Winter is Coming, Donegal Bay 20/11/2016,

Just myself today, yesterday on a trip with Chuckaroo, a man gave me a bag of fresh rag which he didn't need so I headed for Donegal to make use of it. Arriving at half tide on the ebb, it was broad daylight with an almost flat calm sea and no wind so expectations were low, at least until darkness and the flood tide. I set up anyway and while doing so, spied a pod of 7-8 dolphins out in the bay. The usual rod at distance and rod in close in rougher ground was the order of the day. It took a while before a few slight rattles came to the distance rod but these came to nothing. Eventually a bite resulted in a small coalfish, 15-16cm, and it wasn't even dark. By the time it was dark I had about 6-7 of these and was expecting to be tortured by them but in fact the bites slackened off. In the calm sea they were all up at the surface, their eyes reflecting the beam from my headlight. Now that it was dark, the rod in the rough sprang into action with a real rod bender of a bite, a nice 44cm pollack. This was followed a while later by an equally ferocious bite but this time from a 29cm pouting. Three more similar sized pouting turned up along with another 44cm pollack, all on the rough ground rod. This second pollack put up a great scrap to the extent that I was almost disappointed that it was “only” a pollack. I think overall the frozen mackerel out-fished the rag, I had expected a rockling or two but despite the snow on the distant hills, winter hasn't properly arrived yet but as Eddard Stark might say “Winter is coming”. . It was a slow drive home as in places there was very dense fog; in fact at one point I met an owl walking.

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Always a great fishing report ,your making me envious as fishing is out for the meantime .

[chuckaroo]

Fair play Paddy, nicely done.
An owl out for a stroll.. don't see that every day/night!

Last edited by chuckaroo on Tue Nov 22, 2016 8:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Catching a number of pollock on bait is a good one. Had you left a lot of the bait free of the hook so it was fluttering or was it stitched on?

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I fished that mark 2 weeks ago Paddy. I was surprised at the number of pollock. They fell to mackerel as well. I only had an hour and had 4 pollock similar size to yours, a lone dog and a couple of Flounder. there is a monster conger at that mark but I could not tempt him out.

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download/file.php?id=36008&mode=view

This one you mean!

http://www.sea-angling-ireland.org/forum/download/file.php?id=36008&mode=view

This one you mean!

Only if it crossed the bay!

I can't open your picture but here is a bad picture I took. His head is lined up with the front bumper of my golf and his tail reached half way down the front door.



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I can't open your picture but here is a bad picture I took. His head is lined up with the front bumper of my golf and his tail reached half way down the front door.



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DSC_0171.JPG

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Sorry I uploaded the wrong picture. Here's the one

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Catching a number of pollock on bait is a good one. Had you left a lot of the bait free of the hook so it was fluttering or was it stitched on?

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I was fishing a one hook, 1/0, rig with a grip lead in the rough ground. The bait was a 4" slice of mackerel, held on with bait elastic and about half hanging from the hook. It was flat calm with no swell so I doubt if the bait was fluttering, more likely just sitting on the seabed. johnwest.

Lovely fishing again always a great story ☺