Duration:6-30pm-11-30pm
Tide:I've given up on these tides,was supposed to be going out but was coming in to me
Weather:nice, calm and dry
Bait:crab is your only man
Rigs:pulleys
Results:smoothies and dogs later on
Report: With the calm weather just perfect for smoothies, we hit one of the Wexford beaches for a Saturday night session. Neil and Ger had tried it during the week without much success but they decided to give it another bash, and it worked out well for us
. Neil's nephew Eoin was with us, as was Rory, one of Neil's fly fishing buddies, and there were half a dozen or so other anglers on the beach. Eoin and Rory were eager to experience the thrill of hooking into one of our best sportfish, and hopefully getting dragged down the beach for a bit 
. As usual, Neil had got there earlier than the appointed time in order to get the "Hotspot", and he was also the first to hook into a hound.
Not only that , but he also had the neck to get the second
. Having suitably waved it around enough for everybody on the beach (and beyond 
) to realise that he had caught a Smoothound, he made a big show of putting it back in 
. The smoothie headed straight up to myself and Gerry and I pointed him out to sea . Gerrys reel was the next to scream, and as he shot up the beach to try land the fish, I ran over with the camera. After lifting the fish out for Gerry, I got a few snaps and Gerry released him. It was a better fish than either of Neil's so the usual banter started, with us telling him that we were only targeting specimens 
I had been fishing 2 rods, one with crab and the other with lug and rag , but with nothing happenning with the worm baits, I put a pulley rig on and lobbed some crab out mid range. A short while later I noticed the rod tip going smartly up and then the line going slack. The line was pointing south now instead of straight out so I reeled in the slack and eventually connected with a decent hound. He had come all the way in towards the beach and with help from Gerry I got him into the shallows and then out for a pic
. He was a strong , thick fish and though we didnt weigh him , we all agreed that he was a specimen (well we would though, wouldnt we ). It was a good move changing the other rod to crab and trying mid distance,,,,,just shows to go ya as they say I was delighted with my catch,(not that you'd know from my pus in the photo ) even when Gerry got a bigger one a few minutes later 
When Gerry's line went in the opposite direction to mine he knew he was into another fish. He went for another walk , this time up the beach, but as he got the smoothie to shore and we could see his fins on the surface, Gerry realised he was snagged in Neil's line. After a few polite exchanges between Neil and Gerrry
, the two worked in unison to land the fish. However, just as the fish reached the beach, the hook popped out ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Luckily Eyesreilly was on hand and he unselfishly dived in and grabbed the fish by the tail and lifted him clear of the water. The fish then proceeded to dump a mouthful of seawater all over my jumper but the main thing was that he didnt get away .This was a lovely fish, well over 10 lbs (again no weigh-in but just look at the piccies ), Gerry's best of the last 2 years, and he made the trip very worthwhile . 
We all had some fish as the evening went on , and when I saw Eoin hurtling towards me at speed, I knew it was time to get the camera out again and get him a pic of his first Smoothie, a proud moment
Rory got his smoothie too , but I didnt get a snap
. As darkness fell , the doggies came on but we managed to pull out another few smuts before heading home. 
As we left, Neil reminded us that it was He who had brought us here ,He who had gotten everyone their first smoothie and that it was He who deserved most of the credit,,,,,,, so i'll finish off with a little prayer to Him, Blessed be Him who hath bestowed upon us His knowledge . I presume that he's talking about the man above
Sure who else would he be talking about 
