House on the Sheep's Head
May brought some good fishing, till it all came to an end mid-month with a ton of exam work arriving.
I started on the 3rd, at Rosscarbery. Ross hadn't been very kind to me recently so perhaps owed me a good one. On recent form to be fair I'd have been happy enough with the four 2lbs and 3lbs sized mullet I had, all on the longer range of the two legered baits I was fishing from the grass. But mid-afternoon the lighter of my rods, fishing closer in, lurched over and a decent fish chugged out slowly a few yards, stopped then ran out a few more yards. The fish kited to the left past the bridge but there wasn't much flow out of the lagoon on this modest tide and I was able to bring the fish in close, slowly but without undue trouble. It was obviously a bigger fish than the others I'd caught, but I was surprised just how big when it surfaced close in and I netted it easily enough ...
It was a wonderful thicklip of 6lb 15oz, equalling my second best ever in Ireland. The old girl had some historical damage to her tail, probably from an encounter with a seal or an otter, but that was well-healed and she was otherwise pristine, so probably she has a few more years in her and may grow on a way yet.
On the 7th I fished the little beach on the north side of Sheep's Head where I'd caught some modest huss last month.
It was flat calm and bright sunshine when I arrived, and the first couple of hours passed completely uneventfully. Then a little breeze off the sea kicked up and dead on high water, a drop-back bite produced a huss about 7lbs.
The breeze freshened further as the tide ebbed and it became quite chilly despite the sun. It did wonders for the fishing though, and in the space of an hour I had three more huss all 9lbs give or take a few ounces. The successful baits were squid/mackerel and squid/bluey cocktails.
On the 9th I was back at Rosscarbery, and what a difference a week makes.
There were far fewer mullet showing today, and I sat out the first few hours with not a knock on the tips.
I was just contemplating moving over the road to try the lagoon when my distance rod nodded, dropped back then pulled over.
It was a much livelier fight than I'd had from the big fish last week, but the weight wasn't there the same.
After seven or eight minutes I had a chunky 4:07 in the net, saving the blank. I packed up a few minutes later, and had a drive round the lagoon on the way out. There were quite a lot of mullet showing along the east bank so perhaps I should have moved earlier in the day.
On the 11th I headed up to Kerry. Last time I'd been wrong about the spur season being over, but not a sniff of them today. But by way of compensation I enjoyed one of the busiest days of ray fishing that I've had for a while.
It started with a little one barely 2lbs, then three all 8 - 9lbs size...
Then I was into a run of smaller thornbacks, and another three all 5 - 6lbs size.
It was a bit strange really. I'd fished this mark quite a lot over the winter but I hadn't contacted a ray since October, and now the place seemed paved with them.
And were they hungry? I had the baby one on sandeel, four of the others on squid/mackerel but the remaining two came on mackerel head baits I was dropping close in for huss ... never had that happen before.
Between the rays I was picking up a smattering of dogfish, as ever, and I did get a huss on the mackerel heads, a decent fish about 9lbs.
On the 13th I was back on the Sheep's Head beach mark for a session on a bigger tide with high water in the early evening, fishing the start of the ebb into the dusk.
I thought that might fish better, and maybe produce one of the rays or bass that are supposed to turn up along there, but it wasn't to be.
Instead a very slow session, with just one take almost exactly on high water, from a mediocre huss about 7lbs.
And that's all for May. The exam work is ongoing though June so there won't be a lot to report next month, but I do hope to get a few short sessions in just local.
Write a comment
Sam Smith (Thursday, 05 June 2025 09:49)
Another good report Dave, I’m surprised that no one else leaves a comment as there must be more than myself reading them and as they’re so good. I’ve seen many crap reports on some forums that people seem to think are good but in truth are rubbish. Tight lines till the next one mate, all the best .