Porbeagle, a cracker at last.

Hi all,
Well half the country knows about my porgie from the kayak on the 12th of June.
It has all gone a bit mad since then, from RTE, Unilad and even over to Arizona where 4 presenters had a right laugh with it.

Back to the fishing, 
Ivor [aka fisher man] met near Malinhead for an early launch. He had his nicely rigged out van with him so he was there ahead of me.

We geared up on the pier and paddled out in search of bait. From reports of shark about the previous weekend I was trolling baits the second I had a decent one.
I had one 50lb class standard rod with a big Okuma multiplier, and the other rod which was handed the other week an asked to catch something decent on it. The convo went along the lines of its a " bit thin, I'll probably break it". The response I got was " heave as hard as you like it's under warranty".
The rod was a Big Bite 30lb to 80lb class can cast 200g. It had a Fin nor lethal on it loaded with 300yards of 60lb braid.
The 2 rods had 15ft of 250lb wind on leaders and 3ft of 400lb 49 strand AGF wire, one had a 10/circle hook and the other had a cat fish hook on.

Fresh baits rigged and out we went to the mark.
I also had some huge soft lures with me to try as we went.

 Although the weather was to be good later it was still pretty wild out there. So we had a bash in the shelter. Ivor went after Pollock and had 2 shark set ups on. Fishing was just ok Ivor had lots of coalie and small Pollock but still wasn't great.
But things began to pick up. Ivor start getting better Pollock and I had red gurnard and 2 nice bullhuss , each a new PB as they came 8lb3 and 10lb6 I was delighted.

The weather finally eased.
At last the weather settled and we moved out closer to where beasts are meant to frequent. But this time when we moved I tried a short drift to check the ground out. But I didn't really move. The wind and tide cancelled each other out, so no anchor needed a huge bonus when fishing for beasts.
We fished away and that's where I had my 10lb6oz huss. I was happy with when.

A SHARK A SHARK,
Ivor shouted a shark a shark is after my fish. I laughed and assumed it was a basking shark passing by. But he said no its a blue one.
I turned that quick I near gave myself whiplash lol.
As I looked over there was a beast of a porgie head butting Ivors kayak looking for a coalie.

With that I reeled in my swim bait rigged mackerel and casted it at Ivor. The mackerel sank as nice as you like down in front of the shark and he didn't even give it a second glance, no interest at all.
Ah but I had an ace up my sleeve. With it rigged swim bait style I started reeling in and it swam like one of those tru line lures. As I reeled this shape appeared from behind it and gave chase.

My heart was going like steam train. She was catching up fast but the bait had made it to my kayak.
I stopped reeling and waited for the bait to be engulfed.
But no, as soon as I stopped reeling she stopped opened her mouth and dodged the bait.

OH SHIT
But it could never be as simple that she turned away with her mouth open and got the wire in her mouth and the circle hook on her pectoral fin. So I quickly shook some line off and with that she sat there thrashing the water until the wire came out of her mouth and thankfully the hook just fell off her pectoral fin.
With that she put her head down and swam away. I was in a state of shock, get the cameras out or recast.
For fear of missing my chance I cast in the general direction she went and half way through the retrieve up she came through the water and again stopped at the side of the kayak.
So I thought I'd troll the baits as I would get a longer run if she chased. I had the 2 rods out 1 with Pollock and 1 with the swim bait mackerel. The Pollock was spinning as I trolled and the mackerel was swimming away nicely.

Trolling away.
I was now trolling and with info from Alastair to keep the baits close I had them about 30yards behind me or even less. The baits where high in the water no more than 6inches under the water as I trolled.

Up came a Fin.
5 minutes later Up came a fin, Oh and what a sight. I nearly forgot to keep paddling lol.
Paddling away and that fin was coming up on the baits like jaws after that water skier in the film.
As I was afraid of a violent take I stopped paddling and began reeling. She sped up and grabbed the bait. No real panic and passed me as she did. I tightened the line as she passed but the bait pulled from her mouth.
I was heart broken, and convinced that was my last chance. But now I was convinced that I needed a live coalie. I shouted to Ivor could he catch one while I kept the shark entertained.

Knackered mackerel and Pollock rerigged as a swim bait I trolled as Ivor got some livies.
Again she came and now was keen on the Pollock swimming away up right. But this time the hook folded over and the hook went into the Pollock instead of the shark and again she was gone.

Ivor to the rescue.
Over he came with 4 lively coalies. Swim bait rigged and again I was trolling and again jaws came to the surface fin out of the water and she was making an impressive bow wave as she charged after me. This time she meant business. She was coming much faster and was not playing this time. She tore through the water and grabbed the coalie. But this time I kept paddling and she swam straight past me.
As she did I grabbed the rod held on and let the line tighten.

FISH ON.
Well it was like hooking a bus that didn't know it was hooked. She just sped up a bit and kept going and I held on and away she went. She was not that really bothered. she would go a bit and then shake her self as if she was just going to snap the line and carry on. This went on for a little while and she towed me into the rocks. But still it was as if she was going for a look around and taking me along for the craic.

But I put heavy drag on her at least 20 to 24lb of drag to get her coming up. I was sure the rod would break. But after 40 mins up she came I had the leader in my hand she done a circle around me, I heaved the line, I even had the 3ft wire in my hand and THEN.

Then she looked at me.
She went on her side as I grabbed the end of the wire and looked at me. Ye one of those looks. With that she turned and darted down and out. I let the line go and she came around and rammed me as hard as she could. What a slap. She sent me at least 5ft through the water.
Ivor got it on camera.
From then on the fight was seriously tough. She dragged beside every rock she could find.
At one point she even tried to get me into a gulley.
Thankfully Ivor was on hand and towed me out away from the rocks as the shark done her best to get me on the rocks.

Down deep and very tough.
She gave up on the rocks and headed out down deep and a seriously heavy fight was on I had at this stage at least 24lb of drag [which is a ton of drag on a kayak] on and heaving like hell. But she had no interest in coming up. This went on for hours and I was in bits at this stage, the long butt on the rod was making it tough. I wasn't able to heave the rod anymore and my back was aching. I was now using my knee to lift the rod and reeling any slack.
But I was getting no more than an inch of line at a time. But eventually She came up and I thought it was over, well she came up 4 times before the end and every time she powered off with big drag on her. I had to slack it off several times as she went off so strong. One of these times she came up and breached in front of me and smashing the water as she went.

Eventually up she came.
She eventually came up for the last time and she was immense. Bigger than I had thought. Her body was twice the girth of her head. She was like of those big fat ones Andrew Alsop gets on his boat.
As she did come up the wild life ranger/basking shark tagging team came by.

 They got a couple of nice pics and Emmet our shark expert reckoned she was easily 300lb. I reckoned it was comfortably 250lb but she was very hard to fathom her size when she is right beside you. All I could get into the pic was her head.

But it was great to see the shark I was sure I'd never get up. I had her along side and as the lads where in a boat I got them to tow me for a few seconds and she swam along side nicely. hook out and away she went.

The beast released and I was delighted and set to paddle home. Oh but I was wrecked lol. So a ditch on a rocky bay was in order, and a quick call to Linda my wife for a pick up.
So a week to recover from that one, Rod handle cut shorter and ready for the next one.

So until the next round of mayhem, Tight lines.

Tope have landed

Well the long awaited tope have landed.
But with bait being very scarce at the moment we headed out near Malin head for a bait hunt on Saturday afternoon.

Sodding weather.
As the general theme this year. The weather for cast was a bit out and it was considerably breezier than we had hoped for.
But we got out and fished away until the weather made it to uncomfortable to fish. We done well and we all had some fine coalies and I managed 1 mackerel. But the beer and steaks made up for weather. It's looking like it will be a great year for it all going well. we are well set up now.

Mackerel.
Sunday came way to quick as we may still have been recovering from the refreshments from the night before. But up at 7am and out we went in search of bait. We gave it 2hrs and I only found 2 mackerel. A lonely grey gurnard. And a good helping of some fine coalies. I had my mark3 live bait tube out on trial again to see if putting the floats inside would help stream line it will paddling. It ended up not too bad and still works very well. This 2lb coalie was in it for well over an hour while I paddled around.

He was returned after his little trip around the area. So with that, we had enough bait and away went went. The lads were under pressure and didn't have time to hang around. So I was heading out on my own for the tope.

Time to try the tope.

Oh I was busting to hit the tope and with the lads catching some on Lough Swilly I had high hopes.

So 3 nice fresh mackerel and some more coalies things were looking good.

I was launching close to time low water so it was out asap and anchor down. 

I had the new fin nor lethal 100 out to see what it was like and the usual tope set up on the other. So 2 lovely mackerel fillets on pulley rigs and even though the fillets were fresh I couldn't resist give them a dose of Bio Edge sardine oil. I didn't have a bag to marinade them in so I just stuck the nozzle into the mackerel fillet a few times squeezed some in and it had a great scent trail coming off it.

Time was ticking and would the bad weather come in before the tope. 

By now the lines had been in about 30 mins and not a tap and the tide was easing off. Normally I would be hitting tope by now if they where around. But my fears eased as the rod tope got a classic bob,bob take. The heart was near jumping out of my chest waiting for some thing to happen. 

But no nothing. After a few minutes I lifted it and there was a couple of nicks at the edge of the bait so it definitly was a tope. Line down again and 10mins later the bait on the rod with the new beast of a reel got a take.

Doesn't matter how many tope you catch, the first of the year is epic. Pure tension, excitement and delight all rolled into one. 

A bonus flounder while trying for bait.

The take.

Sorry got side tracked there lol. Ye the take. I had the Fin nor drag set very light so the tope could take the bait with no resistance. As he took the bait and started to go I sank the hook. I had my finger on the spool so he could run a bit. But the drag was a bit light. So a I quickly turned the drag 1 full turn and, well I kind of over done it and stopped a tope in full run dead in his tracks lol.

He wasn't happy he turned and gave a mad close hand fight and rolled the trace all around him. The bugger was mental. I also had the water wolf camera on and he mangled that. Bent the wire and all sorts. But it is still working, thankfully.

So a mental tope along side  the kayak , wrapped in my trace and still full of life. In he came and as every year their sheer power amazes me every year. Pure muscle and power. 

 Oh he was a handful, but I wouldn't have it any other way. So after a wrestle , hook out and away he went. He was a feisty bugger lol.

So that was my first tope of the year. Oh it was great to have one in and released to start the season. But I had hopes of more but the weather rolled in. You can see from the time on the photo's how quick it changed. In less than an hour it went from a light breeze to strong breeze. I had to up anchor and make a run for shore and dodge the yachts as I went , or they dodged me lol.

So That was it, tope account opened and ready for more.

Until the next time tight lines and thanks for reading.

Also don't forget. Boat angling Ireland tope meet greenore co. Louth 10th/11th/June 

Tope 80lbs possible all welcome 
Find us on face book

While I'm waiting on the tope.

Hi all,
As the title says, since the weather was to dodgey to heading to far from shore in search of tope I head to a local in shore mark.
I was hoping pollock and wrasse but fishing the ebb tide it was never going to be a bumper session.

Something new.
I had some nice fresh rag with me and the usual assortment of feathers and some new soft lures from http://www.fish-dynamix.co.uk/ . Their that new they don't have a name or packaging lol.
I am as bad as most anglers always looking to try something new so it will be interesting the try the whole range out over the summer.

On my pollock mark.
I got on my Pollock mark, But today there was an unsual amount of coalies on the mark. Lots of them hitting the feathers when I was looking for mackerel.
Great to see a hard fishing fish about but a bugger when your after Pollock or mackerel.
So the feathers I use for early mackerel is the bleeding glow worm rig. Always a killer for early mackerel and herring. But it was a waste of time with the coalies around. So it was on to rag on a flowing trace or soft lure.
By now the lovely sunny day had turned to over cast and quiet breezy. But I was alright sitting aound the head land out of the breeze.
As the tide was running very fast I decided to anchor and tried the new lure with a 1.5oz lead head. I fished it for 30 mins with not so much as a tap.
So it was onto the rag,  but as the breeze was getting up all the time I didn't route out a boom I just run a line from above the jig head and use it as a weight as it was an ideal weight.
So rag down and fished very slow and deep and as expected on my second cast and retrieve I got the bump bump and take of a lively little pollock. I was sure he took the rag but no he took the new lure fished dead slow and deep.
Which surprised me, it did have a rub of the smelt wand on it too so that may have encouraged the take when fished so slow, I'm not sure yet.

No beast by any means but it was encouraging to see him on the lure when there was a nice rag worm behind it. 

Another couple of casts later and another classic pollock take with a much feistier fish this time and nearly up and another burst of life and a tustle and up came 2 pollock one on the rag and one on the lure.

The better fish was on the new lure, with a little one on the rag. Seems the better fish took the lure before the rag again. May be coincidence but some more testing in the future will give a better picture of how the new lure is working. I have a right few to try out so its going to be fun trying the them all. 

Getting very windy.

By now the wind was kicking up rightly and it would soon be time for home. I had to try the wrasse before I went home so I whacked some rag on the glow worm rig and let that sit while spun for pollock.

It was down only a short while when I had my first wrasse.

Another 20 minutes passed and I hadn't another bite from pollock or wrasse and as the wind was howling by now it was a pain fishing at anchor. So lines up and in I went. It was a tough paddle in and I was glad I didn't go out to the tope or I would have had a nasty run in for sure.
Mind you when I got back on the shore the wind was totally missing the beach. Typical. I should have went after the seatrout.
But sure I had edible size pollock for the dinner and got at least one new lure tried out so it was a good run out despite the weather.
Until next time tight lines.

Fish finders how to choose and fit yours.

Hi all,
Its the start of most kayak anglers and boat anglers angling season. Soon the tope, coalie and ray will be in. Long with the warmer weather species as the summer approaches.
A lot of you will be getting ready kayak or boat ready and choosing a fish finder and fitting it will be top priority.

Choosing a fish finder.
 First of all before you break out the cash what do you want it to do.

1. Do you just want general depths and basic features along with thick fish shoals to show up. Price from E80.00 up.
2. Do you want a fish finder to show the above and pick up as much fish as possible as more basic units will not show up mackerel and herring unless the shoals are very thick. Usually from E160.00 up.
   
3. Do you want a unit that will do all of number 2 and have CHIRP which shows huge bottom detail and very accurately show up even individual fish. Normally from E250.00 up.
4. Or all of number 3 and have a built in gps unit with chart plotter. Can be got from E350.00 up

1. Sounds a mine field but it is easy with a little help to get you going. For option number 1 the Garmin 90 is not a bad choice. I have had an older version and it was not a bad unit. I did up permanently  sealing the leads into the back of the unit as they did start to suffer from corrosion.
2. In my view if you are on a tight budget try and push towards a better unit I have seen the lowrance 4xdsi for E160.00 new from a French seller but normally nearer the E200.00 . You will have to google that one they come up on sale from time to time. This unit has exceptional image quality and can even show he shape of lobster pots in 40ft of water. The only problem I had with this unit was it did fog up at times. But did clear with in a few minutes when out of direct sun light.
3. Now if you have the cash a top class unit that has CHIRP is worth the money, the Raymarine dragonfly 4 has this. But can be hypnotic, they can show up amazing detail and can be a real eye opener to what the bottom is really like. It is a big bonus to finding areas holding fish and will show even light shoals of sandeels.
4. Well option 4 is the top of the game and you could spend a small mortgage on one. The Dragonfly 4 is one of the cheaper ones out there. An excellent unit and well worth the money, the screen is bonded so it can never fog up. The only down side to this unit is, in my view the maps that come with it are very poor, they lack detail and when zoomed in show next to no detail.
   
   You can get Navionics for it, which are excellent but I was quoted E200.00 to get them on my unit. I was not happy about that but it is a good unit. Lowrance do a similar unit which I have great things about, but I have not had the privilege of trying one out. I have heard they are more expensive. 

Will we see a calm weekend again,

Hi all,
Still not much improvement in the weather and signs of fish are just as scarce out there.
Last weekend April 2nd I decided I would get the tear drop out for a fishy weekend.
I decided to try local, near enough should there be problems I had not far to got and far enough away that I wasn't going back for anything if I forgot it.

Forecast was poor.
The forecast was poor but I had hopes Kinageo would have some shelter.
Well in a word it wasn't, there was a decent bunch of breakers constantly breaking on the shore and my launch trough the rocks not as nice as I normally would like it.
I try and get a pic of what it is like but it never seems to portray what it is really like.

 It was rougher than I would normally try, but it was safe enough so out I went.

 Ye as always it was not nice out there. There was a stiff breeze, cold and it was a rodeo.
I was rattled and rolled all over the place, but it was nice to be out. I had planned to troll as close to the back of the breakers as possible but even 100yards from the shore was to close and a couple of large swells getting up the wrong side of had me heading out away from them. I trolled around and tried by the rocks and all the while the swell was getting bigger.
With the waves crashing on the shore and now some making it into the gully I came out, I headed for the shore. Damn that is nerve racking heading in a gully when its rough.
But the with the rods stowed in the hatch for a rough landing it was no bother and I managed to get into the shore between the swell and all was good.

 So I was out and back in under 30 mins lol, gives you an idea of what it was like.
So ashore in loads of time I was going to just go home, but sure it was a miserable evening and no better night to try it all out. I got the kettle on while I put the kayak away and the tea was ready by the time the kayak was away.
By now it was raining hard and it was time for dinner. The back door makes a great canopy and I could cook away in the shelter. I must have looked cracked sitting there cooking away but it was a good trial. Also it was a cold night out but in the tear drop the insulated walls made it a very comfortable night by the sea.

So I am all set for the next break in the weather and no doubt myself and a few others will be out there in search of some fun afloat. Won't be long now until it kicks off.

Thanks for reading and tight lines all.

We can but try.

Hi every one.

I will be keeping this up to date as much as possible. I had let it slide as I have been busy, but I have been surprised at the amount of people kids and adults that have an interest in what I get up to. 

So keep the feed back coming it's always great to hear from you all.

Back to the fishing, well attempts at fishing.

The winter has been hard on us this year and there has been little or no let up in the weather. 

But the small breaks we have had myself and others have been trying. 

Since Darren , one of the shore lads had been catching some ray from the shore and there was no where else fishable I had to give it ago. 

It was off to Lough Swilly with kayak newbee Georgie. 

The times where pick and a few hours near the top of the flood tide were decided on. 

On the anchor

We tandem anchored as it's a bit much to try and anchor on your first trip or 2. 

So anchored up and lines in. I had sandeel with Bio Edge squid potion on them, mackerel and squid.

Georgie was using sandeels. 

The tide was not overly strong but again it was very cold out there. 

We were there about an hour before the first bite came to my rod. The usual first pounce on the bait followed by some shuffling around. I gave him a minute and lifted hard into a decent enough fish. No beast but more than a tiddler. She gave a good scrap and came along side after making the most of the tide to get away. 

 So I was delighted with a reasonable thornie of 6lb and the dreaded blank was averted.

 Soon after that mr.dogfish appeared, I think this is the only time of year we are glad to see them appear. They can be relentless in the summer.

 On the bitter cold day that it was I would have been happy enough with that, but there was more to come. This nicely marked also devoured the sandeel in squid potion and made a fine brace.

The tide turned and that was it. Georgie was more getting to grips with kayak angling rather than the fishing and is all set for the next trip out. We had some anchoring practice on the way in and he's all set for the next day out.

It's not easy out there.

Hi everyone.
It has been a while since I have put a report up.
Not that I have not been trying, it's just there is not alot about.
The weather has been terrible since last October but I have a had a few runs out. 
Nothing amazing but I did  have a good time, from getting near frozen in Ards fishing for pike to get tossed around like a little cork on those lumpy breezy days.

My trip to Belfast looking for crocs.
Lucky for me us kayak anglers pass fishing info back and forward and when the chance arises we visit each other to see what we can catch.
As the angling show was on in Dublin and I was going sure how could I pass all those lakes wit out giving them a try. 
So a few extra days off work and I was set to visit Mike Sherwood for some pike Action. Yes at a secret venue, as all pike venues are lol.
I had planned to meet mike at a lake and with the weather being terrible and snow on the roads on the way down I was about 30mins late. Mike was out already and the bugger had gone for heat over kayak and had the boat out. He was wrapped up like a mummy lol. 
Out we went and fished a breezy very cold lake. There was a lot of sleet melt flowing into the lake and the pike were sulking and sitting very low in the water and we didn't get a tap all day.

We don't give up easily.
We it was back to Mike's place to have a rethink and come up with a plan B.
Well to inspire us we had to call to Brian and see his monster aquarium. 
Gobsmacked is an understatement. He has can fish over 20lb in it, plus lots more. So fish talk and a few beverages plan B was sorted.
The next day came and it was even colder than the first day, but we were going regardless. 
Out on another secluded lake I was raring to go and I had 1 rod set with a herring for slow trolling and the other rod got a storm curly tail lure with a good rub of sardine Bio Edge this lure has good action trolled slow.  
As it was cold that was my plan, very slow and see what happens. 
Out for a slow troll and I had not gone 100yards and I had a half hearted hit on the herring. 
That was dropped and the lure was trolled over the area and bang he/she grabbed it. A nice scrap and I had at least 1 pike of 7.5lb for my efforts. I know he doesn't look it.
But it was not going to improve from then on. Myself and Mike fished the rest of the day and we had several jacks under 2lb and that was it. No beasts that trip but sure we will be back.
Hopefully when its warmer.

Exciting times ahead.

 Some exciting news.
Hi all,
Yes exciting news indeed.
The very kind people at Fish Dynamix have asked me to become a brand ambassador.
How could I say no with an excellent range of attractants from scent wands to potions [oils].

Why a brand ambassador.
That's easy as I won't be testing them as they are already tried and tested long ago with excellent results.
From commercial long liners in Norway catching cod just using cod Kvalvik on cotton wool buds.
So add it to a soft lure on a lead head and it should become a killer combination.
As of the 28-9-15 I have yet to use them but I am really looking forward to using them at sea and of course during the pike season.
Well I did get to try it.
Yes I did get out to try the wands and bioglow with very good results. I tried a couple of things such as the sardine wand on cotton with cod and squid hitting attacking it as soon as it went down.

For me that was all the proof I needed. As the codling hit the cotton wool with the sardine wand twice before taking a set of baited rigs not more than 3ft away on another rod.

Then the opportunity of a settled spell in the weather came and myself and Mike Sherwood took advantage of the settled spell and we hit our favourite mark and we had some monster squid and I got a beast of a skate coming in at 170lb. The big bait and small hook was held in position by the heavy bioglow bait elastic http://www.fish-dynamix.co.uk/. Mike was on hand to show off his photography skills and took this excellent picture. 



So, so far so good.
So far its doing very well. Although the winter winds have hit Donegal and they don't leave in a hurry when they come. But they will drop sooner or later and we will be ready to tempt them with what ever flavour they want.


What I am really looking forward too.
At the moment the main species I am really looking forward to trying these products on are.
Sea;
Plaice, wrasse and cod, and if the weather permits common skate.
Fresh water;
Pike, perch and trout.
I am really looking forward to trying it on pike as they can be difficult at times so it will be an excellent test.

 

For now Bioglow is available at Breakaway, Veals, Gerry’s, Christchurch Angling, Ritegear, etc ….online and around 20 other shops at present. Its only been out 6 weeks although catch reports are going well over social media.

 

BioEdge:

BioEdge Potions applied to Bait, 15 - 30 minutes

BioEdge Potions applied to Bucktails, 15 to 30 minutes.BioEdge Potions applied to soft plastics by marinating, 1 hour plus.
BioEdge Wands applied to soft baits 45 - 60 minutes.

BioEdge Wands applied to hard baits (metal, hard plastics), 30 - 45 minutes.

 

BioEdge Products works well on all cut bait. Marinate cut bait in the Potion to give it a very powerful long lasting scent trail, much stronger than bait alone can produce or live fish bait use BioEdge Wands. Apply to body and tail behind gills. Apply Potion directly onto worms, or other none gill baring live baits. Note Avoid getting BioEdge Potion into fish gills. 

 

Wands are best stored out of direct sunlight and below 80F, the cooler the better to prevent the loss of volatile oils.Potions are best stored between 50F and 70F. Some Potions will partially solidify if kept cold. This is because some of the fats have solidified. Shake bottle and warm it up and solids will melt. BioEdge Potions and Wands will remain very effective for more than 18 months. There is a large selection of wands and Potions on line.

The crab potion is from a blueback crab which has the same qualities as cart and peeler crabs. Blood worm is actually marine worm (Glycera dibranchiata) and this would be suitable to use with any marine worm that you chose. Sandworm is directly from rag worm.

RRP Wands: £11.99   RRP: £12.99 

 

Bioglow:

Natural raw earth that makes it glow…lasts up to 15 mins per charge. Used in daylight and darkness…found to be effective as both and can be charged using a normal torch. I have included a UV torch for you to get the extra power.  The 0.1mm is still quite thick and will cut through soft baits…so our suggestion would be to use normal bait elastic and use some bioglow on top. Bioglow is an attractant and where it is suitable for bigger and tougher baits…it can be used as an elastic. We are still working on making it finer, but its very hard to get enough raw earth into the cotton to enable it to glow brightly.

0.1mm RRP: £2.89  0.2mm RRP: £2.99  0.mm RRP: £3.10

 

 

A day of monsters at the end of a fantastic year.

Back again,
More grey hair and slightly worse for ware.
Another excellent day appeared on the forecast and where else would you find me on a day like it.
This day Mike Sherwood was up for a monster hunt to, so rods, reels and hooks where gathered that would look out of place on a small boat never mind a couple of  kayaks.
It was a belter of a day and all was calm.
There was a light easterly forecast so we where gear for a cool if not cold day out there.
The 2 of us headed out 1hr before high water which was ideal for some bait hunting before we headed out.

Bait fishing can be great fun.
Lines where dropped as we went dipping here and there looking for bait. When a nice shape appeared on the sounder, I was thinking mackerel or herring. So line down with white euro champs  and the rod buckled over.
It could only be Pollock or coalie and to our delight it was coalie. An excellent skate bait, plus the best of craic catching them.
Every drop the rod buckled and the line was peeling off the reels with three to four 2lb+ coalie.
It was that much fun we nearly didn't head out, but come the turn of the tide they would settle down and be very hard to tempt.

So enough for the day fishing were kept and away we went trolling the rigs looking for mackerel but we only got one. As always I had the porgie rod with me and since there was really only squid out there I am assuming that any porgies that are left out here must be after squid. So I stuck a big squid on and bound it in place with the heavy bioglow elastic thread. It was good, and held the hook in position very well, as we all know hook position is half the battle. You don't want the hook lost inside the bait when you are trying to hook a fish.

Out that went on a balloon and I wanted it very deep as that's where the squid are. So I let out about 80ft of line and set the balloon 2.5oz of lead and away down tide it went.

Then the skate rod got a whopper coalie on and it also got lowered to the bottom.

Then the light rod got the usual rig when there's a chance of spurdogs, a mickey fish rig with a squid jig on top.

The wait was on and we had some doggies and small ling.
As I sat there my balloon came free of my line, no runs or tugs. The small swell just pulled the line free as it takes a lot to hold them at depth.
By now the tide had eased and my line was slowly sinking to the bottom.
I was quiet happy to let it go to the bottom as I had been toying with the idea of trying this to drop a bait down tide for skate so I could use 2 rods for skate. Plus I had that monster hit me in the dark on the bottom a couple of weeks ago.
More doggies and small stuff for the both of us, the banter was good and the slagging is never far away,
As it was quiet I decided to give the porgie bait that was now on the bottom a lift and reeled in about 20 yards, as Mike was telling me the sharks lads where getting hits with moving baits.
Rood back in the holder, clutch set for a take, but I forgot to put the ratchet on.

The silent zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
I was sitting there and I started to feel a rattle trough the kayak and turned to look at the porgie rod to see the rod top bouncing. I was thinking a skate had just jumped on the bait so I reeled the light rod in quick.
Then lifted the porgie rod and struck hard. The line went for another few yards and then came to a solid stop.
The porgie rod is a penn 30lb to 50lb class rod. Its a bit soft yanking skate off the sea floor but that's what he hit and it was about to be tested to the full.
The line had come to a solid stop and no amount of pulling would shift it.
So I let the anchor go and worked the rod until I was directly over the spot it stopped at. It was this point I realised the bugger had peel of near 100yards of line very quickly.
He had wrapped the line around several rocks so a bit of paddling and heavy had the line poping off each rock as I paddled and each time I got a bit of slack line for a second thinking each time I lost it.

Eventually I could feel my lead bouncing off the bottom so my hook was now I was either hooked to a lump of Donegal or a dam big skate as she was not shifting with out a scrap.
I heaved like hell and mike was heckling me from a far YOUR STUCK ARE YE LOL.

HEAVE,
Oh I heaved like a mad thing either that was coming up or I was going down lol. Either way something was going to give and then movement. I got it up about 10ft off the bottom and shouted over its up and then back down again it went. It done that about 3 times. But I could clearly see it on the fish finder and you can just see it on the fish finder screen the blue line, its about 25ft off the bottom here. the screen is zoomed here.

Up she comes.
Ye she was coming up and the seriously damaged line was coming to. The rod was holding up well to the abuse but myself and Mike where wondering if the line would as there where slivers of line coming off as it came trough the rigs. The skate gave it a terrible doing on the boulders. So no braid for me any more. The other rod is getting mono soon.
At last the bright yellow lead end of Alain Storey's was coming up and I was delighted to see it come into the top eye of the rod as the piece of line near the leader was in a shocking state.
I grabbed the leader and the skate came along side slapping splashing along side. She was immense. The big ones are an unbelievable  site when they come along side.

She looked a similar size to my last big one but was 5ft4" across and 78" long working out at 170lb.
A massive thanks to Mike for helping me get her measured.

                                       Thanks to Mike for this pic, Its a great shot.

 Here is what my bait looked like after that beast devoured it. And it was still held in place with the heavy elastic thread.

The excitement wasn't over yet.
We had been towed and drifted about a mile at this stage so a brisk paddle back with an aching arm lol. We where soon at anchor. Mike and I whacked large squid baits on down they went.
Not 30mins later I could hear mikes rachet going at a good rate.
Mike grabbed it and struck hard and hoofed up the drag and it kept going it was going mad and trying to get away but it was coming up not to bad and after a minute or so it was looking like Mike was going to get his first kayak skate and all of a sudden BUMP, off it came. F#####KKK echoed around the area as Mikes disappointment was very clear.
The hard fighting beauty was gone.
We fished on with more doggies and squid some of which where huge.

A monster of another kind

So Mikes skate didn't come back but he did get a brute of a spurdog when I had the skate on so no pic of that fish unfortunately.

But he got the dinner no bother to him, with a good few huge squid.

 As the year is nearing the end on the big salt stuff, I thought a pic of how the typhoon suit was getting would be appropriate. Here it is not even washed yet after a day fighting with Skate, Squid and lots of baits. It is still in perfect condition despite many lads prediction that it would never survive my kind of fishing. Thank you Typhoon with Wet and Wild in Belfast you make an excellent suit.

Thanks for reading and paddle safe out there.