Shore sessions, Donegal Bay, 9/10th October 2014

[johnwest]

People:Just me

Duration:6hrs each day

Tide:Mainly flood

Weather:Fine, sunny, light winds.

Bait:Lug, hard crab, mackerel

Rigs:Float, 3 hook flapper

Results:wrasse, dogfish, flatfish, mackerel, coalfish




Report:
I hadn’t been shore fishing since mid July and thought it was about time I dusted down the rods and gave the wrasse a go before the real cold weather arrived. First stop was a stony shore to collect some hardback crab followed by a run to the beach to try and get some lug. Unfortunately as I arrived at the beach a really heavy downpour confined me to the car for about 15 mins, this had the effect of obliterating all wormcasts. The lug here are abundant but quite patchy and digging blind was spectacularly unproductive; 8 worms after 30 mins, so I gave up and settled for about 30 small crabs. I was surprised to find that 5-6 of these had recently peeled. A stop for a couple of mackerel fillets and I was ready to fish.
As usual I set up 2 rods fishing mackerel strip on a 3 hook flapper at distance and float fished lug in close. By now it was about half tide and not much happened apart from 3-4 small coalies taking the lug. Switching to crab deterred the coalies but it was a while before anything else turned up but eventually the wrasse started to feed. There was a period of activity which produced 5 ballan wrasse, the best going 3lb, and 2 corkwings and then just as suddenly as they started, they stopped feeding. Meanwhile the distance rod was quiet so I hopped into the car for a quick coffee and just as I was getting comfortable it started to nod and then bounce. A quick strike suggested dogfish though there was a bit of kicking too, in came the dogfish accompanied by a mackerel. A short while later the same rod started bouncing again, this time a full house of mackerel. A couple of doubles; dog/dog and dog/dab, were interspersed with single dogfish bringing a final tally of 8 doggies. With the tide now on the ebb, the fishing slowed away so I called it a day.
Next day I intended to try a beach for a few flounder but when I got there I was greeted with a flat calm, neither swell nor wind waves to give a bit of movement. Thinking I should have brought the boat, I returned to yesterday’s mark where at least there would be some deeper water. It was dead low tide so initially I just fished the distance rod with mackerel for bait and it wasn’t long before a positive bite resulted in a small flounder. Nothing happened for a while but while waiting for the tide to bring some depth close in, I gutted and filleted one of yesterday’s mackerel and chucked the skeleton in. I was surprised at how quickly a shoal of small coalies appeared to pick the bones clean, easy to see how they can strip baits so quickly. As the tide filled the fish began to feed but not with the same enthusiasm as yesterday, 4 small ballans up to 1.5lb and 1 small coalie was about it in close while another mackerel and a small dab took the distance rod.
Nothing spectacular but it was busy enough and it was nice to get what were probably my last mackerel of 2014, certainly from the shore.

[johnwest]

A few more pics;

[Deleted User 3488]

Nice result, that photo of the first Wrasse; it looks like a clonker of a fish.

[Determined Dan]

Well done, nice going.

[FisherKing]

Nice fishing, that's a good Wrasse I'll be giving them a cast next week & great pics.

[lad123]

great photos

[eyesreilly]

Great report and photos ,,nice fishing,, well done,,that's some wrasse in the first pic,,,43cms

[basshunter10]

Great read and great pictures. Well done.


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[thelegend]

great report and fishing also,lunker of a wrasse that first one !!

[chuckaroo]

great pics as always JW. nice looking flatties and some decent mackerel by the looks of it. thats a big fat wrasse!
great to get out indeed
nice report

ps. you dont want to know how i got on in S.Wexford. lets just say that i picked the worst 4 days in the whole year to have gone down there. the weather, sea and weed was dirty... hope to make amends soon enough though