Why are not many big fish caught on our North coast and why

[MARRCO7]

Why in most of the shore reports from Carrick to Portrush are there never many big fish caught is it poor anglers no offence meant lack of habitat trawlers, poor feeding or what. I have fished the north coast on and off at many places since i was in my teens and have seldom caught big fish. Most reports are of small coalies flats or codling yes you do get biggsih dogs and wrasse but is this all that is left. 20 years ago i didnt see it much better apart from there being more codling around Cusendall. Has anyone any of their own ideas. When i fished we used simple rigs compared to now but with all the advances fish weights do not seem to have improved.

[hairyconger]

none left trawlers got them all :x

[MARRCO7]

I met you one night at Glenarm we gave you bait and you boys have all the gear , yes we had beachcasters and good bait 20 years ago but we did see better fishing. I used to sit at redbay pier on a clear day and the amount of flatties that would be round your bait of various sizes was amazing as were the bays we went out many a night into Carnlough and all over the sand banks there where good sized flatties and pollack.

[hairyconger]

yea mate to me the antrim coast is a dead zone full of nothing at all anymore....best you can hope for is a double of dogfish :shock:

get no kicks out of fishing are waters anymore try to go south as much as possible now...nice to meet you anyways :D

[MARRCO7]

I have fished in Dingle, Waterville Mayo and many parts of Scotland and in many of these places fish stocks seem much better. As i said 20 or 25 yaers ago around Redbay and glenarm Carnlough you could get better fish. Garron poit was always good for Cod and the boats at Redbay one in particular the Green Isle used to bring in many good cod of the bank there. Carnlough bay was as i said full of good flatties, i used to go out with a old guy who speared them and no he didnt take them all, he would maybe have taken one for dinner but many a time he had plaice to 2 or more lbs and that was in casting distance of the shore.

[hairyconger]

seems those days are gone :x .......lets hope that the stocks recover for the future generations of anglers..2ib plaice whats that? :roll: (joke)think my biggest flattie to date is around a ib i really have come to expect no more than small fish from up around these parts :cry:

[MARRCO7]

In those days even while swimming at Brownsbay you would see good flatties and when in snorkeling at Wine Strand in dingle it was alive with flats of all sizes Portmuck as well was a great spot for good plaice at the very tip of the rocks at low water. i hadnt fished much up the coast til this year and i got a big surprise, i left the sea to concentrate on trout and salmon but things have declined along the coast. I live near the shore at Whiteabbey and the rag i could dig then was super you would hardly see a rag now , thou thats partly due to the musscel beds.

[MARRCO7]

A place you lot should try is the shore down between kilroot power station and the old harbour in carrick, i always reckoned that would be a great spot for big flounder and i found a large dead one there one day a couple of pound. the boats cant really get in there and there is plenty of food combined with streams running in.

[hairyconger]

yep im in need of somewhere thats still cabale of throwing up a fish and within a 100 mile raduis thats decent info cheers mate... will have to explore them parts someday...

[MARRCO7]

I fish alot in the West and know the Mayo west coast pretty well if your ever going down give me a shout and il direct you to a few places to try, my prob was i am always salmon fishing when i am down there. The moy esturay is a good spot at times down naer the island at the bottom.

[hairyconger]

yea mate no problem cheers for the info and ill bare that in mind if i find myself on the west which i more than likely will no doubt cheers :wink:

[MARRCO7]

Conservation zones around our North coast should be put in place EHS i think monitors parts of strangford so i dont see why certain bays or oarts of them should be off limits to try and enhnace whtas left of our stocks, small reefs etc too paced in bays to improve habitat and keep netters out would be good, even a sea hatchery , well we do it for Salmon why not Cod and Plaice etc.

[MARRCO7]

They talk about decline in the sea but have you ever seen a haul being brought in its full of small fish and they become gull bait or fertilizer until the nets are sorted to allow more small fish to escape the sea will continue to empty, sadly if all those small fish could escape i would reckon our problems with low stocks wouldnt be just as bad thats why i was suggesting seafish hatcheries, all our bays could be stocked down the coast with flats etc, i think they have been doing this in Dingle. Anyway i hope i prompted some thought on the subject goodnight all

[lampoon]

some interesting points there marroc, looks like antrim has gone the same way as dublin!

[carlbfast]

A place you lot should try is the shore down between kilroot power station and the old harbour in carrick, i always reckoned that would be a great spot for big flounder and i found a large dead one there one day a couple of pound. the boats cant really get in there and there is plenty of food combined with streams running in.

Agreed,ive been told about that place,ive still yet to fish it.

[Spurs_boy]

Guys, i share your frustrations. `There are still some good fish to be had but you got to do your homework. I would say that the approach that cortaz employes would be the way to go.

[stevo]

there are still some good fishing marks around the north-coast, one
i have fished a good few times is RAMORE-HEAD PORTRUSH, down the
left hand side, have had really good pollock to 8/9 pounds, good catches
of bull-huss some in the doubles,although it can be a dangerous
mark esp- with a swell running, but when conditions are good it still fishes
very well.
all the best .

[Ryan]

Why in most of the shore reports from Carrick to Portrush are there never many big fish caught is it poor anglers no offence meant lack of habitat trawlers, poor feeding or what. I have fished the north coast on and off at many places since i was in my teens and have seldom caught big fish. Most reports are of small coalies flats or codling yes you do get biggsih dogs and wrasse but is this all that is left. 20 years ago i didnt see it much better apart from there being more codling around Cusendall. Has anyone any of their own ideas. When i fished we used simple rigs compared to now but with all the advances fish weights do not seem to have improved.

20yrs ago on the North Antrim coast ( Carrick-a-rede to the Giants Causeway) you would have had no trouble getting double figure pollack from quite a few rock marks, big coalies in the winter and the chance of double figure cod. Big fish can still be had at the right times, but like most locals in that area you'll hear about the reports of fish being caught, but i'd very much doubt someone is gonna report the bigger fish being caught, just the way it is.

There's one mark that produces a good ratio of bass caught per fishing hours and i've never seen any of the guys making a report on it.

Granted the difference i've seen from the marks i always fished (The grand total of 6 regular spots) on the north antrim coast has shown a great decline in the number and quality of fish caught, but i'm sure the same can be said for most areas.

[roger de dodger]

dublin is actually improving slightly over the last few years with some good flatfish and big bass up to 10lb being taken in the bay mostly due to water quality improving on the down side bait digging for lug is harder work as lug thrive in water of poorer quality(they eat sh*t)i also beleive there was an excelent run of tope around dunloire and dalkey this year as with all bass fishing actual marks will be kept secret but good fishing is there to be had if you put in the hours and do a bit of home work

[glengormley-gavin]

I've just read this post and I am sure that a lot of Marroc's points are valid however, the fishing from Portrush to Belfast is not as bad as the picture he paints.

I have fished this area at least once a week for the past three years. I have caught lots of decent fish including big pollack, coalies, codling big plaice, flounder and conger. Massive wrasse and specimen rockling. I have even seen a 3.5lb Trigger fish landed near Portrush.

I have seen other anglers land massive pollack - up to 10lb - check out Ronald's personal gallery http://www.sea-angling-ireland.org/bull ... ser_id=237 or Davy's gallery http://www.sea-angling-ireland.org/bull ... ser_id=543 or mine below.

Maybe 20 years ago ot was just a case of turning up and wetting a line anywhere along the coast and you got a few decent fish. Nowadays, you just have to work that little bit harder and all the gear that we invest in does help - sticking it out on a freezing beach for 5 hours, well wrapped up in a float suit and in a shelter is better than going home after 1 hour because you are soaked and frozen.

Personally I have lost very big congers around Ballycastle because my gear wasn't strong enough (30lb main line tied to 70lb shockleader using a Kompressor Sport rod!!!!).

There are still big fish around, it's just knowing where to look and having the patience to stick it out.

Jude