Dodging the fog in Inishowen.

Hi all,
With the weather being excellent the last few days How could I resist a day afloat.
I had planned to try for tope in the Foyle area but the fog was horrendous.
So went for a bash in Kinagoe bay.
The fog was out there to but I planned a session of hugging the rocks.

Foggy but fantastic scenery as usual.
Ye as always with the fog hanging over the rocks and the sea like glass, It was like something out of  and air brushed photo.
Those of you that are good at the photography would have had no time to fish trying to get it all on camera.

The kayak is a Profisha 525.

 

The Guillemots and Razor Bills  where busy picking there nesting spots.

 

I was there to fish but its easy to get distracted here.

Get back to the fishing.
Ye I nearly forgot I was out to fish there for a minute.
At this stage of the morning  it was 2hrs before high water so prime Pollock time.
First up was the old faith full jelly worms, I fished them deep, shallow, fast and slow with little interest. I persisted at slow and deep and only managed a few half hearted taps on the jelly's.
So it was time for the big guns.
Some fine rag that a kind gent gave me them last day as he finished up on the water.
Down they went to the bottom, a 20g jig head with a jelly worm as a weight as I had no very small leads with me, 4ft of line to a size 2 chinu hook baited with a whopper of a rag.
A very slow retrieve resulted in the first fish of the day.
A small Pollock of no more than 12" long.
Well he saved a blank lol, I am not sure if he grabbed the rag or the rag grabbed him.
Another cast and a slow deep retrieve was made and half way up a very exciting tap, tap, tap on the rod was followed by a fine diving run.
The fish gave a good account of its self and half way up again a power full dive back down.
I had visions of a 7 or 8lb Pollock coming up.
But it was 2 Pollock of a couple pound each. Brilliant fun on the light rod.
I got this rod from Terry Jacksons page for entering a write up about our skate trip.
Cheers Terry I love the rod. That's Terry's link below well worth a look.
//www.angling-ireland.com







                                 The dry suit I am wearing is a typhoon PS220 Extreme.

I fished away here and only managed smaller Pollock until the tide eased up a lot.
The fishing totally eased and with the weather ideal for some exploring.
On the far side of this bay is a spot from our boating days which was the mecca for Pollock.

The Dutch man.
To hell with it, I thought its just across the bay. All 2.6km of it.
No a huge distance but its one hell of a spot for strong tide.
But to be honest it was an easy paddle in the stealth and didn't take long. By now the fog was hovering about 80ft above the water so it was a fantastic paddle.
Here's a pic I thought I would never take from a kayak. The Dutch Man, this spot can be unreal for Pollock but on the ebb tide in April there was nothing happening only small Pollock not a lot over the 1LB mark.

 

 

 

This spot brings back some memories of days gone by.
I will be back here in the summer for sure.

It was a brilliant day weather and touring wise, a couple of alright Pollock made it a great day afloat.
From the Dutch Man to my launch spot was also 2.6km and a leisurely paddle back took me 25 mins so I was happy with that. I took it handy and made good time.
So it was bad enough dreaming of monster tope in the coming weeks and now I am dreaming of monster Pollock from an iconic spot.

So thanks for reading every one. I hope you like the pictures as much as I did taking them.
Until next time tight lines and paddle safe folks.

A few sessions in the fine weather

Hi all,
The weather has been great the last short while and as per usual I do my best to make the most of it.
Mike and myself organised for a session at the tope hoping to see if there about yet.
Mike was due down 2hrs before the low slack water at about 11am.
But I was itching to get out so I hit the earlier tide.

Well the birds are in,
I was down 2hrs before high tide and I paddle out to my mark and the first thing that struck was the amount of bird life and porpoises that where about.
They where every where. I saw at least 5 porpoises.
I anchored up and got the baits down and as usual I had a rod down with the camera on it. The tide came and went with hardly a tap on either rod.

 I had a look at the camera when I got home and a few dabs and flounder came and went and where hardly bothered to batter my baits.
Which is unusual, they are normally like savages here. But there was an easterly breeze blowing on and off the last week so that may be dulling there appetite.

 

 

Change of plans.

But it was a brilliant morning even if there where no fish biting.



At that I headed in to meet Mike and we decided to head out to the coast in search of tope and other stuff.
We got there and a stiff easterly breeze had got up but we where keen to get on the fish so out we went.
As the tide was running with the wind it was calmer than it would be when the tide turned.
We anchored and it was apparent from the start that where not going to be out long  as the weather and sharp chop was battering us.
My light line was down about 5 mins with the yellow euro champ rig when a welcome rattle came and an unusual fish for this spot came to the kayak.

It was a nice short spined scorpion fish.



But by now in this short time the wind had gotten up even more.
So with the tide easing and soon to turn it was due to get a lot worse out there.
So we headed in for some fun with the coalies.

Coalies, let the fun begin.
In no time we where in to some great fishing. Mike was on the feathered rigs and I was using the jig heads on the light rod for some added sport.
What a laugh, they are a mental fish. They go like hell on light gear.
After a couple of great hours sport I switched to the camera rod and trolled that around and trying a few thing.
I wanted to test the single hook against the treble hook as I am not a fan of the treble hooks on lures.
Well there's a video below and the results speak for themselves.

Also some Eddystone Eels.

They fairly loved those rubber eels. That video above is all taken from one 20min clip.
So that day ended and it was a cracker even if the fish where hard to find at first.

So thanks for reading, and tight lines.

The one that got away.

Hi all.
It has no been easy getting out over the last short while, between wind and swell.
One day its like Spain and the next winter. Some days you get the whole lot, winter, summer etc.
But sure we will get out when the chance comes along.
Thankfully the wind had come around a little bit and the swell meant to be settling.

Looks nice,
I landed at my launch site and it looked quiet nice on out in the shelter of the bay but not much further out you could see the big swell on the horizon. I wasn't going out there so I was happy enough.
There was a good run of swell on the slip as the small swell that was running into the bay and straight up the slip. Not what you want to see as it can be a nightmare coming back in.

On out regardless.
It was not to bad really more bothered about scratching the nice shiny kayak.
So out I went and the further I got away from the shelter of the pier the breezier I got. But fishable none the less.

Anchors away.
With the wind being quiet strong and this flat fish mark being very small drifting was out of the question.
So I lined up and dropped my anchor. But again the anchor settled and straightened in the wind I was on the outer edge of my mark. On a normal day this wouldn't be a problem. So I stayed where I was.
Of course I had the camera down with a home made jig head spreader rig and a boom up the line about 10 inches for doggies, whiting, gurnard etc.
I can't find a pic of the spreader rig but its in the video below.
On the light rod I had a small hi-vis orange lead and short snood with a strip of mackerel so I could cast away and search for small turbot and flounder.

Maybe the wrong spot.
I was fishing a short while and hadn't had a touch on the baits. Which is unusual here as they normally batter the baits as soon as they touch down in the flooding tide.
I checked my baits and what do you know a star fish. A bad sign I thought as I have never caught a starfish on the sand before, which was convincing me I had over shot my mark with the wind.

 



I was thinking about moving when my light rod showed some interest so I reeled down and there was a decent bit of life on the end of it. Now this was a mackerel strip so I was thinking small turbot or flounder.
But no, to my surprise it was a plaice. My first ever plaice on mackerel strip. I was really surprised as I had plaice on video last year watching a rag bait tipped with mackerel and for half an hout they watched with out touching it and when I put down just rag they nailed it straight away.
By now the wind was bitter and dam cold on the back of the head, thankfully the new suit Typhoon PS220 extreme has a nice hood on it, With that hood up it soon killed and cold.

 

 

I was delighted with my first plaice of the year and decided to give it a little longer there after that fish.
Fishing away and it was still quiet one rod searching and one on camera. So a bait check again revealed a mass of bloody star fish. Loads of the buggers, they where even mad about the yellow lumi tube. Not sure why must be some sort of scent in the tubing.

That convinced me to move. As I thought I couldn't be on the sand.

Time to move.
So back over the mark about 300 yards and set up again.
Again it was desperate quiet and the wind was really starting to batter me. I fished for 3 hours in total and I didn't notice any bites.
So I was keen to check out the camera when I got home.
Firstly to see was I actually catching starfish on the bare sand and was there any fish about other than the one I caught.
Well this post is called the one that got away so watch the video and you'll know why lol.

A small swell with the wind.
With the breeze getting up so did the swell, even though the wind was against the swell. Which is not good as it would be getting rougher on the slip.
So with that in I went and there was quiet a bit of swell on the slip.
Not good at all, any of you that have done this know its a nightmare at times. But thankfully this slip you can paddle along side the slip so I did. I went above where the swell pours over the edge.
So I unclipped my rods and put them on the slip, next  I stood up on the kayak and hopped onto the slip and with my anchor trolley unclipped I pushed the kayak out and as the swell run up the slip I pulled the kayak up and as the water receded I held the cord and the kayak just sat there,
A quick grab of the kayak and I carried it up the rest of the way.

 



You can see in the pic how far up the swell was running. But I was in unscathed and the profisha 525 in 1 piece thank fully.

Until next time tight lines and be safe when your near the water, it can be a very unpredictable time of year on the water.

Can this year get any better, and it's only april.

Hi all,
This a catch report and a news flash of sorts.
Well first the news FLASH.
The very kind people at https://www.typhoon-int.co.uk/ have been kind enough to sponsor me new PS220 extreme dry suit. A very nice piece of kit.
It was all organised trough Mike at wet and http://wetandwildwatersports.com/ in Belfast.
As you can see they have a fine selection of stock and can get pretty much anything you need.

Here is Mike, he's the man to sort your water sports needs.

 Oh I had to get a pic while the new suit was still clean, I am 5'7 and I have the small medium size and it is ideal for me. It was a great fit and very comfortable. But a whole lot more on that later.
Thanks to them both and back to the fishing.

A launch in the fog alone.
This particular morning I would be launching alone as the lads had a long way to come and I wanted to get out early.
I got there early but I was met by a thick fog.



I had 2 lots of gps devices with me so I was going out regardless. Soon I was out and searching for fresh bait.
Before I got clear of the bay one of the local lads Declan landed. He was for staying inshore so out deep I went.

Hitting last years marks.
After last years success with the Common Skate I have been trying at every opportunity lately and with the weather I have just managed 2 tries.
The first run out to the mark for our skate was a lot stickier than last year and I had my concerns whether things had changed over the winter.
In the end I anchored exactly on the mark and let the water wolf camera down to the bottom for a luck.
I was desperately disappointed when I got to see the vid at home the ground was devoid of the gravel that was there last year.
Now it is just pure large boulders.
All the gravel seems to be gone, hopefully it will come back. I am not hope full of that so I will have to go on the hunt for new ground and I think the water wolf and gps together will be a massive help.
Despite the fog it was fantastic to be out and the sea was a joy. There was a swell of 4 to 5ft but it was more like curved glass than an actual swell. Brilliant experience.
I anchored in various spots around my mark looking for a clear patch of ground but only hit very sticky ground which is not what you want when after skate.
But I fished on and hoped for the best, sure the day was that nice I wasn't to concerned.

Here come the boys.
After a few hours the lads landed and I headed in to meet them. The fog thinned and thickened as the day went on and half way in the fog thinned enough to get a glimpse of the land.

No bother to the lads, out they came and we headed for a patch of ground and anchored 100yards apart and chummed away like something out of the JAWS movie.

There was no messing with Brian he had a rod and reel with him that was well able to tackle JAWS lol. Mike was also geared up to do battle with what ever we could get but we only managed small stuff with Brian getting the best ling of the day of a few pound. I had 5 species. Dab, Whiting, Ling, Pollock and coalie.

I had one ok ling just big enough for a fresh tasty bait so on he went down to the bottom to see what would take him. He would have been returned but he had thrown out his stomach on the way up.
But he was sent down to the bottom and only a lobster or brown crab had a taste for my ling.
While the ling was on my lap out came this unfortunate creature, what looked like a small half digested 5 beard rockling appeared.

 



After many quiet hours.
The action was very slack and it was time for home, the lads had headed in a head of me and we all had a decent few coalies.
So that was the scene set for the next days fishing.

Day 2.
With the coalies arriving close to shore there was only one thing to do, scrap the original plans for a plaice chase and bring the kids out for some caolie bashing which they love. For those of you that have not had the pleasure, they are like mackerel on steroids and couple that with light gear they are immense fun.

So Craig, Eoin and myself headed out for our mark, there was a stiff breeze blowing across the bay but it was ideal to see what Craig could do paddling wise as he is keen to get out on the salt,]
but he won't going until he could do some proper paddling.

Here they are getting a feel for it before heading out in the bay.It was no bother to him.

 Well he done some proper paddling in bucket loads and could manage it even with his younger brother in the back.
They where a great laugh watching them fishing together.

They had a great time and they had some nice coalies and one point Eoin was shouting his rod was going to break lol. The coalies fought like deamons, it was great fun.

 

 

I will have the video up of the action very soon, Have to say it is one of the better under water action clips. I hope you enjoy it.

 

Thanks for reading and tight lines.