Herne bay spreader in action.

Heres a video of the herne bay spreader in action.
This rig is an all wire bodied rig with 3 short hook lenghts. 1 off each arm.
As the rig is connected by off set links as the rig bumps the bottom it makes the arms jig the hooks about the place adding great animation to your baits. The rig flutters and wiggles the baits  really well. These rigs are made of stainless wire and as long as you don't loose it, it will last a good while.
And really gets the fish interested.
Below is a vid I recently took off the Donegal coast. The times when the fish seem to be just looking at it is when I had the hooks tipped with mackeral strips.
And you can see a flounder storming in and devouring the bait.
So have a look at the vid and you can see how well the rigs movement brings the fish in from afar.
This rig is available through shamrock tackle, So ask your local tackle shop to get them in you won't be dissapointed.

 

 

 

And heres a vid of it working on the rough, It's ideal for near all species.

 

 

 

Mullet a guide and hopefully a help to your first catch

 

Introduction to mullet fishing by G.Smith
Well I will start this off by saying I hope this helps to start or improve your mullet fishing experience. As once you start and get into mullet fishing it can be hard to drag yourself away to fish for anything else.
You may be laughing at this statement but once you have gotten past the enfuriating stage of mullet taking every bait in the area bar yours, or there splashing at it and going away, or they swim straight at it and then dart off in the other direction [all part of mullet fishing] As when you get trough this stage your into fishing gold. Your able to fish for a fish that is every bit as hard fighting as a salmon, twice as smart, free to fish for, about 100 times more plentyfull and there nearly in every river, harbour and estuary in the country
What more could you ask for
This article is a small part of mullet fishing and I have touched on my own personal favourite methods and the most common aspect of mullet fishing.
This article will make more sense to you as you try for them yourself. If you have a tough day at the mullet come back and have a glance trough here there should be something in here to get you back in the fish hope you enjoy.

Tackle and rigging.
Well we'll get the boring stuff out of the way first and this is what I take fishing.
RODS
Generaly rod wise a good alround light 8 foot rod will cover most mullet fishing something that can take the surge of good fish while using 6lb line.
I'm reluctant to name any rod in particular as we can get carried away with brands and redictulous prices so keep it simple. How I like to test a rod is get a 10g weight and tie it to the end of the rod on a piece of line about 4 foot long and give it a gentle bounce as you were about to cast it and if the rod is gently flexing with it, you have what you need.

 

REELS
Reels any nice little spinning reel with a rear drag will do not to small thoe.it's far more important what you put on it.[the line]
LINE
For me it has to be trilene line 6lb. it is vitally important to keep your reel full of line for smooth casting while using light gear. and always reel it gently trough your fingers while reeling in so it goes on with a slight bit of tension so it doesn't foul up when casting.Braid can be used but for me the mono is best overall.
FLOATS
If your using floats try use the lightest one possible.
If it's for extra distance match the float to what you need, if your surface fishing I use a thin waggler with 4 bb shot close to the float and about another 4 foot to the hook so the weights don't pull your bread flake down.
HOOKS
Hooks vary depending what your at. My alround favourite is the drennan specimen size10 semi barbed.In my experience thoe limited with barbless, the barbless are not an option as a lot of fish can be lost. with barbed hooks 99% of the time there hooked at the edge of the mouth in anyway .
If your fishing in a harbour you can go up to a size 8 and if your in a river after moby dick I go down to a size 12 If you go down to 14 you need to reasses your whole rig you'll need to go down to 4lb line and watch your drag like a hawk.
And keep away from the reeds as there like knifes and will ruin light line.
LANDING NET
Generally a half decent trout net with a 4 foot handle will do nicely.
AND FINALLY HEAD WEAR.
Although it's not a fashion show A hat and polarized glasses will really help your fishing. As they'll cut down the glare on the waters surface.

here's one from majorca

 

Mullet behavior
You might be inclined to skip this part but it is all relavent and the more you try for them the more helpfull this will be.
Generally in tidal rivers and harbours they follow a similar pattern as the tide rises they come in and really start to feed. also the fish that were trapped at low tide will feed a lot better. What normally happens is they rush in all over the place and feed anywhere untill there favourite feeding spot is covered then the fun can really begin. At this point you can decide to move around and stalk them or sit and wait at a favourite spot.
Mullet as you will have noticed if you ever watched them are a shoaling fish [don't laugh now ] but unlike most fish they seem to have lots of small groups with in the main shoal. And unlike most fish they seem to have a larger fish in front and followed closely by 3 or 4 smaller fish the lead fish is generally a good couple of pound bigger that it's followers. This fish is generally 5lb+ and is a whilley old buck and is a tricky fish to tempt to a hook bait. In time you will catch them but don't stress about them at first.
But this fish is emensly usefull to us.
If you watch cruising mullet especially these small groups anything the lead fish picks up the followers will nearly always have a go at it. you may be thinking how will I get this cute bugger to even look at my bait, but unless you want to pull out the rest of your remaing hair I'd leave him till you get the swing of the 3-4lb fish.
Back to the lead fish what you do is when you see the small group cruising cast about 10yds ahead and about 5yds past them so not to scare them and real your bait in to the path of the fish [this is only for subsurface baits suken flake or fish bait slow sinking] and as the lead fish passes if he doesn't have ago gently give the bait a short sharp pull as if the lead fish just spat it out and the fish behind will 80% of the time have ago.

372.JPG

A mullet in an aquarium in majorcia

HARBOURS
Generally harbours are sit and wait. but theres no harm in wandering around watching for that beautifull sight of 4 or 5 mullet bring a fish carcas to the surface feeding like a good thing. have your bait ready and a well placed free lined fish piece will get you a fish.as with nearly all mullet fishing cast past them and reel the bait slowly to them and when very close let it start to sink but not out of sight. you may have to do this 2 or 3 times to get a take but don't spook them they will take it.
BEST BAIT IN HARBOURS, white fish flesh skinless and boneless or raw prawn shelled.

My son Craig [on the left] with a 5.3lb mullet and his friend Patrick with 3lber. craig hooked and landed his with no help and his friend a novice needed little or no help

 

RIVERS
By far my favourite and a lovely place to be on a nice quite day.
For me being mobile is the key to river fishing for mullet.
All I bring is my rod,reel a pack of size10 hooks one or 2 small floats and 2 loaves of bread oh bring your camera.
Between tides is hard going but generally I throw out 3-4 slices of bread in a patch and walk up the river and try further up. if there's nothing happening after an hour I head back to where I put the first bit of ground bait and put some more bread out and get a line out and see what happens. If the gulls are harrasing you wet the bread first and some of it will sink and work almost as well.
But by far the flood tide and some of the high water ebb is best. If your down an hour or 2 before high water I would generally pick a favourite spot ground bait it with floating bread and sit and wait.[TOP TIP] only ground bait with fresh crusts and keep the white flake for your hook.The reason being the crust floats much better and the mullet have to work alot harder to get it where as your nice bit of flake will slip nicely under the water easily when the big brute sucks it down.
BEST BAIT.Generally bread flake is the top bait in rivers bring plenty with you and don't be mean give them plenty. mullet generally feed on what is most plentyfull so get the bread out and get them feeding. And the bread has to very fresh for best results.

YAK OR ON FOOT ?

A 4lber from the yak

From the yak
Although the kayak is my favourite way to fish, your giving up your biggest advantage which is height. On foot from a bridge or on a bank it is much easier to see the take.It can be done from the yak and it is massively exciting altough you have to change your rig a bit. Generally i'd mostly fish a very light float for them with a smaller hook size12 and use smaller baits. the reason for all this is that from the yak you can no longer see the mullet take the bait into it's mouth, And it is much more difficult to see what's happening.but with a small bait when you see the float start to move you can be more certin that the fish has the bait in it's mouth.As mullet don't just grab a bait they like to suck it back and forward till it falls to pieces.
Don't be waiting for the usual float take, the dip down or drift away take from a pike or a trout. These fellas should have been burglars they can nick your bait when hardly moving the float. Generally the float will bobble about a bit very slightly though then normally one short tug in one direction then strike as he's about to spit the bait as he leaves.
This may happen several times in a row but that is why your fishing so light. If you completely miss him you will hardly disturb him and you may get a few chances at him.

ON FOOT.
mullet on foot is very productive the height advantage is great. As mullet are not your typical feeders that scoff what ever they see. there like posh fish they like to have a look, have a taste and maybe they'll eat it if they feel like it.
Thats why the height is so important. with mullet I like to be able to see the fish taking the bait. So on foot if your on a bank, or a bridge or a walkway you can see everything.

One from the bank/ mud flats

 

MULLET BAITS.
I know what your saying to yourself and no you won't find it in the bog
Baits generally are what are most plentyfull in an area.
Harbours,
Generally in harbours fish pieces and shelled prawn are best a nice piece of white fish skined and no bones in it cut down the amount of time the mullet play with it. But saying this onone or 2 ocassions I have seen them go activily after a piece of oily fish. if possible a small piece of bait about 3/4" square roughly is ideal but for longer casting when free lining you go bigger to improve your cast distance you might want to go up a hook size to get a better hold on a larger bait say size 8 at the most.
A simple cast and allow your bait to sink slowly trough the water as you watch it the majority of my fish are caught on the sink they seem to love a slow sinking bait.
RIVER BAITS.
River baits are generally bread, bread and more bread.
They seem to love it in rivers weather is from people feeding ducks or what i'm not sure. they seem to have very little interest in fish baits in rivers for some reason.
Back to bread it is a very versitile bait it can be used floating, sunk or just slow sinking trough the water.
But the age old question how to hook it. the main tip in regards to floating bread is not to squeeze the bread as you take a piece for bait gently tear it off.
For a decent sized piece tear a triangle shaped piece of bread with no crust and then place the hook poit in the center of the bait. now the point of the piece of bread has to be above the hook eye as what you do then is to geanly squeeze the three points of the bait onto the line above the eye of the hook . definitly not on to the hook as the bread holding onto the line will take the weight of the bread when casting.
Float fished bread can done on a much smaller scale as you don't need the weight of the bread to take it for you while casting.
with floats and bread it is easier to taget the bigger fish. as they tend to take small baits much quicker in rivers. to hook a small bread bait I use a small long strip of bread just wide enough to cover the lenght of the hook fold it over and a gentle squeeze onto the hook to hold it in place. If you want it to sink slow when it hits the water gently tip the water with the bait only for a spilt second just enough so when your bait hits the water it will knock the air out of the bread and start to sink slowly. Ideal for cruising mullet.

THE STRIKE,
It'll either be or it'll be .
I know it may seem like i'm telling granny how to suck eggs but mullet are in a league of there own. If your not ready he'll either take your rod for a swim or you'll miss him.
With mullet fishing close to the surface is the way to go. With there ability too strip a bait from your hook with out hardly moving a light float it's the best option.If you can see your bait you can watch the take develope. With mullet takes you have to wait untill the bait disapears into his mouth, But there's a vital part in this you need to keep the line as straight as possible between hook and rod tip. if there's a curve in the line it will cut your hook up rate by at least a half. This can be done as the mullet aproaches though you have to do it with out moving the bait.

THE ACTUAL STRIKE; Get the rod forward take up any extra slack wait till the bait dissapears then give a very quick strike BUT, there's always a but, you've just struck into a fish that is compared to a bone fish for it's power and ability to take off. Yes a fight of a lifetime is about to take place but only if you drag is set wright you want it set hard enough to hook him but also slack enough that some line can leave the reel. this fish is like hooking into a firework and he's about to explode in style. Some times it's like an explosion on the surface that will tire and come to the net eventually when he feels like it.And other times it's a head down short run after short run these fish are the hardest to land. they can sit back and start a bout of head slaping on the surface and this is when you have to be brave add more pressure to stop him doing this as he is very likely to throw the hook. Also be ready at the net multiple times I have had a mullet come to the net nackered looking only to unleash there reserve of mighty power, bit of a bugger when your not ready for it, they can run off another 20yds of line when you think there done. So don't say you weren't warned .

mullet 07 001.jpg

Myself and craig had a total of 8 mullet for 3 hours craig kept his 2 for the dinner.

 

Hope youv'e enjoyed this fight it's time to experience your own good luck and tight lines.

Bass attack from black rock

As per title I had the oppertunity to try out a rod from black rock called bass attack.

 

 

First impressions where it was super light and the reel seat and rings looked well.
I did wonder was it up to the type of fishing that I do.
I had nice mullet and bass in mind for this rod.
These 2 species are hard fighters and don't mess around the mullet is one of our super hard fighting species and bass know how to scrap to, so would this rod be up to the job.

I had a mexico GR30 reel with 19lb P-line braid, these 2 where an excellent combination.
The reel suited the rod and the P-line was a dream to cast and gave the rod super sensitivity.
I was egar to try it out and my first chance was from court pier in co.wexford, not my first choice but I was heading home from the holidays and it was my only chance to give it a go.
At that time there wasn't much lure fishing available around the pier so I was bait fishing , with the cox&rawle bass rig.
It wasn't long before the bites started and I could see every nibble. The nibble turned into a nice bite and then I struck into my first fish on the bass attack rod. A nice little tub gurnard.

 

 

 

 

Not a monster but it was great to have a first fish on the new rod.
Even though there was little chance of action on the lures I had to see how the alcedo plugs would cast on this rod.
They are a very effictive plug for bass and pollack, it casted these plugs well I could get them out a good distance with out much effort.
So in short I love this rod and wish I lived closer to some spots to really test this nice rod.

So hopefully I will get a chance again in the near futher to hit the bass off wexford or at bash at my more local mullet. I'll update how I get on.
Till then have a look at this nice rod in your local tackle shop and if they don't have them ask them to get in, As Shamrock Tackle supply them trough out Ireland.

Till then Tight lines.
Graham Smith.

Basking shark swims with kayaker, my close encounter. the fun version.

Heres my video of my encounter with a basking last summer off  Inishowen, in Donegal.
Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

 

 

 

 

 

And heres the original version that made the news a few times enjoy.

 

 

 

Ocean kayak trident 13, Home made center hatch tackle box.

My ocean kayak trident rod pod tackle box instalation.
What have I done . Well I finally got my lovely trident 13 the other day and as the weather was totally crap I decided to do all I needed to do to it now as when the weather fares I'll be out as much as possible. I love the idea of the rod pod but not keen on opening it every time I want something. So after seeing a nice job of a water proof box fitted through the top of the lid by another angler, I thought I had to try something similair.
Well this is what I done the other day, I made a rough mould of my plano box. I just covered the box in spray on frying butter to stop the fiber glass from sticking to the box.

Then just fiber glassed over the top of it.It can be tricky but just don't put to much on.
A rough shell made and ready for some more molding.

To get it off I simply shoved the garden hose down the side and turn the hose on and off it came with a bit of help.
Tackle box put in position. Ready for the next stage.

 

.

 

 

I added some cardboard for support untill the fiber glass goes off

 

 

First stage of fiber glassing done.

 

So every body cross there fingers and toes and hope it works out, if it doesn't work sure its only about E15.00 worth of stuff.so its worth a try. Another coat of resin and some pigment will finish it off. Oh and I'll add a lid.
.
Well it did work out, a few layers more and some resin with pigment and we are nearly there.
So some sanding and a final coat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Its a tad rough but a nice shiny lid will finish it off.

 

 

Heres how I made the lid, its simply a few pieces of timber nailed to a piece of ply, simply spray on your mold release and glass away.

 

Before I remove it from the mold I simply trim edges with a grinder with a 1mm disc in it.

Please remember to wear safety glasses and a decent mask as the dust is very nasty.

 

It seems to be very handy your most used stuff at your finger tips, very handy on a rough day.
You will notice the edges of the box are raised so when the lids closed and a lump of water lands on top of it the water does not run into it.
I also had a go at making a lid with our club logo glassed into, it was a material badge. It sort of worked out but could be alot better. It moved slightly and had some air bubbles but with some practice it is possible.



Well 4 months on and its a great job, so handy no routing for gear and can be used for a live well to.
So have a go its quiet easy, when I get around to making a tidier one I'll post the pics.
So till then tight lines.

Heres a vid of the tackle box in use you can see how handy it is. In case your wondering the kids where taking turns in the back. Great bit of fun.

The stuff of dreams 

Kayaks- myself on my prowler trident 13 and Declan on his wilderness kayak.

weather- was calm with low lying cloud.

Bait- mackeral

All started off poorly with the latest attempt to nab mobby dick, I had to work my day off so the earliest I could get out was 2pm .
I headed out to the venue with the dubby pre made in the back of the car and the whif off it was that strong if I had of parked in the car park I'd say the tope would have come out of the water after it
Declan was there ahead of me and chomping at the bit to get out . Declan had pollack on his mind and me of course at the very least tope and a few spurs.
Out we went and there was an off shore reef that I was telling Declan about so he wanted to try that, I went further to my mark in search of tope and spurs with an out side chance of a porbeagle.
The first spot I anchored up and I fished for 30 mins and not a bite, so I upped anchor and went out further. Anchor down dubby bag down on the anchor line and I was also chumming away on the surface.
This was a good move as with in a few minutes the rod started the old NOD, NOD screeeeaaaammmmmmmm Tope on , brilliant fight and strong I really enjoyed it,

A nice tope to start the day.

As soon as he was on my lap Declan rang to say he was on shore and had to head home.
This is what I was doing when Declan rang.

A quick pic before he goes back.

Declan was happy as he had managed some nice pollack for the tea, not bad for his second trip on the salt. Well done Declan.
Another 10 mins passed and a lighter bouncier bite had the adrenalin going a I reeled down and struck and nothing but no sooner had I put the rod back down and wholop the fish launched himself at the bait and devoured it in a second. Hooked and landed and she was a nice spurdog of around 7lb. More chumming and another spur of similair sized was soon landed.

Small spur

 

And then the I got a nice take on the tope rod a very strong fish and he ran very well, actually to well I had not noticed that the spurdog had damaged my main line and I could see a pale patch of shaggy line being pulled trough the rings and as it made it to the end eye I could see it pullapart I was not a happy bunny,
There was no point in moaning, just re-rig and get it out again.
I was in the middle of rerigging when I got a take on the other rod, another nice spurdog coming up and as it was coming to the surface I could see another fish coming with him. At first it looked like a tope but I realised it was a spurdog and as I had the second rod on my lap I thought sure for a laugh I'll throw a bit of bait on it and see can I get him too. But by the time I got the bait on the hook he was gone so I thought.
I proceeded to bring the first spurdog in when the rod that had a bait dangling just under the kayak went BANG the second spur had come back and wholloped it and a very scrappy fun fight ensued ending with a nice specimen spur on my lap of 13lb 2oz and still a ten pounder over the other side All the while the porgie rod was sitting there fishing away like it has done for the past 2 summers and after a long wait it was about to finally pay off.

THE TAKE,
DIN, DIN, DIN.
I was sitting there laughing my head off at the craic at the spurs when the Porgie rod started to peel off line. .
I grabbed the rod and started to try and set the hook but the porgie had other ideas.

Imediatley I could feel the strenght of it, My specimen spur riggled over the side, and the battle commenced.
I was still trying to set the hook but the porgie still had other ideas, he turned and charged at me at an impressive rate and passed under me and kept going, You never seen a kayak turn 180 so quick in your life .
And the bugger done this 4 or 5 times during the fight, But he could fight. On a few occassions he just ran in a straight line towing me at 1.2 knots when the anchor was out and against the tide . I was starting to wonder how big it was going to be.
During this battle a frantic call was made to the brother David and if you haven't seen the vid it went along the lines of DAVID, DAVID I got a PORGIE I swear to f##k .With that the porgie decided to but in on the call and swim even harder .
The call was dropped, but I had to call back to get him to stick on face book to ask was any of the other lads about in boats to give a hand, But they where in the same prediciment as me Excellent.
By this time I was managing to get the kayak closer to the porgie and I say the kayak closer to the porgie because at no time did I feel I was bring the porgie to me, I was hauling the kayak to him But by now the anchor was causing problems so I had to cut it away and mini jaws liked this and proceded to tow me at 1.7knots against the tide, who needs a motor .
Oh I was in my element being towed around by a hooked shark for 29 mins is fantastic ,
By now he was starting to tire and I could see the yellow ballon from the previous trip that was stuck on the swivel at the top of my 10ft trace from the other day coming out of the water, and the most fantastic head shaking shape was starting to appear from the deep
I have to admit when you see mini jaws coming up like that you'd nearly loose controll of your bodily functions .
He looked class, head shaking and rolling like a mad thing.
At this stage the camera had been turned on and off twice so I would not run out of battery or memory card and I had thought when he gets near I will turn it on for the grand finale.

But I had not counted on how mental he could be, it was like trying to hold on to a bull that knows hes about to become a bullock. So there was no chance of reaching the forward camera.
But I thought ha ha the other camera is in the tackle box,

 I grabbed it only to see that it was pure fogged up as it was left switched on in the box. By this time, about 3 seconds. I  chanced the camera in only to get the porgie tearing off pealing line at a good rate and all that was on the vid was the yellow balloon going down, so then I threw the camera over the over the side of the kayak to cool the lense. I even tried to get a pic on my phone but just managed to get a pic of my 50lb class rod bent like a bannana.

Photo0603.jpg (58.86 KiB) Viewed 88 times

This was a short run of about 20yards and I got him back to the kayak and he was only about 4 to 6ft under the kayak and going balistic, camera was grabbed again but it was totaly fogged up so with the trace ring in the top eye and my short arms not long enough to grab the trace with out giving him slack he started to roll again and go mental, and as he rolled I heaved as hard as I could to stop him and as I did the trace came off his nose and spun the hook out of his mouth .
Porgie off and no pic , But to be honest I was not that upset , I was more bothered that I had not a single pic of him and he was gone.He was easily a good 80 to 90lb.
But as the big bugger came off the hook he straightened himsself up and swam ahead of me about 10ft and then tured and swam slightly up and I thought he was going to take the spur that was still over the side but no he carried on and looked very immpressive as he swam away.

I was delighted with the day and I hope to do battle with the beast another day.

Untill then heres the high lights on video of the few hours of unforgetable sport in Donegal.