As with every trip this summer, well meant to be summer. A break appeared in the weather so I had a plan waiting for the wright day.
Today was ideal as I would be launching mid ebb tide so it was no good for flats or ray or Pollock.
So I decided to try a mark close to Culdaff in case the weather is poor for the final leg of the Irish kayak angling competition.
I wanted to try this spot as many years ago while boat angling we use to hit good tope 3 miles off shore, but the ground seems the same the whole way in on the charts,
So an inshore session had to be tried.
Ready for any thing.
Well no change there really lol,
But I had it all with me, a light rod for some messing about, a tope rod, and 2 for all things on the bottom.
So 2 rods on the bottom just to see what was there.
I was not in a panic to try for a tope as I wanted to see what was about.
In no time I hooked and lost 2 reasonable fish, they felt like cod heavy enough and fought well but the small hooks didn't hold them.
The fish started coming in well from then on, I was getting whiting, doggie, mackerel, lots of good dabs and red gurnard, my first of the year.
I was enjoying the craic with the species and trying for the tope had faded it wasn't slack tide yet.So if you remember I said I had the light rod sitting out while I fished the 2 bait rods.
Well the light rod had a white soft lure that John H gave me last summer to try, so since it was white and had a great action I put it on a 1oz jig head and sent it to the bottom to let the tide and chop work the lure while I fished.
BOB, BOB and away.
Fishing away here catching all sorts of small stuff when the light rod with the jig head got a nice rattle followed by a fierce bit of battering on the rod tip. So a whiting or a small codling was swinging on it.
Great to see it work while un-attended.
But I was reeling in another fish so I let it sit while I reeled the other in.
As I reeled, what happened but the light rod took 2 long lunges.
Bo##ox, I knew what that was straight away but in the half a second it took to register in my head the rod shot off the centre hatch and over the side.
FOOOOOOK IT,
But it was on a length of cord so I grabbed the cord and pulled the rod up to see the line flying off the reel, I had a great almost unstoppable run and the black rock bass rod held him well.
But I was running out of line and my 150yards of 20lb braid was coming to an end.
Pressure on big time now and he sort of stopped gave a head shake and bit trough my mono tippet.
Dam it he was gone, but that was fun and that meant there definitely were tope on that spot.
Rod change.
So a rod change was in order, tope gear down and I fished with a small bait rod while I waited.
Now I have been seeing small dragonets on my camera for a good while and I even seen one fall of my hook while after wrasse the other week so I had to put a tiny hook down for them.
So with a bit of luck and nothing managed to eat it on the way up I had my first dragonet on a kayak.
I was delighted to see the little tiddler and another species for the hunt this year. But this spot had another surprise for me in the form of an octopus. I have lots on the boat but this is my first from the kayak.
He wasn't impressed and turned from pissed of red to fook off white as I tried to unhook him lol.
Ah it was a great evening and that 15mph to 18hph never showed and you couldn't be in a better place.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Ye you forgot about the tope rod didn't ye lol.
Well I didn't and after numerous barsteward fish [doggies] the tope rod was away.
Oh yes, the old whirl of the reel gets me every time.
So hook set and a great scrap was even better as the tope used the tide to his advantage as it had picked up a good bit now.
So tope to the side of the kayak and it was a respectable 30lber and scrappy as ever as I hauled it in for a few pics.
A cracking evenings craic, tope in a few new species and a classic sun set to paddle home with can't be bad,
So until the next meet or the competition tight lines lads and be safe out there.
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