SPURS & PLENTY OF BULLHUSS OFF WICKLOW

[CEng]

We are due to travel up to Kit Dunne in Wicklow in November but with news of Specimen Spurs filtering thro' we decided to travel this week also. A motley crew were gathered from almost the 4 corners. Left Cork at 05.30, arriving at wicklow at 08.10.Having recorded 2 specimen fish last week in big tides I was very optimistic coming into slacker tides.Kit opted for a deeper channel this time as the tides were easy; I felt we had a great chance in a break in the weather last Tuesday. Timing was critical so we set off early to get the best of both worlds each side of the slack water.
Kit anchored just at the edge of a deep drop off, while not being right in the middle of the actual channel, he believed this to be the best spot ! The tide was still running South fairly hard but we fished it fine. I was into into something almost straight away which was promising, please be a Spur I thought. It wasn’t a Spur but a fine BullHuss of around 8lb or 9lb. That was ok, not a Spur, but we were getting some fish. We fished on as the tide eased slowly then bang, Paul had a hit and again it looked good, he slowly pumped and reeled. Then it appeared, A Spur ! well, happy days, Kit netted the fish and took pleasure in the fact that we had hit the spot. I knew we were in for a few more Spudogs as the tide eased further and I was looking forward to it more and more.
As time passed we appeared to take turns getting a Spur or BullHuss, they showed at a rate of 2 to one, 2 Spur for every one Huss. This was exceptional fishing, we hooked almost 20 Spudogs and 9 BullHuss in total, every Huss but one were above 8lb and the Spur ranged from 4lb to 14lb.
We were all very happy with the result so far but we hadn’t landed any specimens, Yet ! The tide had turned and was running fairly hard north; we discussed wrapping up in a half hour as the breeze was picking up also. That agreed, we fished on, then as we struggled with tide Myles Howell hooked a good fish, it wasn’t clear just how good the fish was given the tide and heavy lead used but we were optimistic. After a few minutes and some hard work Kit netted a fine Spurdog for Myles, it was very clear it was a specimen. Into the large cool box the specimen fish went, filled with water and with the deck hose running through it, we gave it twenty more minutes then set off home. Back on the pier Myles fish weighed in at whopping 14lb 6ounces, 110cms long and with a girt of 40cms, she was a fine specimen. Kit held her over the side until she fully recovered and swam off in good shape. Well done to Myles on his specimen. We will return in a few weeks and hopefully have fishing as good.

[donal murphy]

lovely fat dog there, congrats... I'll have to book with kitt myself

How far offshore were you?

[CEng]

I wouldn't be the best at judging distance but I'd say 5 to 6 miles.

[Etihad]

Nice Spurdog, well done, however I can't see why after weighing and a quick photograph it wasn't released at the side of the boat.
A lot of hassle, and unnecessary stress for the fish, to bring it ashore to weigh it just for a piece of paper.

[davequirke@hotmail.com]

Etihad wrote Nice Spurdog, well done, however I can't see why after weighing and a quick photograph it wasn't released at the side of the boat.
A lot of hassle, and unnecessary stress for the fish, to bring it ashore to weigh it just for a piece of paper.
i agree but its not every body that does the way i look at it if you know you got it is that not enough why the paper

[mickeyfish]

Nice Spurdog, well done, however I can't see why after weighing and a quick photograph it wasn't released at the side of the boat.
A lot of hassle, and unnecessary stress for the fish, to bring it ashore to weigh it just for a piece of paper.

I just have to say, i have fished on this boat and have seen how the skipper looks after his fish that he intends to bring to shore, if at any time the fish appears to be at risk, no matter what the size the fish is returned immediately,

Also just to let you know, that the skipper is proactively, tagging fish for the purpose of research and has the best interest of the fish at heart.

Although i do see your point, but is it not better to return a fish alive than unnecessarily take its life.

Regards

Mick

[CEng]

Etihad,

If anglers want to claim specimen awards, that's entirely up to them, different strokes for different folks and all that. The skipper made and continues to make the process of keeping the fish alive as stress free for the fish as possible whilst at the same time satisfying his customers. Inland Fisheries Ireland value the information which specimen anglers provide each year. Maybe going forward I won't bother posting reports for fear that these might offend or should I edit them before I do?

Regards,

[davequirke@hotmail.com]

ceng i wasnt havein a go at you its the system what im not happy with the way its done now it should be caught and weighed and released why bring it to land

[donal domeney]

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[henrykelly10]

Kit aims to please all' on his boat especially not so experience and takes great Pride in his job and also helping with advice' sound skipper,you's are going to hear lot more good fishing on this mans boat, would also like to say well done to the lads on a great days fishing well done Robbie

[samo]

spot on Henry couldnt agree more.

[robbiemag]

Super fishin lads. Some crackers there. Was on the boat a few times this year. Great skipper and he looked after the lads wit me to make sure everyone got fish during the year. Will b defo bookin other trips on this boat. And the soup was out of this world too kit. Will hav the get that recipe off ye