4th- Chuckaroo and Myself.
Duration: 1st-2 hours, 4th-5 hours
Tide: 1st- up to high, 4th- dropping
Weather: lovely, slight breeze both days
Bait: Frozen Mackeral
Rigs: flappers and pulleys
Results: Turbot, flounder and ray.
Report:Time for fishing has been short of late but with a week off the gear was crammed into the spaces in the car not filled with baby stuff in readiness to take any opportunity that came along
1st June
Headed to a favorite mark, Culdaff beach, for a short session on Sunday evening. My bro-in law Dave had never fished before and this mark is usually reliable for the flatties so it seemed like a good option. Arrived about two hours before high water and got set up. First cast Dave got a double of small turbot so the pressure was off now that the first-timer had caught. I was content to fish with a light spinning rod, one hook rig and a 1 oz. lead just flicked into the suds. I was surpried how lively small flatties can be on a light set-up. Good craic and there was a constant stream of small turbot and a few flounder mixed in to keep us both amused. No monsters but an enjoyable wee session on a beautiful evening on one of my favourite marks.
4th June
Arranged to meet up with Chuckaroo in the hope of a ray or two. He had seen on the 'most common fish you've never caught' thread I'd never caught one despite trying a good few times so he agreed to help me out and get the monkey off my back! We agreed to fish a mark outside my usual Donegal territory of Inishowen so it was good to fish a new mark too. Arrived at the spot about an hour after HW and got set-up. In my enthusiasm I'd bought 5 packs of frozen mack, which in hindsight was overkill but I think was just a reaction to how badly I wanted a ray
At least we had plenty of bait. Chuck was off to a great start with a nice wee ray inside the first 20 minutes or so. Unfortunately when unhooking it, it had a bit of a chomp on his thumb which hindered his fishing a bit for the rest of the session but at least we knew there were a few about. It wasn't long before I got a few nods of the rod and my first ray on the shore. Mission accomplished- not a biggie but I wasn't complaining, just very happy to finally get one! We fished on for several hours with only one more ray between us, no doggies showed up at all surprisingly. It wasn't hectic fishing but with target species achieved we said our goodbyes and hit the road. Thanks again to Chuckaroo for putting me on the ray- see you again soon mate!
