Wild Atlantic angling trip

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MartinC · #1 Post by **MartinC** » Sat Aug 29, 2020 1:25 am

Had been planning on doing this for some time in the camper so finally finished up all my work at the end of July and packed up the fishing rods and bait..brought some changes of clothes too but mainly fishing gear was priority,, had herself and the 2kids along so done my best not to bring everything as space was fairly tight..
We made our way straight to Waterford and travelled around the copper coast to cork.. I resisted fishing for a few days as i knew each time bait was removed from the tiny freezer inside the already tiny fridge the smell would begin.. nobody wants a smelly camper for 4weeks..
First shot was youghal beach,, looked promising but just threw up a weaver,, minus points already and hopefully this wasn't a sign of things to come.. next up was garylucas beach.. fished the rocks on the left first evening we landed,, couple of casts with a lure and bang! Another spiky fish, but this time it was something I had never seen before, a lovely bass of around 4lb appears at the base of the rocks only to fall off at arms length away.. I was sickened to say the least,, but got up at 6 the next morning and went again,, got another smaller one on a soft plastic,, quick pic and back he went.. mission accomplished
We travelled a few days untill we arrived at barleycove ,, which was absolutely jammed,, so went around the corner to lacknakea beach.. threw up a few flounder around 30cm ,
Next was onto beara where i got a few nice pollock and wrasse.. quite similar to the grounds I would be used to fishing at home.. surprisingly I blanked at the cable car at dursey,, which was highly recommended,, nicest place was the cuas caves,, fished a while there and got absolutely smashed by a monster wrasse.. peeled line off my already tight drag and when i dared to tighten ,,ping went the 25lb leader,, this was definitely the "one that got away" of the trip, plenty of 3lb fish though so was still content in lovely surroundings,,
Onto caherdaniel and Waterville as the kids wanted a swim or two each day as it was 21deg and that suited me nicely as i could get a few casts in..
We made our way on into kerry and I was most looking forward to fishing valentia island as it produced some nice double figure huss for me the previous month.. only a dogfish showed up after 5hrs and herself blamed hand sanitiser for the lack of huss.. could be something to it??
We made our way to inch beach and parked the night. Planned to do a night session but there wasn't a bit of surf and a massive thunderstorm ensued for the evening.. fished a lot of the beaches from there and the whole way up the coast ,, bridge of Ross co Clare was another wrasse stop for me and got a few decent ones.. on up through clare and into Galway I gave the fishing a break for a few days and concentrated on some family time,, had planned a trip on lough corrib for some ferox and pike but storm Ellen put an end to that.. we ended up skipping most of north mayo and achill due to the weather so decided to take a few extra days in the home county as most of South donegal is 2hrs away from me,,
A popular mark near killybegs was the highlight of the trip for me,, an absolute barrage of nice ballan and pollock and herself catching 7 species in the few hours was amazing, proof that far away fields aren't always greener., moved onto a place that I had always wanted to fish in South donegal called silverstrand beach.. a truly beautiful place and a few turbot and flounder made it even better..
Last up was a beach in fanad i have fished regularly this year.. again plenty small turbot and a few ok flounder,, darkness set in and i carried on fishing.. rattle went the rod and im into something fairly lively,, something silver shows in the surf .... a seatrout?? ... or could or be a bass??? ,, have I travelled half the coast to get back and catch one 20 miles from home?.. alas it was not to be,, 2 flapping scad lay in the suds,, still welcome, and a first for me from the shore.. but not the prize I wished.. a small dogfish ended the night for me just before storm Francis showed up.. altogether an amazing trip.. Had intended to do the 4weeks in the camper but with back to school looming and 2 storms im back home now,, still have a few days off though,, I think I'll go fishing..

MartinC · #2 Post by **MartinC** » Sat Aug 29, 2020 1:33 am

Some pics,,

MartinC · #3 Post by **MartinC** » Sat Aug 29, 2020 1:38 am

Pics..

MartinC · #4 Post by **MartinC** » Sat Aug 29, 2020 1:42 am

More pics..

MartinC · #5 Post by **MartinC** » Sat Aug 29, 2020 1:46 am

Pics.. no fish were harmed..all catch and release

#6 Post by **Stephen8wood** » Sat Aug 29, 2020 7:48 am

That’s an amazing trip. I’m very jealous indeed. Some nice fish there too.

#7 Post by **delmonte** » Sat Aug 29, 2020 8:16 am

Looks like it was a fantastic trip and some nice fish along the way! Did you convert that camper yourself? Seems to be the way to go!

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#8 Post by **daveyboy** » Sat Aug 29, 2020 9:14 am

Enjoyed that report, sounded like a good trip.

#9 Post by **corbyeire** » Sat Aug 29, 2020 12:24 pm

amazing trip and pictures - totally envious of the cuckoo wrasse from the shore and the rockcook for that matter - havent seen one this year yet!

#10 Post by **Sweetwrasse** » Sat Aug 29, 2020 7:15 pm

Thanks MartinC for a great report and some superb fishing. Sounds like a magic trip. I know what you mean about the distance to South Donegal, people always ask me do I head out in Donegal Town..I tell them I'd be in Monagahan Town as quick!

MartinC · #11 Post by **MartinC** » Sat Aug 29, 2020 9:13 pm

delmonte wrote:Looks like it was a fantastic trip and some nice fish along the way! Did you convert that camper yourself? Seems to be the way to go!
Did a fair bit.. a lot of campers on the road now.. might cash in and buy a bigger boat next year

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daveyboy wrote:Enjoyed that report, sounded like a good trip.

corbyeire wrote:amazing trip and pictures - totally envious of the cuckoo wrasse from the shore and the rockcook for that matter - havent seen one this year yet!

Sweetwrasse wrote:Thanks MartinC for a great report and some superb fishing. Sounds like a magic trip. I know what you mean about the distance to South Donegal, people always ask me do I head out in Donegal Town..I tell them I'd be in Monagahan Town as quick!

Stephen8wood wrote:That’s an amazing trip. I’m very jealous indeed. Some nice fish there too.

Thanks all.. very good trip.. enjoyed every day of it

#12 Post by **chuckaroo** » Sun Aug 30, 2020 4:08 pm

Brilliant. Fantastic trip. Fair play Martin

Go Big or Go Home · Sun Aug 30, 2020 5:49 pm

Is that a wrasse from the pontoon or a pollock?

MartinC · #14 Post by **MartinC** » Sun Aug 30, 2020 9:18 pm

chuckaroo wrote:Brilliant. Fantastic trip. Fair play Martin

Thanks chuckaroo

Go Big or Go Home wrote:Is that a wrasse from the pontoon or a pollock?

Wee pollock, she had great fun catching them

#15 Post by **johnwest** » Wed Sep 02, 2020 2:34 pm

Sounds like a great trip Martin, certainly a great report and a fine collection of wrasse species too.

Teegerstk · #16 Post by **Teegerstk** » Thu Sep 03, 2020 3:41 pm

Great report, sounds like an awesome trip, lovely wrasse!

Sea Angling Ireland