when I hit them early, nothing there and if I wait for the bite to develop, it doesnt.

Third rod I had a play with a selection of spinners, float fished a redgill and jellies and frozen sandeel, nothing.

Altogether a miserable day, even the weather didn't hold up. Can't say I didn't persevere, I thought a solution to blanking may be to stay as long as it takes to catch, but after "9" hours!!! ( I know, must be stupid), having fished from the low through high and almost back to the low, out far in close, to the left, right, centre, absolutely nothing. In the end I ran out of bait and lost my flapper rig on my last castful of bait, just to rub it in.

I am determined not to let this beat me, I will keep posting and let you know if I succeed in breaking this bad streak.

Cheers,

Phil

[Drew]

I just read an article about West Cork in Irish Angler, Specimin Cod.... Now there's the exception for Ireland, If all else fails get afloat, You're bound to get something big to pull your string!!

[IDPearl]

I too miss bites sometimes with three rods on the go, but I am usually using a pulley rig with only one hook. I like to think that the design of the pulley rig allows the fish to pick up the bait and travel with it before getting impaled as the slack is taken up. Sorry you blanked though.

Out of interest, what size hooks are you using? If you are bigger than a 2/0, then you are too big. You could drop down your hook sizes to something smaller. You can still catch big fish on small hooks. Are you hooklenths clear or coloured? Red snoods seem to be as good as clear, but I'm not so sure about yellow.

Next up might be to find someone else on the forum in your area that is catching regularly and see if you can get out with them for a change and get some tips.

Try a different venue though.

Ian

[Read]

Phil,

when I became desperate, early on in the summer, I resorted to rock fishing. I chose a Barry's Point as I was getting fabulous reports on it. While fishing it badly, by that I mean missing most of the bites , I still managed to pull in big pollack on a german sprat and a wrasse on King Rag. I also managed to bring home a half a dozen mackeral for the pot, never a bad thing when justifying angling spend . It's just a mile or two south of Nohaval so it's on the right side of town for you.

It should see you break your duck.

[plukeman]

Thanks to all for your help and ideas.

I have used yellow for snoods on my Bass running rigs, but do tend to use clear on flappers. I use B940 Size 3's for Bass and on the flappers tend to put 3 sizes biggest on the top, size 1/0 B940, then size 1/0 generic aberdeen and a size 1 small hook on the lowest snood. I put attractor beads and sequins on the bottom 2 and either leave the top clear or put green and yellow beads only and use different baits on each snood, crab on the bottom, mackeral on the middle and sandeel on the top. I do chop and change and have tried cocktails. Haven't tried worms yet as I haven't discovered a local supply yet.

I will try Barry's Point tomorrow I think, do you turn right just vefore Nohaval (from Kinsal direction) and go to Dunbogey and walk? What is the walk like, I am slightly lame at the moment (in the head and physically) so would it be as easy as walking down the path from the top of Camden Fort for instance? (not round the rocks, but go through the car park and the path down to the beach/rocks is on the left (obviously).

I am going to try Monkstown on Friday and hints/tips on location and bait/tactics please?

Regards,

Phil

[IDPearl]

Looks like you are spoilt for choice with tackle/bait shops.

http://www.cfb.ie/fishing_in_ireland/ta ... s/cork.htm

I would try using rag though, as the movement seems to attract the fish. Lug will give you a good scent trail. Do keep in mind that you will need at least 40 to 60 worms for a trip if you are using 3 hook flappers as you will be changing baits every 15 or 20 minutes.

Better luck next time!

[Read]

Phil,

right before village is correct. The walk down down to Barry's Head is over a hill through fields and is about 1km. The problem is a the end of the walk where you clamber down a steep incline. Although there is a rope to help, you also need to keep your hands as free as possible. I use a tool rucksack and rod quiver. You might have difficulty if you are limping. An easier mark at the same location is to the bay directly opposite the entrance to the field where you park up. I don't think it fishes as well as the Head but access is definitely easier.

I hope to fish this mark at least one more time before the winter closes in. Bigcol described freelining to me [url]http://www.sea-angling-ireland.org/bulletin%20board/viewtopic.php?t=1161[/url] and I think it would work a treat here for wrasse. I also have a photo of the mark that I have to get to Kieran. The mail filter at work is preventing this at the moment though.

I hope all of this helps and let me know how you get on.

[plukeman]

I decided to wait to try Barry's head until I have received a rucksack I have ordered. Instead went to Fort Camden again, tried a different post, but decided against the piers as I didnt want to spend the night there and again, I could have done with all my gear in a rucksack.

It was lethal, I lost about 8 rigs before giving up, never really got chance to present the bait before the tide either washed it into Kelp or rocks, even lost 2 rigs tied with rotten bottoms and 12 snoods!!

On my way home, seeing as I still had bait left, which was defrosting, so no good tomorrow, I decided on giving Monkstown Pier a try, seeing as I havent been there before and scored!".

Not by normal standards but by mine.

Within 10 minutes of getting there got a Pollack just over a pound, ended the night with 8 Dogfish, some quite a good size, 9 Pollack, 2 over a pound and a very small Conger of about 18" in lenght, around a pound possibly.

Awyway, thanks for the good advice, used some of it to good effect and at least I broke my duck

[IDPearl]

Well done Phil!!

That turned out to be quite a catch. Just shows that perseverance pays off in the end!

[plukeman]

Went back to Monkstown Friday, with Conor, who I met via this posting. Pretty quite day, only a neap tide, lots of small pollack and codling, a decent dogfish and a very respoectable Mullet.

Just as I had hooked into the mullet a couple of lads had come onto the pier to see how we were doing, they were regular anglers and one of them couldn't believe I had caught the mullet on a mackeral strip on a 3 hook flapper, said in all his years of fishing Cobh Harbour, he had never seen one take a full mackeral strip. It was a chunky fish and gave a nice fight on the way in. Thought as first it might have been between 2.5 and 3lb, but on reflection it was very thick and might even have made 4lb.

Conor had a pretty boring day, only landing small pollack, so I dont know if he enjoyed the day or wasnt impressed.

Another local joined us on the pier and caught nothing other than my line a couple of times, throwing a 6 hook feather trace. He got bored and deceided to investigate a flock of seagulls down the wall towards Ringaskiddy. Conor followed him and came back and said the guy pulled a full house of reasonable pollack on his first cast. He came back with a bucketfull and I am sure it was out of generosity, offered some to us. I took him up on the offer, very tasty. He could have been rubbing it in, there we were with 4 rods and all the gear, him with his rod and reel and a single feather trace had well outfished us. But he was a genuine guy, and generous, he was going to stop in on his way home and give away the excess of his catch to his neighbours.

The lads who witnessed the Mullet suggested a spot further down, but I think we got it wrong, we fished an area of grass, few hundered metres from the ferry, I think he meant us to go to the old riuns though. Only thing we caught there were snags, lost about 5 rigs, so gave it up as a bad spot and went home for fish and chips.

Thanks to everyone for their encouragement and advice, the Mullet made the day worthwhile, shame it was from Cobh Harbour, otherwise would have made a very nice meal, but it went back like a steam train, to fight another day.

It has been nice to catch this week and I am looking forward to trying the ruins near the ferry at Passage next week to see if I can hook into any decent flatties.

Any advice/tips on how to fish this spot would be appreciated?

Cheers,

[rockyb23]

Ha ha I was impressed!
The look of dissatisfaction on my face was just down to hunger - next time I'll remember to bring sandwiches.
Also I'm new to this sea game and was very poorly armed for the task, which was slightly frustrating. Very educational day tho and gave me a good idea how to get kitted out and what to do when I do, as long as I didn't bug Phil too much with the constant questions.
True about the mullet, but I'm ashamed to admit I was equally impressed by a starfish that Phil caught too...

[plukeman]

This is apparently a good spot for low tide fishing, for flatties. I managed to take 2 flounders and a Red Mullet from here yesterday. One flounder was a good specimen, just under 2lb, the other respectable a 3/4 lb. Mullet was just under a pound.

Good day, however bites stopeed as the tide was half way up, couldn't have really told anyway due to tidal wash and weed.