A few of short sessions over the long weekend

[Dave]

People: Just myself

Weather:Warm and sunny

Bait:Rag, Mackerel, Mussel

Rigs: Mostly one hook flappers for the minis

Results:Bray Harbour - Whiting Wicklow Harbour - Pouting, Corkwing Wrasse, Tompot Blenny Dun Laoghaire West Pier - Ballan Wrasse, Corkwing, Goldsinny Wrasse

Report:I decided like most people I'm sure to make the most of the good weather and long weekend and sneak in a bit of fishing, in the end managed to get squeeze in a couple of short sessions and got out nearly every day. I figured I'd travel light, just use light gear and keep moving if I wasn’t catching.


Friday (Dalkey, Bullock Harbour, Bray Harbour)
Started off in Dalkey on Friday evening in the hope of catching a few wrasse and possibly a few mackerel if they were in but after an hour with out a single bite and a few lost traces I decided to move on to Bullock Harbour. I was thinking I might be able to winkle out a wrasse or two from the rocks at the back of the harbour. However as I arrived I realised that the place was full of emergency vehicles , I didn't know what was going on. Apparently a young lad had fallen down a big gulley whilst trying to jump from one rock to the other and judging by the length of time they were taking and the amount of emergency vehicles there it seemed like the young lad might be in a bad way. I hope it wasn’t as bad as it looked. Needless to say I didn’t get to fish the rocks so I figured I'd go and grab a bite to eat instead and try Bray Harbour later on. By the time I got there the tide was out and I wasn’t too sure what to expect so decided to just have a few casts with my trusty little Ugly Stick rod that I use for the mini species to see if there was anything biting. No sooner had my first cast hit the water than I was into my first of many Whiting. I was getting one a cast but I just couldn’t get through them so I decided to call it a day after about ten of them and was relieved that the old reliable Whiting which I so often curse had saved the blank.


Saturday (Greystones Rocks, Wicklow Harbour)
I had been meaning to try Wicklow Harbour for a long time and on Saturday afternoon I decided I'd eventually give it a go, unfortunately I hadn’t accounted for the mass exodus to the beaches due to the fantastic weather and unsurprisingly the traffic was pretty heavy on the way down and by the time I got to Greystones I had had enough of crawling on the motorway so I decided I stop off at my usual spot at the Rocks in Greystones for a few casts. I was pleasantly surprised to see that there wasn’t many people fishing there when I arrived. Again I just grabbed little Ugly Stick from the car hoping to make up for my failed wrasse hunt the previous day. Unfortunately the fish weren’t quite as enthusiastic and I didn’t get a single bite so I didn’t stay long an headed on to Wicklow. When I arrived at Wicklow Harbour it look a little busy so I figured I'd explore the rocks for a bit and have the odd cast. After about an hour of fruitless exploring I headed down to the harbour and fish in close to see if I could pick up any new species, as soon as my bait hit the water I was getting bites. After a few missed bites I got my first fish, a tiny little pouting, another species off the list for the year. Dropped down again and I was into a little Tompot Blenny, I had never caught one before but they really are a strange looking fish. I caught a few more little Wrasse and blenny but no sooner was I getting into some fish as I got a got a phone call from the girlfriend reminding me that I was meant to be home an hour ago, nothing worse than leaving when you are catching but I'll be back soon.


Monday (Dun Laoghaire West Pier)
I was sitting in front of the computer trying to get a bit of work done and looking out at the gorgeous day, clearly I wasn’t going to get much work done and could see the gear sitting in the corner of the room. I only had time for a short session so I decided I'd head out to the West Pier in Dun Laoghaire to see if there were any mackerel being caught. When I got out there no one seemed to be catching much so I passed on trying for the mackerel and concentrated on the Wrasse instead. They're great fun on the light gear and I think I picked up about seven or eight in the end, a few Goldsinny and some Ballans and some Corkwings. Unfortunately again I had to go while I was still catching but it was still good to get out even if it did mean I had to stay up working a little later last night.

All in all it was great to get out and enjoy the fabulous weather and fun to catch plenty of little fish on light gear. I even managed to add another four species to my tally for the year although I now look like a lobster, I must remember to bring some sun cream next time.

[Dave]

A couple of photos from the weekend

[Dave]

and a few more

[simplywabs]

Very well done... I'd say a long weekend well spent. hehehe!!! The picture above looks to be a good spot to dig up baits on low waters... Nice pictures as well.

[thelegend]

well done lad a nice haul of fish there

[saltydog]

Great fishing you covered plenty of ground nice mix of species too well done

[rustyhookthomas]

great report and nice fishing. hope that young lad is ok.

[ronanohal]

nice work dave. I don't know how you manage to get out so often. I still haven't been out since our last session. Great photos too. I might try a few hours this thursday or early next week if you're up for a trip down?

[Dave]

nice work dave. I don't know how you manage to get out so often. I still haven't been out since our last session. Great photos too. I might try a few hours this thursday or early next week if you're up for a trip down?

I'm not too sure how I'm fixed for the next little while, the big day is getting scarily close and I still have a load of little wedding related stuff to sort out, tbh I don't know if I'll be getting much fishing in between now and then but I'll give you a shout if I'm free. On the plus side however, I'll be packing the travel rod for the honeymoon to Oz.

[eyesreilly]

Good report Dave and some great photos .4 new species has to give you the feel good factor . Havent got a goldsinny yet, what part of dun laoghaire harbour did you get them? Best of luck on the big day

[Al and Jordan]

some cracking fishing man you certinly covered a lot of ground in search of the wee fellas. it was good to see you got your well deserved rewards in the end . i just hope the young fella was ok , sounded like a bad one alright.

[tight lines]

good going a nice few days fishing time well spent in this great weather

[marky]

fair play to ya, good report, ur first day was looking dodgy with that young lad fallen hope he ok. was like a lobster myself last week wont be forgetting the suncream again.

[gfkelly1969]

great report dave well done on all the fish,nice clear photos too

[Dave]

Thanks lads, I figured it was the weekend for a bit of exploring as given the unseasonably warm weather, it meant that most of my usual marks would have been full of sunbathers or even worse, nudey swimmers. I think I'm going to try and get down to Wicklow Harbour again soon, that place really does have the potential to throw a few interesting species and definitely worth the driving that little bit further for.

Havent got a goldsinny yet, what part of dun laoghaire harbour did you get them? Best of luck on the big day

I think I got two in the end both down at the end of the west pier right in at the edge on the harbour side. I had braid on and could see the smallest of bites as soon as I dropped my bait down but I didn’t have as small a hook as I would have liked on and consequently it took a couple of missed bites before I managed to connected with one. It didn’t help that I had inexperienced mackie bashers flinging feathers over my head with the most awkward looking casts, needles to say I didn’t stay there very long. That said I've caught Wrasse on both sides of the pier all the way along it and also on the other pier.

[dfella25]

Dave you know when your married you'll lose 50% of your fishing time

[boycie89]

hi lads , just to tell you the lad that fell down the rocks was killed !! , my mate was one of the rescuers in the helicopter !

[round_ourway]

Dave you know when your married you'll lose 50% of your fishing time

then when you have kids you lose all but 5% of fishing time and dont forget to give 3 weeks notice lol.

[round_ourway]

hi lads , just to tell you the lad that fell down the rocks was killed !! , my mate was one of the rescuers in the helicopter !

sorry to hear this. sending on my condolences to his friends & family.

[Dave]

Dave you know when your married you'll lose 50% of your fishing time

then when you have kids you lose all but 5% of fishing time and dont forget to give 3 weeks notice lol.

Ah hold on a second lads, no one told me about that bit, right thats it the wedding is off.

hi lads , just to tell you the lad that fell down the rocks was killed !! , my mate was one of the rescuers in the helicopter !

sorry to hear this. sending on my condolences to his friends & family.

I'm very sorry to hear that, I have to say I feared the worse when I saw the amount of emergency vehicles there and there lenght of time that they were there. It really is an awful tragic thing to happen and illustrates all to clearly how dangerous rocks can be. I can't help thinking about Eyesreilly catching that little girl at the edge of the rock in Greystones the very next day and what might have happened. I would like to pass on my deepest sympathy and condolences to the young lads family, friends and loved ones.

Dave