Last blast in 2014

Hi all,
With cabin fever setting in a small break in the weather set the old head thinking of winter skate.
There was some swell forecast but I was hoping it would be a lazy enough swell for a bit of skate fishing.
Also I had the new waterwolf busting for its first outing as well.

Out I went to my launch site and first glimpse of the sea didn't fill me with confidence. Mist hovering along the shore line could only mean one thing, a decent swell breaking on the shore.
I went down and got ready and it looked fishable and it was possible the swell wouldn't be as bad on out.

On out I went.
So kayak readied and all the gear on including a bag of the finest chum stowed away I was ready for action.
The swell was interesting and my initial hopes of the swell being less on out was a bit optimistic.
I wouldn't normally anchor up in this size of swell but with the tide being strong and a decent swell the drift was wicked so it was anchor or go home. So 1.5 miles out anchor down and 1 rod down it wasn't looking good as instead of my line leading in front of  me it was heading behind me, which meant my anchor weak link had broke, Not so good.
Anchor up and I tried again. But that weak link didn't last any time at all.
So I tried a drift or 2 with the waterwolf and got it stuck twice. So after 2 minor heart attacks lol over thinking I would loose the camera it was time for more sheltered waters.

It was great to be out on such a fine day.

Sheltered waters
Well sheltered is an over statement. I still had the swell but a lot less tide.
My weak link was holding and I sent the rods down. One with the camera and with the shamrock sabiki muppets with a small boom on the bottom all baited with mackerel also some boobie beads added and one with a set of kilmore killers.
I sat there and I had a few nice rattles on the rod with the camera which I missed a couple of hits but I
was happy to see I could still feel the bites with the camera on. I could feel any bites with the gopro set up.

 

Not such a swell time.
With the tide and swell running across each other it was far from comfortable. In fact it was like a rodeo. Up down side to side every 2 seconds.
After about 2hrs of that I was getting a bit fed up and very little fish action it wasn't worth staying out. I was considering heading home when the camera rod got another rattle and fish on this time.
Up he came, a nice dab was dangling under my rig. With that I was hope full of some good action on the camera when I got home. So I fished on.

But the action didn't continue and all was fairly quiet. The swell was really getting up now and they where getting steeper as time went on.
I regularly try to get the swell on camera but it never shows on the camera lol.

The mist on the shore line from the swells breaking on shore.

Rodeo over,
It was time for home and the rodeo was over. Despite the coloured water I was hopeful of some  action on camera.
So home I went and checked the camera. Well as the camera descended down past the 40ft the light faded and there was just blackness on the screen. But the funny thing was I could clearly see my sabiki muppets on the traces glowing away in the darkness. Also the boobie beads that Trevor sent up where to my surprise making some serious racket in the water. I didn't realise how much they spun and rattle in the tide. So they will be on the rigs more often for sure.

So that was the height of the trip a nice dam a mini rodeo and although not much to see on the camera a valuable bit of info was gotten off it.

With that, that was my last trip of 2014 and I can't wait for next year I am looking forward to trashing the length and breath of the country on my Stealth Profisha 525.
Thanks for reading and I hope to see you all in 2015.

What a road trip.

Hi everyone.
It has neared the end of the year and with some holidays left it was time for a road trip.
We had a Stealth kayak demo day in skerries on the Saturday so I went down a few days early for some pike fishing.
So with the car jammed to the roof with all sorts I was on the road.

Stupid O'clock.
It was Thursday morning and I was up at stupid O'clock [5.30am] and got the breakfast in me as it was going to be a long day.
I headed for Monaghan first with pike on my mind. I had 9 fresh herring and 3 mackerel. I was expecting to get the 2 days piking out of that lol.
Well I hit the road and the dam fog and frost slowed things to a snails pace at times and you can imagine what I was like I was busting to get to the lake. As there isn't much day light is at this time of year. But thankfully I wasn't overly late on the water.
I got to my venue a small lake near Monaghan.

That didn't take long.
It was a fantastic sight the sun was still very low and the lake was flat calm and very cold. I geared up and had the 2 rods set up for slow trolling dead baits. I pushed onto the water and set the floats about 20ft above the baits and began to slowly head across the lake.
I was going nicely out about 50 yards but one float was right so I reeled in to set it and the other got a good thump. I put the other rod out of the away gave the pike a second and the float started to head across the lake, I reeled down and struck and but he hadn't got a great hold of it.
2 floats set again and I went another 20 yards and whollop a pike nailed it properly this time and a great lively fight ensued, But unfortunately the bugger came off. This happened a few times, As I was fishing a single treble. So I changed to a double treble set up and on I went.
Things went quiet for a little while and later I got a hit and I was in to a good sporty fish that was not coming off [ hopefully].
 It's be a long time since I pike fished and I had forgotten how hard they can go when they want to.
Not a monster but great fun and a nice start to the day after a few losses.

I was delighted a nice fish in and it was in nice condition.

Things went quiet,
Yes it was quiet after that and initial warmth the sun brought as it rose was no gone and it was bloody freezing. So after 2hrs of nothing I paddled in to the shore warm up a bit and got chatting to a local and a bailiff,  They where all chat and very help full and reckoned what I was doing was as good as anything for that venue.
The day was cracking on now so out I went and near enough the same spot as most of the other hits I got a dead stop take.
As if I hit a branch so I watched the float for a second and off it went heading away and bobbing across the water so I reeled down and struck hard. I was on again and she was a great fighter. She stormed around the kayak and didn't give up easy. In she came and I was delighted a low double of around 12lb.

I was delighted and that had me warmed up nicely.

So off I went again and done another lap of the lake with out a sniff. So of course I couldn't resist trolling over the spot that was producing hits all day.

 

Oh yes in again.

Again as I came to the spot I was trolling the baits again.[ It was a raised shelf that went from about 14ft to 6ft in a short distance]. So this time I decided let the bait sink down trough the water as I set the other rod up with a lure to see how that would work. I unclipped my dead bait and started to pick a lure when my float kept going. I was waiting for the bait to settle, but it didn't get the chance. A pike took it on the drop and kept going. Again as the float went down I struck hard and it was a powerful fish. When I struck it was solid and went on like a tope, where you strike and she strikes back and keeps going. Oh it was great and I was expecting a monster.

She was a great fighter and poured line off the reel a few times and near caught me off guard as she came along side the kayak.  As she eased up and I got her under the kayak I slightly tightened the drag to get her up and she went ballistic and dived like mad. A short time later up she came and she wasn't as big as I expected but was still a fine fish of around 15lb.

Not a great pic I know but she was a well conditioned fish.

That was the last fish of day one and I was over the moon with my day.

 

DAY 2

Day 2 was on another and I was meeting Dave24 off the Irish kayak angling site.

He had a lake in mind and had high hopes of big fish. Also with this lake being a whole field away from the nearest road. So that was the plan a little lake  again near Monaghan that had no road to it.

I met Dave at shops and after a bit of banter he lead the way . We soon where at the unreachable lake just as it was getting bright and what did we see but 3 of our  foreign  friends that had drove down the field to the lake.

I have to say my heart sank I had serious doubts about launching there. Myself and Dave mulled over our options and as we did one of the lads drove the car back up to we where and parked up.

Dave was on the ball and politely asked how they where getting on.

He then told us they had 24 pike the weekend before. To say I was miffed was an under statement. But he swore they returned them all and don't kill pike.

Your probably thinking what I was thinking, but we went out and they where catching away at jacks and myself and Dave where like 2 seagulls watching them and sure enough they returned every one of them thankfully. Fair play to them I was relieved.

I still couldn't catch one.

The foreign Lads where catching away at jacks and I hadn't a sniff on the dead baits. I had anchored up in some deep water while Dave trolled all over the place.

We where out about 2hrs now and Dave came by me trolling a dead bait and casting a lure. A bit of slagging from the as he casted around me and, ye you guessed it he  caught one from near under my kayak lol. A double bonus for Dave lol.

Now if that was bad enough. about 15 mins later he done the same thing and nabbed a pike very close to me. He was laughing his arse off and I was freezing mine off lol. As the dead baits where doing nothing I put a large prologic lure one and start casting that around the place. It was like a dolphin landing in the water each time it was that big a lure lol. So anchor up and I worked the lure while the dead bait did its own thing behind me.

At last a take.

 Oh yes I  finally got a take as Dave had just landed his third.

I was surprised it was on the monster lure too. It wasn't a big pike either. Probably around 4lb lol.
The lure must have been half a pound lol.
Agh it was a fish and I was saved from a blank. It was dam cold out there so a bit of trolling was in order. But no sooner had I started to paddle again I got a hit on the dead bait. I struck again and he was hooked and in she came after a decent scrap. A fish of about 8lb.

After that it was very quiet for a while and I tried various lures big and medium sized to no avail until I tried a large copper spoon and little bugger nailed it. 

 

 

 

 That left myself and Dave 3 each but with Dave not happy with a Donegal sea angler drawing level with him he fished hard and managed 2 more pike in the last hour . The jammy bugger lol.

So the score was Dublin [Dave] 5 pike and Donegal [Graham] 3 pike.

A re-match is on the cards soon lol.

Great to meet you Dave and no doubt you'll bash me the next day we are out again lol.

Fair play to you and  thanks for the guide around a new venue for me.

 

Action packed Day 3

Action packed sums it up nicely. Again no rest for the wicked off I went to meet Stealth Pro Team mate Anthony in Dublin for a wonder around the famous south side angling centre. I met most of the lads that worked there. Now I know I should not be let loose in a tackle shop with out the wife being present lol. But sure needs must, I was like a child in a sweat shop .

Its a spectacular shop. With all you need and all you don't need too. To make it even more inviting I had 2 vouchers that I won that South side Angling sponsored for fish of the month. I was unusually restrained in my spending, well not really. I spied the new waterwolf camera and accessory kit behind the counter and sure I had to buy it.

With that it was off to Skerries for the Stealth kayaks Demo day and meet up with Eric Devois who organised it.. Yes Skerries was bloody freezing to and myself and Anto would be on and off various kayaks all day.

Now we where in dry suits and feeling the cold at first, then we met some of the lads that wanted to try the Stealth kayaks out and low and behold here comes Adam in a pair of shorts. No bother to him out he went like an Olympic paddler and was flying around in the Stealth kayaks.

Lots of lads turned up from all over the place some from Kerry and Belfast to.

We had a great day and thanks to all the lads for making the effort to come and try out the kayaks on a bitter cold day.

There's Adam away before I could even get a pic. Fair play to him.

Here is Peter deciding which kayak to take out first.

Here wait for me lads.

Here's Adam again. If he robbed a bank they would never catch him on the Profisha 525. She's a flying machine.

Anto finally got ago of his favourite coloured kayak. He liked the colour so much he took it home.

Here's Tony from Belfast again flying around in a Stealth kayak. This one is the Evo  495.

In the pic above from left, Eric Dvois, Peter, Anthony Byrne, Tony Powell, Anto's brother, Kevin Murphy, Anto's dad and far right Mike Henry.

We had a great days craic and the lads all got to see what myself and Anto where talking about.

 

Oh the day wasn't over yet.

It was back for a scrub up and back into Dublin to Humphrey's Bar for Irish kayak anglings awards night and Christmas knees up.

Now if you haven't been to Humphreys bar you should get in there some night for a great night out.

As always we had a great night and I think every one had a prize from some aspect of there years kayak angling. I was spectacularly lucky and on a face book vote I won first and second fish of the year. With my Blue shark and my common skate. I have to say a big thanks for all that voted I really appreciated it.

There where lots of sponsors that gave fantastic prizes. From Darrens kayak, Fishing Fever Ireland, Shamrock Tackle, Bantry Bay Canoes. I hope I didn't leave anyone out.

Now the prizes they sponsored where exceptionally generous in these tough times.

But I received a very special memento that night Sponsored by Joe Stenning.

It was this clock with all the details of my blue shark from this year. I am delighted with it and it now hangs pride of place in my sitting for all to see, Thanks a million Joe.

 

 

Well thanks for reading everyone, I hope its a while before my next road trip as I am knackered lol.
So until next time tight lines and stay safe in the coming days, the weather over the next 10 days looks like it's going to be a rough.

Hunting for a winter skate.

Hi everyone.
This has been an exceptional year for sea angling.
We have had quiet a few settled days at sea, which we don't normally get at this time of year. Most other years you would get out on the open sea after September between swell and wind.
Thankfully the herring are in and we are getting out at times.
So with it not being to good out side we fished inshore in the shelter.
Myself and Oliver hit the herring the other night and managed about 40 each and had a great evening craic. It also was my first run in the dark on the Stealth profisha 525.
It was no bother and felt very comfortable in the dark.

 

Finally a settled spell for off shore.

Finally the weather and swell was forecast had come good and I was for out first thing sunday.

The forecast was giving 8pmh to 10mph and a 6ft swell at 11seconds. The seconds apart are a big factor the further apart they are the better it is. So 6ft at 11seconds is not to bad.

 

The launch.

I landed at my venue and it was definitely looking good inshore but a bit interesting on out, out side the shelter of the bay.

 

I paddled out and it was good enough. Definitely breezier than forecast but it was more than fishable.

This would also be my first day anchoring up in some lumpy weather in a tide out at sea.

I was 1.5 miles off on my own so it was going to be interesting to say the least.

I did my usual paddle and with my fish finder on the blink I just paddled a while and when I thought I was near I got the gps out to see how far away I was.

I laughed I had paddled well past my mark instead of not being there.

That was good enough and just out past the depth marker so I was happy at that.

There was a good lump on and it was every bit of the 6ft swell even if the pics just make it look like nothing.

 

Big baits down.

So the anchor was down and holding well and it was time for the big baits down.

As I hadn't a doggie caught yet I put a whole scad tipped with half a mackerel.

And my second rod I had a small eurochamp rig on the other.

I fished away and it was so quiet I could believe it I had 2 tiny ling in the first 15 mins and that was it for hours. As I sat there my skate rod started dip down and the excitement was building and as the swell rolled past the rod took a good bend. I lifted the rod and gently lifted into what was there. Well there was bugger all there but large brown crabs having the craic dragging my bait around the place.

 

The forecast was a tad wrong.

I fished on and checked my skate bait intermittently and it was in good condition every time.

By now a few hours on the breeze was getting up instead of settling and the swell was getting up also.

So since I was catching sod all it was getting a to lumpy for me I decided to call it a day. But before I could reel in my light rod got a rattle and I had a decent rod battering scrap to the surface. Thankfully it was cracking whiting, which made my day to be honest.

So with that it was time for home.

 

As usual my anchor was stuck.

Yes as per usual my anchor was stuck, So a lumpy day in a moderate swell on my first session at anchor was going to end with the Profisha 525 ultimate test. Hauling a stuck anchor at sea in a swell and decent breeze.

Looks like nothing I know lol.

No small task I can assure ye.

I picked up the anchor line and heaved hard and brought my kayak into the weather and heaved like hell. This brought me broad side with not much leverage so I put the line around my foot and brought the kayak head on into the weather for added leverage and broke my weak link.

So easy enough the profisha done the job in a tricky situation and I was ready for the paddle home.

So a blank on the winter skate hunt but the couple of whiting and tiny ling saved the day.

 

So that was it Home I went and it was like a summers day on the shore. I nearly went back out lol.

But no the big flatties will have to wait until next time.

 

So thanks for reading and hope you all are doing better at the moment.