Duration: 2 hours after low water, then they got bored!
Tide: LW up
Weather: sunshine
Bait: lures only
Rigs: german sprats, jellys, feathers
Results: 120 fish in two hours to 2 rods
Catch and Release:: Yes/No
Report: There is a headland on Achill island which is referred to locally as frost. No seriously.
A local angler, let’s call him Paul, who works with me took himself and a friend down there one find Saturday afternoon to do some fishing. It involves a very long walk across boggy fields from the road to Keem Bay, downhill, with care and leaves you facing into a wide semi circular bay from atop rocks, facing almost due east across to Keel strand.
They arrived to find the tide was out, all the way out. Unperturbed they put on a small spinner each and Paul admits miscast into the water five foot from his feet. To his surprise a superb mackerel took his bait and was whipped ashore. To cut a long story short in two hours, they reckon they caught over 100 fish, mostly mackerel and getting bored with these they switched to jelly worms. These accounts for coalfish, pollack and rebel. Now a rebel in Cork is one thing, but in Mayo it’s a coalfish that has been feeding in the kelp and has, akin to the codling, turned russet. Quite a spectacular fish to catch. I'm here 10 years, yet to see one properly.
So the next time you find yourself on a mark at exactly the wrong state of the tide, and with the sun streaming down and you’re thinking “feck this for a game of soldiers!” or similar, miscast five feet out and see what happens…
I’d turned down the trip in order to bring three young people fishing for pike. They all blanked and I was saved from the same ignominy by a miserable 500 gram jack…
