You win some….you lose some.

Mixed sessions recently, between standing in the howling rain in North Clare and sitting in silence on the Shannon.

Saturday evening I met up with Andy and Jim from Dover SAA. We had decided on a mark not far from where they are staying in kilkee. It is a generally reliable mark, one that I would recommend to people and probably my go to mark when I have people to take out after ray.  The lads hadn’t a great start to the holiday with the winds, in fact the highlight so far had been three flounders from Carrigaholt beach and a few dogs and small wrasse from Cappa pier. They have even been struggling for mackerel because of the high winds around Castle Point.

Conditions looked good, and for the first time this year I attempted the walk to the spot I have had most success from.  Pulley rigs and long and lows, fresh mackerel, sandeel and squid.  Six rods out for around six hours without a bite!  I am concerned that the place is being netted because I have never seen it so dead.  on my last trip with Joe a local lad mentioned nets being put out illegally.  On the walk back I was nearly assaulted by some angry-looking cows, which I wasn’t over concerned about until I saw a bull that looked as big as my landrover giving me the eye.  Broken ankle or not I wasted no time crawling under the barbed wire to the safety of the shoreline.  I felt bad that I hadn’t  been able to change the lads luck, but even worse last night I cancelled a trip I had arranged today because of a bad weather forecast, then went out myself and had a cracking session!

I met up with Joe for a mackereling session yesterday afternoon and for a change I was able to catch them.  Small white baitcatchers cut down so there were only three on each string worked very well and after a couple of hours I had around forty mackerel, some for the neighbours, some to freeze down for my upcoming Wales trip and the rest for bait. The wind picked up and turned more Westerly with the rain following shortly after and with it went any chance of our planned evening session.

As with every morning I checked the weather as soon as I woke, no wind.  No nasty swelling around my ankle, a fridge full of fresh mackerel and I had no choice but to head out.

I tried another mark not a million miles away from my recent haunt.  The same tactics, running paternoster, wire trace, big hooks big bait.  Dogfish on the first cast, dogfish on the second then a big seal came in to get a better look at what was going on, hovering around where my bait was.  I gripped the rod expecting to get spooled but either the crabs had eaten enough of the half mackerel or the seal had overlooked it.

Low tide came and went with dog after dog destroying my wires.  An old fella came over and started chatting to me, asking if I caught much from this unlikely spot so I told him just dogfish. With that the reel started to scream and I picked up the rod and waited………. on the second run I tightened the drag and bent into it, winding furiously to a slack line which I though I had missed but then it started slamming and the fishes head came out of the water about sixty yards out. My heart was thumping and I could already feel I was begging to shake, don’t lose it, don’t lose it. When it wanted to run I let it but when it let up I pumped the line back on the reel.

Within a few minutes my first Irish shore caught tope was on the beach

On my scales it was around 17lb but I was shaking and the tope clearly didn’t want to be weighed.  A few photos later and the female fish was swimming back, the old fella who was watching was bemused by me going to so much trouble to catch it only to let it go again.

A short while later I though I was going to be in to another when the ratchet let line go. I hit it on the second run but the rip exaggerated the size and power of the fish which turned out to be a very aggressive female huss of around five or six pounds.

As I write now, I am preparing for going back for tonight’s low water to see what I can find!

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