Ballycastle beach Sunday 6th March 2011

[chuckaroo]

Duration: 4.30-10pm

Tide: high at 8pm

Weather: great

Bait: squid, razor

Rigs: yip

Results: 1 pollack 1 coley

Report:
i have never heard of any real decent catches being taken from Ballycastle shore so i wanted check it out for myself - just to see if i could get something. its a beautiful setting and i had heard reports recently of some decent fish being caught there..
the weather was great (low winds, overccast but no rain, 7'C) and after trying to convince a few people to come along with me, unsuccessfully, i set out on the trip alone.

arrived at the beach at 4.30 and after having been advised that there was some good pollack fishing to be had from the pans rocks i headed over there first with my spinning rod. (there was also a lot of people walking along the beach so thought it would be best to wait until dark before setting up - there was even a wee girl in a bathing costume playing in the waves with a boogie board! nuts).
i put a spinner on and tried in all directions and at all depths, no good. then i put on a float with squid, again in all directions, again no good. after an hour or so i gave up on both techniques and tied on a rig, i sent 2 hooks baited with squid to the bottom close in to the rocks in front of me. it was at this point i heard a really loud rushing/splashing sound! i didnt know what the hell was going on...... i turned round just in time to see a huge dolphin surging out of the water in front of me. it was a fantastic sight. (the sound i later gathered was from the blowhole). i could see the whole flank of the 'fish' from head to tail as it had come clear out of the water, only yards away! and there was more than one. they were shifting fast and i knew there was no chance that i could get any real decent photgraph so i happily watched them move on down the coastline.
i carried on waiting for a bite, and again, another splash. i turned around and this time i could see more dolphins, lots of little groups of them, all moving down through the bay and all again coming right towards me. the exciting thing was just how close they came, they were passing right at the very end of the pans rocks, where i was standing, really close by. so this time i grabbed the camera and i managed to capture a few. i must have counted 40 in all.

so anyway....... back to the fishing... it was during my efforts to film the dolphins that i could see my rod taking a dive under me and nearly being pulled into the sea. it was at my feet when i just about managed to grab it. i reeled in a lovely healthy pollack, im sure 2lb+, and was pretty chuffed. unhooked him, took a quick photo, and returned him safely. i tried for another one but after another 30mins with no bites i gave up and headed for the beach, just as it was starting to clear..

i sat on the beach from 7.30 to 10pm and caught one wee coley, which i was glad to see, but that was it. the whole rest of the time my baits were not even touched. i tried squid and razor at distance, just in front of me, and in all directions, but absolutely nothing happening. a local lad came along at one stage and stopped for a chat, he had seen the dolphins too. he said: "great big porpoises they were". im not so sure...?

an enjoyable day with a nice pollack. however, these turbot, bass and trout had eluded me once again........ and i didn’t manage to add to the species count either...
ah well, next time!

hope you enjoy the vid of the dolphins.. i only wish i had got better footage of them moving through the bay towards me and coming clean out of the water..! ah well
here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr3mGR1vg_0

[cathalger]

Damn nice pollack Charlie, nice one.

[Der Baron]

Great effort, well done, that's the spot to target with the fly!!!

[goldfish17]

Deadly pollock and nice video of the dolphins

[seaotter]

well done

[polaris]

lovely looking setting alrite,,,well done on the pollock,,

[polmac]

nice one chuckaroo. pity i wasnt about at the weekend as i would have joined you down there for a run. if your going again drop me a pm and i will try and join up with you.

its a lovely place on the rocks, esp in the summer for fishing, prob better to float or spin as the year goes in

[Drew]

Nice Fish, great Dolphin Vid.. Class.

[davybrown99]

well done. great vid. amazing how close in they are.
Davy

[carp angler]

well done mate. . .i see a porpoise up there before, nice to see the dolphins

i think tho at balllycastle ya are better to fish off pans rock, some big fish to be caught there on the the float

[chuckaroo]

Damn nice pollack Charlie, nice one.

its was a plump well-built fish cathal, in great condition. cheers

Great effort, well done, that's the spot to target with the fly!!!

indeed it is Der Baron. will defo have to bring the fly rod to that wee spot. Ta

Deadly pollock and nice video of the dolphins

cheers goldfish17. hope you liked the vid alright.

well done

cheers

lovely looking setting alrite,,,well done on the pollock,,

thanks

nice one chuckaroo. pity i wasnt about at the weekend as i would have joined you down there for a run. if your going again drop me a pm and i will try and join up with you.

its a lovely place on the rocks, esp in the summer for fishing, prob better to float or spin as the year goes in

cheers polmac. yip will defo pm you next time to see if you can make it, would be good. that spot defo has potential, mind you, those pans rocks are SHARP!

Nice Fish, great Dolphin Vid.. Class.

thanks. class wee pollack indeed

well done. great vid. amazing how close in they are.
Davy

cheers davy. have seen a similar sight at the mouth of lough swilly with well over a hundred dolphins, but they were not as close to the shore as these ones. was a great sight!

well done mate. . .i see a porpoise up there before, nice to see the dolphins

i think tho at balllycastle ya are better to fish off pans rock, some big fish to be caught there on the the float

cheers carp angler. yip, that beach seems a bid dead unfortunately, i hope im wrong tho, i have heard fish have been taken from it alright. i would defo consider giving it another go later in the year maybe..

[CIANDOWNEY]

crackin pollack , and amazing footage of the dolphins, seen them beside our boat last week in wexford. a bit too close for comfort on a liittle boat.

[cathalger]

I'll get a look at your vid yet Charlie, this laptop no good for it and the pc is down, lookin forward to seeing it.

[tight lines]

fine pollock well done

[chuckaroo]

fine pollock well done

cheers

[CiaranMcFish]

Great fish and fantastic video there, it would be worth reporting this sighting to the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group at http://www.iwdg.ie/iscope/sightings/report.asp?id=46 It helps to have these sightings recorded on the database and i'm sure they would appreciate a look at the video and might be able to identify the species, they might be the same group that was seen close to Culdaff Beach the week before. C.

[chuckaroo]

Thanks Ciaran, it was a great sight, so close in to the rocks.

Yes, I tried to report the sighting on the link that you provided there but once the details are entered then i cant seem to process/enter/continue with them properly i.e. the details dont seem to want to be 'accepted'.. maybe there is a design flaw in the website or maybe im doing something wrong. dunno

my guess is that they are bottlenose dolphins. the first one that i saw came right out of the water about 15yards from me and it was a biggy - about 3-4 metres in length. wish i had caught it on the video! the bottlenose dolphins are meant to be bigger than the commom ones (common dolphin max. length is 2.5m) and the commom ones are more 'common' around the summer months.. apparently.
cool

mind you, the more i look at it, the wee guy that pops out from behind the rock in the video there looks more like a common dolphin!.. maybe a mix of both species? not sure