Following on from that, I wasn't overly enthused about going out again last night but we've had visitors from the UK with us this week and one of them, Paul, was a bit disappointed about missing out on a trip the night before. I knocked off work early and away we went, launching from Ringaskiddy about 4pm. Paul was a complete fishing novice so priority I suppose had to be getting him at least one fish to brag about back home. He was handed 2 stugeron tablets, (just in case
) and some waterproofs and away we went. Coming round the western side of Spike Island however, heading out of the harbour we were greeted by a veritable forest of masts..... Cork Week..... I've never seen as many boats in the harbour! Pretty as it was, this effectively ruled out most of my preferred harbour marks so it was back to the previous days unproductive huss mark. An hour here however this time yielded nothing other than a couple of small pollack that I targetted, just to show the lad there was some form of life in the harbour...
As time had passed, the yachts had thinned out, heading back into crosshaven for some Apres sail no doubt and with slack water now upon us, we hauled anchor and headed off to do a bit of drifting around the bank.This proved to be a fairly good move as fish began to come, on the drift with regularity. Paul however, still hadn't caught, it was hard for him to distinguish bites from stones with the braid and the poor lad had to watch as a variety of gurnards, plaice, dabs and dogs came to the boat. All was not lost however as after deciding to hit the rock to target some obliging pollack and maybe throw a conger bait down he lit into his first fish.... A humble dogfish it may have been but boy was I glad to see it! Donal Domeney put in an appearance in his new Warrior, well wear Donal, a fine boat she is. He took a spin outside the harbour in bait pursuit but despite only managing three, still tossed us over one. He was to return a short while later on with several more after lighting on a little patch. Many thanks for that by the way.
Flushed with the success of his first fish, and interest rejuvenated Paul tried his hand at a bit of gilling as we threw down the anchor on Harbour Rock. I had no rag/crab to target wrasse with so it was pretty much his only option to while away the time as I got the conger gear out. A fruitless half hour passed until all of a sudden the sound of a squealing ratchet signalled Paul had found his Pollack.....
A couple of handy sized fish followed. I was busy having a bit of a tidy up when out of the corner of my eye I saw the conger rod give a little nod. Another, then another....... Get yourself ready says I as I lifted the rod carefully, tightened the drag before lifting into a solid fish. I pumped it 2/3 feet off the bottom and handed the rod to the rookie. I knew it was a reasonable fish and the look of shock on Pauls face as he felt the power of a decent eel was a picture... A proper fish for the lad! A couple of minutes of heaving, sweating, swearing and farting had a nice eel of 20-25lbs at the side of the boat. The rookie was quite amazed at the size of the thing, it made the silver eels he had caught in the Tyne as a nipper pale into insignificance.... Suitably pleased with myself at having got the lad something to brag about at home, I geared up a second rod for conger and chucked that out as well. I didnt have another stout rod so the 20 class was going to have to do. A half hour or so passed with nothing much happening so we decided to haul anchor and go back to drifting. Just as the first conger rod had been hauled in and just as Paul was about to reach for the second one, it took a lurch.... Not wanting to lose the fish to a rock or whatever, I picked up the rod to set the hooks and get the first couple of feet again. Lifting in, I knew this was a much better fish as solid resistance was felt. A quick pump and wind and I handed the rod back to Paul. Now a battle royal developed as a bloody good fish didn't take kindly to being extricated from its hole and took off. People say sometimes conger dont fight.... I beg to differ, in 30 feet of water they can go like stink and this one did.
A couple of minutes passed before we got our first glimpse of the fish, surfacing 20 metres or so off the back of the boat, bear in mind thats double the amount of line out at the start and thats after a couple of minutes of pumping and winding, that fish had a good run! That fish dived back down 3 times as with a tanker coming past 100 metres away we struggled to keep our balance in the wake. 10 minutes or so it took for paul to quieten that fish enough to get it to the side of the boat. Sweat pumping, muscles aching, veins bulging, heart racing stuff all the same for the noob...
I dont usually bring conger into the boat, its just not worth the hassle in a 16' Longliner but on this occasion, we did, purely for a photo call for the lad to take home with him. Estimated weight of the fish was a good 40lbs, a head on it like a bulldog and just under 6 feet long a shaking paul posed for the picture, unable to lift the fish off the floor after the prolonged bout.What a story to go back and tell the mates about, it was a delight to see the stunned, happy look on the lads face as we released the fish, hauled anchor and headed back on the drift. A few more gurnard followed before we called it a day after chewing the fat with Donal for a while and headed for home.
Now, it wasn't the best days fishing I ever had in the harbour by a long way but it was certainly one of the more enjoyable ones. Chatting with other boats, relaxing in warm sun, an odd fish or two and a lad converted I'm sure to sea angling. You imagine it, your first proper fishing trip and you manage to pull in a 6 foot long lump of a fish.....
Happy days, delighted for him.An uneventful run back to the slip before hitting the Indian takeaway for a well deserved feed. Pleasant evening all round..... I've been a bit blinded in the recent past with competition fishing and had forgotten the sheer pleasure you can have pottering around in your own little boat scratching about with no pressure for results.
Apologies for picture quality as phone sends thumbnails to email addresses I'm afraid. Bear in mind, a substantial portion of that fish is on the floor....
