Antrim Coast, 18/09/2021.

[johnwest]

A bit late posting this but since there's nothing new to read....
Well into September and Chuckaroo and myself hadn’t managed to get a day out in the sea boat so with time running out we racked our brains for a plan. Chuckaroo eventually came up with a couple of suggestions so we went with those, I know nothing about the area in question. So a couple of days later, we launched, parked up and headed out to the first stop to try for mackerel for bait. We arrived to find a seal waiting for us to provide some easy pickings but it cleared off when it seemed we weren’t going to catch anything. It took a while but eventually we started getting the odd mackerel, one of which had some revenge as I jagged myself on that little spine they have just in front of their anal fin. I wonder what other purpose that serves? What they lacked in numbers they made up for in size and we managed to collect just over a dozen chunky, big mackerel. A small grey gurnard and a couple of tiny pollack also took a feather but they were returned to grow bigger. With enough mackerel for bait we motored off to one of the marks and took up station. We were in over 100 feet with a fair tide running but the anchor bit hard and we were soon fishing two rods apiece, one with a substantial bait and the other scaled down for a bit of “scratching”. It’s a good job we were itchy as scratching was the only joy we had; first blood was a doggie to Chuckaroo and I responded with a doggie, noticeably smaller than Chuckaroo’s. One or two missed bites were followed by a more persistent rattle and I reeled in a nice little ling. Chuckaroo performed a party trick by nailing two doggies on the one hook, nice one or should I say “Nice two”? The fishing was pretty slow and there was plenty of time for a few sandwiches and leisurely coffees, of course Chuckaroo required Room Service, I even had to stir the coffee for him. Meanwhile on a nearby boat we could see someone straining at a well bent rod….We managed a couple more doggies between us but by now the tide had turned and was competing with the freshening breeze for dominance of the boat. The bites were drying up and it was getting noticeably cooler so we headed in for the slip, Chuckaroo looking forward to a mackerel supper. That “straining at a well bent rod” on the other boat was somebody snagged in the bottom and pulling for a break, they got it but sadly the rod and not the line broke. “Worst day out this year and that’s not counting the broken rod” was the verdict. On the plus side, we, or at least I, got to fish a new area, and it was a shorter run than Donegal so I have no doubt that we’ll try there again.

[johnwest]

Just a couple more pics.

[corbyeire]

A bad days fishing is better than a good days work!

[chuckaroo]

A bad days fishing is better than a good days work!

Absolutely, couldn't agree more Brian. A new location for both of us, quite exciting to try somewhere new with a whole new landscape and new 'possibilities' but.. it certainly was, and usually is, somewhat disappointing when ye don't hit the target species.. lol
Bittersweet in the end

Must say though, Paddy is a great host
Looking forward to a few sandwiches to go with the coffee next time