Donegal meet

[anthony byrne]

Kayak(s): 6 kayaks Sat
5 Kayaks Sun
Duration:Sat 10 ish - 8ish
Sun 6.30ish -9.30ish
Tide: Havent a clue

Weather: 4 seasons

Bait: Everthing

Rigs: As above

Results: Fish and lots of fish


Report: Im sure there may be another report or two on this meet but feel free to add or change any of the content, it was a hectic two days but ill post up what way I think it went. Word of warning Ive the memory of a goldfish
Meself and Darren decided on Friday that regardless of the weather we were doing a road trip to Donegal for the meet. 5am Saturday morning I got a text saying "OUTSIDE" sh$t grab the bait and out the door to load up. We werent long loading the car and soon on our way. The sun was starting to split the trees and we were ready to take on the world or at least a SKATE Long aul drive to Donegal but time passed quick enough as we were chatting away about usual fishing antics. Half way up and I decided to take over driving for awhile. You folks up there should sort out the hard shoulder and footpaths one minute im allowing a car to over take me and the next im doing 120kph on a foot path Sorry about that Darren. About 9 o clock I rang Graham who was getting ready to launch and he directed us to the launch venue after a few wrong turns we made it. Tony and Owyn were getting ready to launch(great to finally meet you both!) It wasnt long before we were ready.
At this stage the breeze was howling past us but it was still managable. Darren shot ahead straight out towards Graham and I dropped the chute for a slower pace in the hope of a few fish. Lines were dropped down and within 15 minutes I had 4 fish A quick paddle over to Tony and a chat, then I decided to hit deeper water with the lads. Tim followed shortly and then disappeared Anchors were all dropped and things were fairly quite for awhile I think Graham and Darren had dogs and gurnard but I had nothing at anchor. It was nearly 1 o clock and nearly time for lunch and Darren started to look a bit cautious Fish on, at first he was unsure and thought his line may have been caught but soon the fish came to life and he battled away. This fish fought hard As I got over to Darren maybe 10 mins had passed and he was tired and sweating the fish would lift and then hit the bottom again. Eventually this beauty showed its nose

Donegal 1 009_450x338.jpg

Donegal 1 010_450x338.jpg

Needless to say lunch was put on hold and the rods were dropped back down But things were too quite for me and I headed back for some lunch. It wasnt long before we were back on the water hitting the coalies in 2's and 3's not to mention some decent pollock and a few mackeral. If I rememeber righly I anchored back up with the lads for tope and SKATE for awhile but none was had so I went peddling around in search of some more sporty action. At this stage the lads were taking the piss as I was clocking up the milage but not catching. Little did I know all I had to do was fish right beside Tony as all the fish were under his kayak It wasnt long again before the fish were pouring over the kayak. As quick as I dropped a line they came attacking

Donegal 1 006_450x338.jpg

Donegal 1 023_450x338.jpg

It must have been near 7 and the rain started to pour down, at this stage my arms were actually tired from hauling in the fish. Easily and by far the most productive session I have ever had. Then back to Grahams where there was a lovely curry and pizza waiting for us. The hospitality of this man is second to none, he shared his best fishing grounds, his food, his drink and his home with us. I cant thank you and the family enough Graham
In bed by 11 and back up at 4.30 and I think we were on the water for 6.30. A change of venue only needed us to paddle a short distance to the mark. We quickly anchored up and dropped the lines. First up for me was a dog fish and then things went fairly quiet. Click Click Click the line was slowly peeling off the reel and changing direction after a few more yards I lifted up into a fine heavy fish and a lovely thornie appeared. I estimate maybe 6-7lb. It wasn't long beore I had another

Snapshot thornie_450x253.png

Graham was kept busy too and Darren was still on a high from his trophy fish caught the day before. Beautiful morning to be on the water. We then packed up said our good byes and headed for a long journey home . An amazing two days, great to put faces to names and again a big thanks to Graham and his family.
Heres a link to the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0F5Oh1B9Xc

[bassboy]

Lovely session lads well done and great video ,hopefully I will get out the boat soon

[anthony byrne]

Darren's common skate is possibly the first one ever landed on a kayak in Ireland !
Thanks bassboy

[johnrooney]

Nice skate!!!! Would love to try this out great way to go fishing

[nicefish]

Cracking video some lovely fish well done lads.

[Determined Dan]

A massive well done men and congrats on the skate. Great report and video.

[chuckaroo]

great video Anthony
have already commented on the skate.. have no more to say! apart from: outstanding
dont think that you would want one much bigger than that fella on the kayak all the same...
and a fine few other fish there too. brilliant stuff. well done. great report

[tomtum]

great video anto some days fishing well done

[anthony byrne]

Nice skate!!!! Would love to try this out great way to go fishing

You won't look back, absolutely a great way to get to those marks which you can't reach in the shore

Cracking video some lovely fish well done lads.

Cheers mate

A massive well done men and congrats on the skate. Great report and video.

Thanks Dan

great video Anthony
have already commented on the skate.. have no more to say! apart from: outstanding
dont think that you would want one much bigger than that fella on the kayak all the same...
and a fine few other fish there too. brilliant stuff. well done. great report

Thanks chuckaroo, it was an unexpected catch as we were targeting Tope. The coalies were great sport on the lighter gear

great video anto some days fishing well done

Thanks Tommy, can't wait until the next session

[Determined Dan]

Hi Anthony , just been thinking of the skate caught. If you don't mind ,what was the rig used and lb of line. And the bait. I'm heading up to Donegal past dunlow for a few days and the relations up there are hoping to get the boat out. I know of a sand bank there so I'm hopin to give it a go . Would we need to Ankor or would a slow drift do for ray and skate? .

[anthony byrne]

Hi Anthony , just been thinking of the skate caught. If you don't mind ,what was the rig used and lb of line. And the bait. I'm heading up to Donegal past dunlow for a few days and the relations up there are hoping to get the boat out. I know of a sand bank there so I'm hopin to give it a go . Would we need to Ankor or would a slow drift do for ray and skate? .

Personally I'd anchor as I've only ever had them at anchor, a small nibble with a slow take is the tell tale sign. Let them munch away for a small bit before you strike. Darren caught the skate on a flowing trace made with 125lb line and a 6/0 hook. I had the ray on a flowing trace 60lb mono for the main body and steel wire to a 8/0 hook. The reason I used steel wire is I was hoping for a tope mackeral fillets produced the goods. Hope that helps

[Determined Dan]

Hi Anthony , just been thinking of the skate caught. If you don't mind ,what was the rig used and lb of line. And the bait. I'm heading up to Donegal past dunlow for a few days and the relations up there are hoping to get the boat out. I know of a sand bank there so I'm hopin to give it a go . Would we need to Ankor or would a slow drift do for ray and skate? .

Personally I'd anchor as I've only ever had them at anchor, a small nibble with a slow take is the tell tale sign. Let them munch away for a small bit before you strike. Darren caught the skate on a flowing trace made with 125lb line and a 6/0 hook. I had the ray on a flowing trace 60lb mono for the main body and steel wire to a 8/0 hook. The reason I used steel wire is I was hoping for a tope mackeral fillets produced the goods. Hope that helps

A great help thanks very much. I'll let ya know how it goes.

[anthony byrne]

Good luck mate !

[corney]

Is that Dunaff in the background

[anthony byrne]

Is that Dunaff in the background

I'm not sure of the exact marks as Graham was the man who gave us direction etc. we just followed him the ray is on the swilly itself and the others is just off malin head