N. Donegal, The 3 That Got Away, 10/11th August 2020

[johnwest]

Yet another “Cunning Plan”; go after tope on Monday and try for skate on Tuesday; what could be simpler? Having said that, we all know stories of the one that got away….
Monday 10th August. My journey up was a tedious one; 4 sets of roadwork traffic lights, all on red of course, 1 un-cooperative flock of sheep on the road, and a Garda checkpoint on top of the usual stop for outboard fuel and food/coffee all conspired to hold me back but I still made the slip with 2 mins to spare! Chuckaroo was set up and ready to go so we were soon loaded, launched and away. I was still gearing up when Chuckaroo’s first drop produced a lovely red gurnard and more importantly, a decent mackerel. I weighed in shortly with a single scad but not before Chuck had a triple of skate bait sized pollack but it was Topeday so they went back. A loud exhalation of breath caused us to look around in time to get a quick glimpse of a minke whale, always nice to see a bit of wildlife. Mackerel proved elusive but we gathered a few more scad, a couple of mackerel and a couple of multiple mini-macks, this would have to do. We headed off to our chosen mark and as the boat settled to anchor we baited up our tope traces and began the waiting game. The inevitable dogfish had to be shaken off our scad or mackerel baits from time to time and our second rods with smaller baits or baited feathers gave us some red and grey gurnard along with more scad to keep the bait box topped up. One retrieve on my second rod was heavier than usual but seemed to be just deadweight, an octopus. A few pics and back he went leaving a squirt of ink in the water as a calling card. Not much happened for a few hours apart from Chuckaroo losing a trace in a snag, not exactly exciting stuff. A while later I had a couple of tap-taps on my tope rod and thinking it was a doggy worrying the bait, I lifted the rod to shake it off but the line went solid; snagged! Applying steady pressure to try to pull free, the line seemed to loosen and tighten again, perhaps it was simply the boat rising and falling in the gentle swell but then the bottom suddenly pulled back, two definite kicks, a fish and from the stubborn unmoveable nature, it had to be a skate. I was using a 7’ 6” 20-30lb rated rod and a 30 year old Shimano Speedmaster which had been transferred to light boat duty (fast but too furious for beachcasting due to absence of any braking mechanism), good fun for tope but not ideal for skate. I did my best and put my back into the task, the rod had never seen a bend like this before but eventually after sustained pressure the rod tip straightened slightly as the fish came off the bottom and I got a good six inches of line onto the reel. The skate retaliated by pulling at least 2 feet of line back off the reel; I’m going backwards. This continued for a while and my back and other areas were feeling the strain. I realised that by shifting my left hand further up the rod and leaning back I could use my weight to exert pressure on the fish rather than strain my back muscles. After a time, I was slowly gaining line and even allowing for the occasional crash dive when the skate regained 20 of the 25 feet I had just recovered, I was definitely making headway. Chuckaroo offered to take the strain for a while but I wanted to find out just what my limits were so I persevered. The skate was now tiring faster than me and soon I could see a sandy brown shape looming out of the depths. My leader swivel was now at the tip ring so I took hold of the leader and handlined the fish in to the stern. We had no way of getting it into the boat so Chuckaroo was reaching for the pliers and camera. I tried to get an idea of the size, she was easily over 4feet wingspan, tables suggest a weight of around 80lb as a very rough estimate, certainly the biggest fish I’ve ever hooked. At this point I could see that my rig was merely snagged in the rig that Chuckaroo had lost earlier; the skate must have taken the bait later, broken it free and then caught mine. Sadly, before Chuckaroo had the camera ready, his trace disintegrated as the skate kited in the tide and slipped away. One that got away, though in big game fishing I believe if you touch the trace it counts. However Chuckaroo had a bit of underwater footage from which he salvaged a couple of shots and I had the satisfaction of dragging a skate to the back of the boat, credit to the gears in that little beachcasting reel. That was the end of the excitement until two hours later when Chuckaroo’s rod started yielding line, he tightened into it and after a short period of uncertainty, skate or snag, again a few giveaway kicks and skate on! His rod was rated at 30-50lb so had a bit more poke than mine but was still a bit under-gunned? Chuckaroo soon had the fish moving, up and down of course and the slightly lumpier sea now was making balance difficult but after a while I reckoned he had the fish about half way up when everything went sickeningly slack. He reeled in to find his 80lb mainline braid had failed, two that got away.
We gave it another hour and a half but even the doggies had gone home so we headed into the slip where Chuckaroo cooked up a storm while we waited for enough water to retrieve the boat. End of Day 1, oh, and not a sign of the target species.
Tuesday 11th August. After an excellent B+B Irish breakfast we got launched and this time we were “going equipped”, as they say in legal circles, for skate. We really struggled for mackerel today; only one between us for a couple of hours searching but fortunately we had adequate scad which are perfectly good bait (at least they were yesterday) I may start a campaign to have Mackerel Feathers re-branded as Scad feathers. Thinking pollack would be useful we tried in tight to the cliffs but Chuckaroo only managed a single pollack about 8lb on a lure, a fine fish but not what we wanted. Time was slipping by so we headed for yesterday’s hotspot, now re-classified from “Tope mark” to “Skate mark”, and over went the anchor. We would feather while at anchor for bait but first we got the skate gear down. This time I would be ready, I had set up a brand new rod (bought 3 years ago but this was the first time being used in anger), a 7’ 50lb class rod matched with a massive Penn Senator 6/0 which belonged to my father loaded with 80lb Power Pro braid, how could I go wrong? Again the doggies were a nuisance while the second rods with baited feathers provided more scad for bait along with more red and grey gurnard and a couple of poorcod for diversity.
At one point and I mean “Point” I was untangling a minor tangle of feathers, scad and skate rod line when the boat rocked slightly and I ended up impaling my finger on a hook. Yep, in past the barb, only one option. I managed to push the hook point round and with considerable difficulty eventually got the barb out, the bend in the hook making it hard to turn the point. Chuckaroo snipped the hook shank and I was able to pull the hook through and out while observing Covid 19 regulations by having a separate entrance and exit wound. To be fair to Chuckaroo, he did his best not to laugh….. too much. Still the worst was over, all I had to do was clean up the O Rh+ and get back in action. Worse things happen at sea!
Several hours later, nothing of note had happened and we were distracted by a passing sunfish flopping about (the fish probably calls it swimming) on the surface. Time for a move? We weighed anchor (by “we” I mean Chuckaroo) and decided to pursue the sunfish to see if we could get a few photos after which we would anchor up again. We didn’t see the sunfish again but Chuckaroo spied a kayak angler and correctly identified him as a Facebook Friend. As we approached for a chat, he was busy catching doggies on both rods. On his recommendation, we headed out to a new spot, anchored up and settled down for a wait. It was an outstanding day weather-wise, blue skies, oily smooth sea, very little swell, a very rare day at sea. With sporadic dogfish, gurnard and scad excepted, not much happened until that ratchet moment occurred, a foot or so of lined peeled off my rod. I had a large bait on, too big for a doggie I hoped so I stood up, rod in hand, and checked that it wasn’t the boat swinging in the tide. There was a couple of definite plucks so I tightened up the drag and lifted into the fish. Crack! The rod split clean in two just above the top grip, not even at the joint. This was a rod from a well known reputable brand which I picked up in a half price or better sale; I guess I had now learned the discrete difference between a Cheap Skate Rod and a Cheapskate Rod. Now what? Chuckaroo overlapped the bits and clamped them tightly in both hands, the rod tip leaning on his shoulder. Bending both his knees to lower the rod allowed me to reel in a bit, Chuckaroo then stood up slowly to put pressure on the fish while I monitored the rod curve and reeled every time he dipped. We did this a few times but I wondered how long we could keep it up; didn’t have to wonder for long as something gave way and all went light. The three that got away! This time it was the rubbing leader that failed. So that’s a new heavy duty rod,(I’m looking at a Penn Ally 30-80 straight butt), beefed up leader, new braid mainline etc. I’ll retire that Penn 6/0, it’s monstrous on a modern light rod but I might keep it handy in case I ever need a new winch for the boat trailer.
Time and tide wait for no man, but man must sometimes wait for the tide; there would be enough water at the slip to retrieve the boat and time was marching on. Chuckaroo only had to get up in the morning for work but I had to lie in so with a beautiful sunset behind us, we headed in.
Just one stop on the way home for a fill of diesel and a coffee to keep me awake, great music on the radio and the drive home was relaxed and enjoyable, contemplating what might have been. Tedious journey out, shortage of mackerel, not a sniff of a tope, 3 lost skate, a hook through the finger and a smashed new rod; we can’t wait to get back!

[johnwest]

Some more pics;

[johnwest]

Last few;

[johnwest]

A mighty session JW. The skate will test gear and angler alike. I've heard people say that once you get them off the bottom they give up but as you seen they are real tough scrappers.
Great report as always

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

[chuckaroo]

‘Nof ish’, dear dear. Lol
Nicely put account JW.
Great trip. Loved it. Only, we came up short..

[corbyeire]

great report as ever - your still cracking jokes and smiling despite the near misses and downright bad luck - maybe i need to smash a few rods and reels to change my luck and avoid the pin whiting, coalies, pollack - pin everything!
tight lines for the next time and just love that reg plate!

[johnwest]

great report as ever - your still cracking jokes and smiling despite the near misses and downright bad luck - maybe i need to smash a few rods and reels to change my luck and avoid the pin whiting, coalies, pollack - pin everything!
tight lines for the next time and just love that reg plate!

I dread to imagine what Chuckaroo is thinking up for mine!

[johnwest]

Great report as usual.. very funny too,, looked a lovely calm day.. its never so bad when you get to see the fish you lost.. it's some concellation anyway

[corbyeire]

great report as ever - your still cracking jokes and smiling despite the near misses and downright bad luck - maybe i need to smash a few rods and reels to change my luck and avoid the pin whiting, coalies, pollack - pin everything!
tight lines for the next time and just love that reg plate!

I dread to imagine what Chuckaroo is thinking up for mine!

It would want to be good - he is taking his time getting you back

[johnwest]

well done lads. Always a great read jw

[johnwest]

Excellent report JW very exciting read. Hard luck on the three escapes, am sure you will definitely return for another encounter.

[chuckaroo]

.

[johnwest]

great report as ever - your still cracking jokes and smiling despite the near misses and downright bad luck - maybe i need to smash a few rods and reels to change my luck and avoid the pin whiting, coalies, pollack - pin everything!
tight lines for the next time and just love that reg plate!

I dread to imagine what Chuckaroo is thinking up for mine!

It would want to be good - he is taking his time getting you back

A mere week give or take 20 mins!