Duration: 8.30 pm - 1.00 am
Tide: HW at 1.00 am
Weather: Cold, frosty, calm
Bait: Mackerel, squid, mussel, sandeel, lug, razor
Rigs: 3/0 pennel pulley, 4/0 pulley, 2 hook flapper, 3 hook flapper
Results: 25 whiting, 1 sea scorpion
Report: As the very cold, calm conditions with a light east wind were not conducive to beach fishing I decided to try a sheltered mark in Cork Harbour. I reckoned I should get a few whiting at least and maybe if I was lucky there might be a codling about. I think the last time I fished there was in June.
After de-icing a thick layer of frost from the car windscreen I was wondering was I completely mad. But nevertheless I headed out. Parked the car and walked down to the mark with the crisp crunch of frosty ground under my feet. But at least it was well sheltered from the easterly breeze.
I set up one rod with the larger hooks 3/0 or 4/0 with large baits in the hope of a codling. I used 2 and 3 hook flappers with small hooks (size 2, 4, 6) on the second rod. It was very quite for the first two and a half hours. I tried a variety of baits but nothing was biting. I was beginning to think that a can of beer in front of the fire was a much more attractive proposition. Then at about 10.45 pm I got the first bite on the two hook flapper - the whiting onslought had commenced. The first whiting was hooked on a sliver of sandeel, but it was small, about 20 cm. I had been feeling very cold but I soon warmed up as the bites were almost non-stop - sometimes within a few seconds casting out and I was getting a few doubles. I broke a hook on the two hook flapper so switched to a three hook flapper. Unfortunately the whiting were all small, typically in the 20 -25 cm range with just one above 30 cm. Mackerel slivers were the most productive bait.
The other rod remained motionless. I tried live baiting a couple of whiting for a while in case there was something bigger out there but still nothing was biting. I eventually switched back to the frozen bait. Then I noticed a small knock on the rod - I thought it was just a crab and reeled in it - and was surprised to find a sea scorpion with the 4/0 hook in his mouth and the bait completely devoured
I don't think he was actually hooked - I think he had just clamped his mouth on the hook to suck off the last of the bait - the greed little fecker.The bites slackened off close to high tide. In the end I caught at least 25 whiting - including about 6 or 7 doubles, which is more than twice the total number of whiting I caught during all of last year. Shame they were all small with one exception. Unfortuantely quite a few of them didn't survive after I released them as some of them had deeply swallowed the hooks.
