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Wed
06
Sep
2023
The month started off on a disappointing note on the 1st with a visit to my low water mullet mark in Bantry Bay. It was a bite a chuck for the first hour but all mackerel and although they cleared off an hour before low tide, the damage was done. The mullet just won't hang around to compete with mackerel when they are there in that sort of force and I fished on for a couple of hours with no interest at all. Right at the death, just as I was getting washed off the mark, a couple of mullet swirled tantalisingly out of range. I stayed as long as I could but they didn't come any closer.
On the 6th I headed to Rosscarbery on a warm day with broken cloud. There was a little breeze blowing up the estuary putting a bit of a lop on the water. Not much was showing on the surface but the mullet were there alright ...
I fished from the grass with two leger rods out as usual, baiting up two areas, one at maximum range slightly left and one closer in slightly right. After thirty minutes or so I hooked a mullet about 3lbs on my left hand rod and played it in only for the hook to ping out with it just short of the net. Not the greatest start and I was immediately wondering if my August habit of losing as many mullet as I landed was going to carry over into September. However, five hours later that monkey was well and truly off my back as a succession of positive takes were converted into seven mullet on the bank. What a session! In ascending order the fish were 3:14, 4:02, 4:09, 4:12, 5:01, 5:11 and a clonking mullet of 6:01 ...
On the 10th I yomped a mile out to fish a deep rock mark in Bantry Bay. It was during the unusually warm spell early in the month and with a sea mist hanging in the air the conditions were roughly like a sauna. I arrived melting in a pool of sweat and I'd barely been fishing twenty minutes when there was a short but heavy shower of rain. I swear when it finished I was actually steaming!
Anyway, the bottom fishing was unusually quiet with my two big baits remaining mostly untouched apart from one small conger. Stephen and Martin were fishing across the other side of the bay, sensibly close to the car park, and Stephen reported everything was quiet on the bottom that side too. I was snagging more than usual on my mark and after losing my fourth set of gear I thought enough was enough and decided to put Plan B into operation.
Plan B involved plastic crayfish lures, Berkley URBN Bubble Creepers, fished weedless on a 1/0 Sumato Texas hook with a 10g Cheb weight. That sounds impressively technical but basically I know next to nothing about modern lure fishing so I just lobbed the thing out using the light carp rod I brought along, waited for it to sink to the bottom and then grubbed it back in slowly.
Despite having had very limited success with these lures before, today the wrasse seemed to be properly in the mood for them, especially for the green ones. There was one lull in proceedings for no apparent reason but most casts I'd get taps and knocks, possible smaller wrasse plucking at the claws and legs, and every now and then the rod would arch over with a proper take. I landed nine or ten, nearly all 2lbs to 3lbs in weight I'd say though I didn't actually weigh any. And one pollack interloper.
Late in the day Stephen did get some action on his bottom baits, winning their match with a 4lb+ pollack and a 7lb+ huss and a few other scraps. Perhaps I should have persisted longer but I'd really enjoyed the wrasse fishing anyway.
By the 12th the mini-heatwave was coming to an end and I decided it was now or never for triggerfish on another Bantry Bay mark.
It seemed a perfect calm day for them but I tried three different spots where I'd caught triggers before and not a sniff - I think the damage was done already by the awful weather through July and August.
Half expecting this outcome I'd brought the wrasse gear with me again so I moved a few hundred yards to a spot which catches a bit more tide and swell and set up for them.
First cast I was in on the green crayfish again, and landed a nice wrasse that I weighed at 3:14. More followed regularly, this time many of them taken jigging the lure under the rod tip against a vertical rock face. One brute of a fish took me down into the kelp below and snagged; the ones I landed were mostly 2lb class again.
The weather sites didn't cover themselves in glory for the weekend. Sunday 17th was supposed to be wet, so Sylvi and I chose Saturday 16th for a session at Rosscarbery. Instead of the gentle northerly breeze expected, we were greeted by a fresh north-easterly which freshened still further during the day.
David Norman was fishing from the grass across from the hotel, so we went a bit further along close to the bridge, unfortunately catching the wind on the corner there.
Water was pouring out of the lagoon after the rain over the previous couple of days, but happily the colour wasn't too bad. I put one leger bait straight out to maximum range and one closer in to my left on the edge of the flow. Next cast I changed to heavier 1.5oz weights which more-or-less kept the baits in place despite the buffeting side wind.
After half an hour I had a sharp pull and then slack line on the distance rod, and played in a spirited 2lber which David came over and netted for me.
Over the next couple of hours I had three more, all on the close in rod, a little bigger but none over 3lbs.
After that the swim went quiet, David wasn't catching either, and the wind was getting quite wearisome. When Sylvi returned from walking the dog down the west bank, we decided to relocate across the road to the lagoon.
I thought the east shore might be more sheltered but it was only marginally so. I gave it 90 minutes but didn't get a bite or see a mullet. I think the rainwater had dropped the temperature and put the mullet off the the feed, or temporarily they'd moved out into the estuary.
Sunday was calm ... and dry! It would have been perfect for Rosscarbery but as it turned out I ventured out late in the afternoon to catch the high water on a rock mark near the village.
It's a relatively shallow, reefy area I've not fished much recently but I had some nice wrasse and pollack along there a few years back.
Today I wasted an hour on the wrasse - not a touch on the crayfish or any other of the soft plastics I tried. Just not in the mood I guess, or maybe the otter I saw a couple of times as it hunted along the rock edges was keeping their heads down.
I changed over to a heavier rod and a trusty Redgill. That was also fairly quiet to be fair but after fifteen minutes or so a good fish hit. After doing the hard part I had a lovely pollack around 5 - 6lbs on the surface under the rod tip, only for it to have a good head shake and throw the hook out. No great matter, over the next 30 minutes I had another about 4lbs, then one 3lbs which I kept for a meal, then a pound size one. Then I beat a hasty retreat back to the car ahead of a squall I could see moving up the bay.
I was back at Rosscarbery on the 20th, arriving just as the morning tide was topping out. Sometimes there's a big shoal of mullet enjoying the flow into the lagoon for the relatively brief period it tops up, today I peered over the bridge and saw, well five or six fish.
The rest of the day looked like it would be a struggle in a strong westerly wind with squally showers so I dashed back to the car to get my float gear. Fourth or fifth trot through and my float buried ... I bullied the fish away from the water pouring under the bridge and after a fair scrap landed this nice 3:02 thicklip.
By the time I'd returned the fish, the flow of water had stopped and reversed. I had a few more trots through on the stream now leaving the lagoon but no bites, and a quick trip up onto the bridge confirmed the mullet were gone.
I set up the brolly and leger gear further along the grass and settled down for what proved a gruelling session.
I still had the heavy leads on the rods from Saturday so I left those on. They just about held in place but the tips were rocking around in the wind making it impossible to see any subtle knocks.
It was difficult to see if any fish were present in the strong ripple. I only had one clear sight of a mullet's back breaking the surface, and within seconds I had my only definite take of the session. It certainly wasn't subtle ... the tip yanked over and locked down, line was pouring off the clutch as I picked the rod up and the run continued for several seconds. When the fish stopped it came to the surface and I could see some massive whelms as it hung about eighty yards out for a minute or so. Had the fish come off at this stage I'd have thought I'd lost a proper big one, but now it gave up and came in relatively easily. It was a long fish but only went 4:00 on the scales.
I didn't get out fishing again till Friday 29th due to combination of troubles with both our cars and some pretty shocking weather, including ex-Hurricane Nigel and Storm Agnes in quick succession. On the 29th I headed to Rosscarbery again to fish with a small party of NMC members who were there for most of a week ... Tim Whiley, Mark & Al Stinton from England, Cliff Wilkins from Wales and Jim Murray down from Dublin.
I fished from the first section of wall across from the hotel, with Cliff to my right and Jim to my left. Jim was first into action with a tidy 3:08 ...
It was a quiet morning in my swim but just as I was tucking into my sandwiches at lunchtime, my left hand tip gave a couple of nods then the line fell slack. A sweeping strike connected ... the fish came in quite easily for a few yards but then really dug in and it was a good few minutes before Jim could get the net under a very solid mullet that went 6:00 on the scales. Thanks Cliff for the photo ...
Well into the afternoon, as the water level started to creep up I had another couple of takes. First a 4:09 taken at range then a 5:02 much closer in as I tried to avoid the loose weed drifting through on the tide ...
That was my lot for the day; I think it would be fair to say I had the best of things but Jim had a nice 4:02 later on along from me. Tim had a 4:08 fishing further down on the west bank. Mark and Al had scored earlier on in the lagoon, they missed a couple of good chances on leger from the grass but then had some smaller fish on float when the tide was up. Cliff unfortunately blanked but he and the others caught fair numbers and some good individual fish during the rest of their stay despite some very mixed weather including another blow and deluge of rain on Saturday 30th.
That day Sylvi and I were heading to England on a very bumpy ferry crossing for a few days visit ahead of our son's wedding. There'll be a delayed start to my October fishing but as soon as we're back I'm off to Ross for six days of fishing with my old friend Dave Matthews so hopefully there'll be some big mullet to kick off the next update on here.
Sun
03
Sep
2023
First up, mulleting and on the 1st I headed to Rosscarbery on a gloomy, grey day with heavy rain forecast to arrive about 4pm. I turned up about 11am and fished from the grass across from the hotel so I could get the brolly up in preparation.
After a quiet first hour I started seeing a few fish out in front of me and getting odd knocks on the tips, possibly just line bites.
Then a little pull followed by slack line on my left hand rod and I struck into a feisty but smallish mullet of 2:10 which was notable mostly for being my 100th landed of the year, mostly down some prolific sessions in January, February and March. It was also of course a mullet in August, that's 29 months consecutive now since the end of the last covid travel restriction.
While I was playing the fish I'd noticed my other tip banging away. The fish had run out quite a lot of line but was gone by the time I could give it some attention.
No matter, within a few minutes of casting out both rods I was in again, a slightly better fish of 3:05. Remarkably while I was playing it my other line had been shifted round about twenty yards to the right, but that fish had come off too! They were feeding well though, and I was soon latched in to a stocky 3:11 that scrapped well above its weight.
The first raindrops rattled into the back of the brolly around 1.30pm and by 2.00pm it was lashing down. The swim seemed to have emptied of fish so I took advantage of a brief lull in the rain to pack up and get myself and my kit back into the car before everything was soaked.
I was back on the 7th, another grey day with outbreaks of rain expected. There was already someone fishing from the grass so I drove down the west side and got set up in the lee of the car.
There were plenty of mullet showing at all ranges so I fished one rod close in and one at distance. Surprisingly it was a couple of hours before I had a good pull, just a little mullet around 2lbs on the close-in rod.
Ten minutes later the distance rod lurched over. A much stronger fish ran out a few yards of line then hung out there for a good while before slowly kiting in to the wall to my right. After a little more struggle it was in the net, a very well-conditioned 5:09...
A few minutes later I added another 2lb class fish then a lull in proceedings while I was visited by David Norman of Angling Adventures West Cork. It had been David fishing on the grass and he'd also had a nice mullet estimated 5lbs. We had a good chat while watching my motionless tips, but within five minutes of David heading off I missed a good pull on the close-in rod then almost immediately lost what felt a very heavy fish on the distance rod - it was still running out line strongly after a violent take when it came unhooked. Shortly after I landed another 2lb+ fish but no further action after that.
I was back in the same swim three days later. David was fishing from the grass again this time with a customer, John. John caught his first and very decent mullet though I couldn't make out any of that through the mist and drizzle!
I thought I had the better choice of swims to be honest, snugly out of the wet stuff under the tailgate, but it just wouldn't happen for me today. The hours ticked by over the HW period and it wasn't till well down the tide that I had a credible take and landed a 2lb-class mullet to stave off the blank. Remarkably after waiting hours for a bite, I had another fish hammering away on my other rod while I was playing this one in, but just like the session on the 1st it was gone by the time I could get to that rod. Shortly after another fish also about 2lbs came adrift half way in to round off the session nicely.
My next session out after the mullet was on the 16th on a rare lovely summer's day on my low water mark in Bantry Bay. The first two casts yielded mackerel, not really a good thing as if they're about in force the mullet tend to make themselves scarce, apparently not wanting to compete. Fortunately today the mackerel moved on as the tide dropped away and I was soon seeing mullet moving on the surface. Catching them was something else though - plenty of bites on fish baits under a small waggler float but I missed what seemed an impossible number of them. I resorted to counting to five before striking, if the float hadn't reappeared, and I did eventually hook a couple. Even then, both were hooked in the very edge of their top lip. In compensation for all the frustration they were at least two decent fish, 4:08 and 3:13. The four was my best on the mark for a couple of years and it took my NMC "Top Ten" to over 50lbs for the season, a welcome milestone I've not always achieved, aggregate weight of the best ten mullet but a maximum of four fish to count from any one venue. The fish had historic damage to the tail which somehow I didn't even notice till looking at the photo later...
On the 20th I was back at Rosscarbery for what turned out to be another disappointing session for that venue.
The tide had only just started dropping away when I arrived and there was a heavy ripple from a strong SW breeze. A couple of days prior Storm Betty had dumped a lot of rain on West Cork, and the water was carrying a lot of colour. I couldn't spot any mullet so I set up on the grass, put out two leger baits, catapulted out groundbait and hoped for the best.
Second cast I had a good pull on my left hand rod and another of the 2lb-class mullet that seems the predominant size at the moment.
Sadly though that was it for the day. Lunchtime came and went, the water coloured up even more as the level dropped away and filthy water poured in from the lagoon, still not seeing any mullet moving. The only other action was mid-afternoon when my right hand rod yanked over, and I was in ... it felt like a bigger fish but it was an oddly subdued fight, the fish coming in far too easily with just a slight kite to the left. As soon as it reached the edge and turned, the hook popped out.
24th - Rosscarbery again - and why not? I find it hard to stay away this time of year when traditionally the big mullet show. Today was mostly sunny, alternating flat calm and little spells of a NW breeze that had more than a touch of autumn about it. The water was still carrying colour but there was a good amount of surface activity. Some of this was coming from a couple of very busy sea trout, some from shoals of fingerling mullet, but some bigger mullet were topping too. I was getting quite a few twitches and knocks on the tips from the off but proper bites were hard to come by again, despite having mullet showing round my baits much of the day.
It was well into the afternoon when I struck a tiny but persistent rattle on my left hand tip and found myself connected to a very solid mullet. The fight was dogged rather than spectacular ... six or seven minutes in, still nowhere near ready for the net, the fish threw the hook. I'd had a good sight of it in the shallow water: a long fish, a big four possibly but probably topsides of 5lbs. Certainly it was one I'd like to have put on the bank and on a day of few chances it seemed a big miss. An hour later my right hand rod pulled over. The fish jumped right out of the water as I picked up the rod, and I briefly wondered if I'd hooked one of the trout. It was a mullet though, at around 3lbs a good bit smaller than the other one but it would have been very welcome under the circumstances. This one was almost at the net when the hook pulled. It sank to the bottom and lay there pointing straight at me for a few seconds before swimming off. I'm sure it had a smile on its face.
No more bites but late in the day a group of mullet appeared in the margins close to where I was fishing. I scattered some groundbait, dropped a bait out and watched as fish swam past ignoring it despite sometimes passing within inches. I rather imagine much the same had been happening further out all day. 44 years fishing for mullet and they still have the capacity to excite and frustrate in equal measure.
I was back again on Monday 28th, the last day of NMC's Rover competition on the UK bank holiday weekend. I'd won jointly last year with a 6:14 and outright in 2021 with a 6:11, so I wanted to mount at least a token defence. I had in mind to fish the deeper water by the bridge where I'd had both the aforementioned fish but someone else was fishing there. I started down the west side where quite a few fish were showing in close, it looked no great size to them. I dropped one bait in after them and welted one out hoping there might be some bigger fish at range. After a couple of abortive knocks close in, the distance rod pulled over ... a good fish ran out unfortunately picking up a bunch of lettuce weed as it went. After a minute or so I found myself playing just the weed...
That was the fourth fish on the bounce I'd lost across three sessions so I was pretty despondent, the more so as the swim seemed to die on me after that. Then I noticed the bridge swim had been vacated so I moved over there for the high water and had a couple of mullet close in. They were only 3:02 and 3:12 but by this stage I was just glad they hung on all the way to the net...
The Rover was won back in England with an astonishing golden grey mullet of 3:10 which was in excess of the UK record and set a virtually unattainable target of 8:01 to win with a thicklip!
On the 29th and 30th I did a couple of brief HW sessions stalking the shallows in one of the bays near home. I had loads of bites but most came from really small mullet just a few inches long.
On the first session I briefly contacted a half-decent mullet that swirled next to my float before taking, but it soon threw the hook. On the second I had this fish just under 2lbs fishing as deep as I could in two feet of water to try to avoid the tiddlers.
I probably should do more of this local mulleting but it's very weather-dependent and even if calm it's hit and miss if there'll be mullet present on the day. The average size of the open sea mullet has definitely dropped off over the last few years but I was pleased to get this fish. They don't have to be big to be beautiful, or indeed a challenge to catch.
- - - - - - - - - -
The Airstrip Strand at Bantry hasn't been in the best of form recently - or perhaps we've been spoiled with the ray fishing the last two or three years and it's reverting to type - it's easy to forget just how poorly I did on the mark for the first few years after we moved over!
Anyway on the 4th I fished the last couple of hours of the ebb tide and over low water with just a huss about 7lbs and a handful of dogfish to show...
As the flood tide picked up, weed made fishing difficult. There were some big clumps of stuff drifting through on the surface but mostly it seemed to be long fronds of kelp trundling through on the bottom. After the best part of an hour struggling with it I decided to take a break and try for mackerel.
Second chuck with the sabikis and three mackerel hung themselves on. Seems it was an isolated shoal though because half an hour later the total was still only ... three.
I had another go on the bottom with fresh mackerel baits, but no interest and the weed was still bad.
It was raining heavily by now so I packed away the bottom rods then on impulse had a "last" throw with the sabikis. I was straight into the mackerel again and this time they seemed to be moving through in force. I packed up thirty minutes later, soaked, with a round total of twenty plus a few tiny joeys that I shook off at the edge.
A return visit on the 14th was particularly disappointing. Bite first cast and two LSDs were hanging on to either end of a pennell bait. That very much set the tone for the day - I had bites pretty much every cast but nothing else looked like ever getting past the doggie hoardes.
The weed was bad again on the bottom. It didn't seem to bother the dogfish at all but I wonder if the rays tolerate a carpet of kelp or move elsewhere?
There were no mackerel at the Airstrip today to rescue the session but I stopped at another mark on the way back to Kilcrohane and had a good few, just about a full complement in the bait freezer now.
Being a glutton for punishment I was back at the Airstrip on Monday 21st. I'd completely forgotten about Bantry Show at the weekend but fortunately public access was allowed to the carpark and along the edge as the arena and tents were being dismantled behind.
The weed was worse if anything after Storm Betty, and the dogfish were out in force again demolishing mackerel and bluey baits. Oddly they didn't seem keen on the shell-on king prawns I'd found at Lidl; though nothing else did either.
Well into "last cast" territory one of my rods pulled over a foot, paused, then carried on going over. At last a decent fish - a pretty thornback around 7lbs had hit the mackerel bait and was duly landed.
- - - - - - - - - -
On the 15th Sylvi and I drove up to fish Tralee Bay in Kerry. I had in mind the various ray species that are caught in the shallow waters: thornbacks of course, stingrays and small-eyeds that I haven't caught yet in Ireland and particularly undulates that I've never caught.
I'd spied a couple of promising-looking spots on Google Maps that didn't involve too much of a hike. Unfortunately the first of these wasn't accessible from the road so far as I could tell - what looked like an easy step over a wall and onto the beach on Streetview was actually a 20 feet drop covered in brambles.
We ended up at an easier spot further west towards Fenit which I'm sure would produce on its day, just not this day. We had a very enjoyable and relaxing time feeding the crabs but completely untroubled by fish or even a bite, until it was time to pack up and catch a nice meal in The Tankard restaurant. By the time we were home I was already feeling I hadn't given it my best shot fishingwise...
... so it wasn't a big surprise to find ourselves back a few days later on the 26th, despite the awkward drive from ours, to fish a different stretch on a different tide.
Today we fished 5.5 hours on a session spread either side high water but sadly the fishing was scarcely any better. I did manage a little tub gurnard, the first gurnard of any species I've caught in Ireland. Another angler fished to our right and later moved to our left, but blanked in both swims.
Despite some rain and a bit of wind in the previous few days, the water was still pretty much gin clear and I can't help thinking this is problematic for the fishing given how shallow the Bay is.
- - - - - - - - - -
I didn't fish on the 6th but I did take a wander onto a headland in Dunmanus Bay to find Stephen and Martin who were down hunting mainly pollack on another of their roving matches. I have to say I admire their energy and persistence ... twenty minutes spinning and I'm knackered, and bored if it's not a bite every other chuck at least, whereas they stick at it for hours. Martin brought in a succession of pollack up to 4lbs on a big metal lure while I was there, and ended up winning the match with over 30lbs. Stephen's plastics were being less effective on the day...
My own chance to shine with the pollack came on the 17th on a deep mark in Bantry Bay. I took along a bottom rod and a rod to spin for pollack. Overall it was a quietish session, with just a bootlace conger on the bottom and a handful of pollack up to a couple of pounds on redgills...
Seeking inspiration, I ferreted through the lure box and pulled out a 60g blue & silver metal that Stephen had given me earlier in the year. I chucked it out as far as it would go, waited for it to sink well down, and brought it back sink and draw as close to Martin-style as I could remember. On the fourth or fifth cast, the rod lunged over. It was obviously a bigger stamp of pollack which fought all the way in and particularly when trying to get down into the kelp at my feet. Just over 6lbs...
That's my fishing for August, apart from a couple of mackerel-only trips and an ill-judged attempt for a trigger fish.
It's been the most consistent mackerel season for a few years and I've scored nearly every time I've tried - the bait freezer is well stocked now so it's just dinner and fresh bait from now on.
I don't think there's yet been a spell calm enough for long enough to bring the triggers inshore. They certainly weren't there on my mark in Bantry Bay on the rare windless day I picked on to try. The midges however were out in droves and despite spraying every inch of exposed skin I was bitten half to death in the hour I lasted. The start of September is looking promising on the weather front though so I may yet give it another try.
Mon
31
Jul
2023
On 1st July Sylvi and I headed down to Rosscarbery. We were going to miss some time later in the month for a UK trip so I was keen to get a July mullet under my belt.
I should have paid more attention to the tides. The late afternoon HW was predicted a decent size but the early morning tide had been smaller and coming off the back of a set of neaps there wasn't much depth in the pool. Coupled with mostly bright sunshine and a gusty NW breeze raking across the pool, it looked like the day would be a proper struggle.
And so it proved. We could see mullet moving occasionally across the far side of the pool among the wreckage of the old oyster trestles but few if any ventured within casting range. Four hours and more dragged by with no interest at all on the quivertips.
The new high water seemed to be taking forever to break into the pool, but it did eventually make it and the water level started rising quickly. Almost immediately I was seeing mullet whelm close in, probably fish that had come up the channel with the tide.
I dropped my baits in just past the rocks, and laid some groundbait around them. Soon I was getting odd knocks on the tips and before long a proper take ...
After a lively scrap Sylvi slipped the net under a 3:12 thicklip and I added another couple over the next hour, 2:08 and this fish of 4:00 exactly.
It could have been more but the mullet weren't really hanging on. I clean-missed a couple of good takes and a couple of others were so lightly hooked they were off again in a split second.
As soon as the tide started dropping away again the fish were gone. Still, mission accomplished.
The NW wind freshened overnight and persisted a good few days. By the 5th I decided I needed to get out anyway and headed down to the airstrip.
I was fishing a couple of hours before low water, reasonably effectively I thought albeit at reduced range because of the wind.
The first hour was quiet but in the hour down to low I had a couple of dogfish then a stronger fish that kited left as I brought it in, a decent thornback about 6lbs taken on mackerel. I discovered I'd left my camera at home with my mullet kit so the pic is one I caught earlier!
I had hopes for more rays but not for the first time the airstrip doggies had other ideas. I was blitzed by the things for the first two hours of the flood, by which time they'd just about run me out of bait.
On the 11th I fished the new rock mark where I'd had a couple of good huss last month. It was a busier session in terms of numbers of bites, but most of them seemed to be from small stuff. I missed a good few as I was using 6/0 hooks but landed four doggies and a couple of small strap congers.
As the tide topped out I had a better take and after a decent tussle another nice huss surfaced.
The mark's only just off the road and as I dragged the huss up onto the rocks a whoop from behind alerted me to a small crowd watching. An eastern European guy scrambled down clutching his phone and shouting, "Fish, fish". I thought he meant to get a photo of me with the huss, but he thrust the phone into my hand, grabbed the huss and obviously wanted me to take the photo of him with my fish! Bit of a cheek but it seemed too complicated to explain that's not how it works, so I obliged and thought at least he'll take a photo for me. I went to get my camera from my bag but when I turned back he'd already legged it back up the rocks and they'd all disappeared! The huss weighed 9lbs-odd, similar length to the others I had but not as fat.
On the 12th I did my first pollack session of the year. There was a fresh wind pushing up the bay and more swell than I felt comfortable with, so I settled for an east-facing mark in the lee of the headland.
It's not a typical pollack mark really being sheltered and quite shallow, but it usually turns up a few and I've had some nice ones there up to over 5lbs and also lost some proper lunkers that proved impossible to keep out of the rocks and weed when hooked at range.
So I wasn't unduly surprised when the Redgill stopped dead on my fourth or fifth cast, my rod bent over and braid started ticking off the heavily-set drag. Then everything came free - I assumed the fish had just come off but when I wound in the hook had snapped at the bend. I don't really trust the flimsy Aberdeen hooks which come with Redgills these days and swop them out for 2/0 Sakuma Manta Extras ... might have to have a rethink!
I had several pollack from the spot but nothing much over 2lbs. As the tide dropped away I ventured out onto the front of the headland. It was borderline fishable but I gave it 30 minutes and added a few more pollack of similar size.
On the 16th I fished a new rock mark on the north side of Sheep's Head with Stephen and Martin. Stephen had met the landowner on a previous foray and obtained the necessary permissions. There was a stiff west wind blowing up Bantry Bay, but we found a little shelter from the worst of it at the very east end of the mark.
The lads were fishing a roving match. Martin had had about 20lbs of pollack before I arrived. Stephen hadn't done so well and was just changing over to bottom fishing. They'd had some mackerel so he had some fresh bait. I decided to stick with the frozen heads I'd brought along in the hope of something big.
The bottom fishing was a bit slow. Stephen had a doggie, a 3lb pollack and a tiny conger. I was getting lots of knocks probably also from small congers but nothing that hung on. While we sat it out, Martin added a few more pollack to his score then about another 20lbs of wrasse fishing ragworms close in. He came third in the match, getting beaten by dogfish hauls from other venues.
I'd just about decided it wasn't going to happen on the bottom today and was breaking out the mackerel gear when the ratchet on my reel finally signalled a good run.
After a brief but brutal tussle I had a nice huss on the surface, and Stephen kindly scrambled down the rocks to lift it out by the trace.
The huss was just over 10lbs; we thought it would go heavier but it was another a bit lean down its flanks.
The lads packed up soon after and I had a last hour with the sabikis for mackerel. They were patchy but I kept catching in fits and starts and finished with a dozen, all a good size. Next day I headed to the go-to mackerel spot on the north side, cleared up the rubbish left by the weekenders then managed just five mackerel in the hour or so before getting rained off; plus a launce.
On the 19th I spent a couple of hours over lunchtime on my low water mullet spot in Bantry Bay. It was four weeks to the day since Mike Buckley last fished there. I'd wanted to rest the spot because Mike had given it a good hammering over four sets of tides while he was over, understandably as the mullet fishing was patchy at best on a lot of other marks. Anyway ... patience duly rewarded with plenty of bites on the last off the ebb tide on fish baits eighteen inches below a waggler float, and four chunky mullet between 2:15 and 3:11. I might have had more but the north-west wind freshened as the tide turned and there was soon too much swell for my light tackle.
We arrived home from our UK trip in the early hours of the 26th after a delayed flight out from Stansted and the long drive down from the Airport. We awoke to a foul day with a strong west wind and lashing rain so after getting the dog back from kennels I settled for a quiet day getting ready for a mullet session at Rosscarbery on the 27th.
On the neap tide there wasn't a lot of depth to the pool and there didn't seem to be many mullet present apart from a few groups of fry-size fish topping now and then. That said there was a heavy ripple across most of the surface from the blustery wind and the water was quite coloured from yesterday's rain, so it wasn't that easy to tell. I set up two leger rods to fish the slightly deeper water in front of the bridge arch, one close in and the other further out, settled down and hoped for the best.
The late morning passed without incident and about lunchtime the water started creeping up as the tide reached the pool. I was just thinking about getting the sandwiches out when my close-in rod yanked over about a yard then sprang back. I thought I'd missed the take but before I could get out a suitable curse the rod pulled over again and I was in. After a very spirited fight I had a chunky mullet in the net. It looked a good bit bigger than the 3lbers I had in Bantry Bay last time out, and I was surprised the scales wouldn't read more than 4:05.
The high tide, such as it was, came and went. I started getting a few gentle knocks on the close-in rod, maybe just baby mullet but nothing I could strike anyway. I was watching one such failing to develop when the distance rod pulled over.
This was a stronger fish which ran out some line then kited round to the right. I followed it along and we slogged it out in the shallows in front of the rocks. The fish was very reluctant to come the last few yards but after several minutes I got the net under a wonderful, scale- perfect 5:08 thicklip.
I'd barely caught my breath and I was in again, this time on the close in rod. This one hardly ran at all, instead diving into the deep water right in front of the bridge where it chugged up and down for ages close to the rocks, very nerve-wracking. The mullet wouldn't come up in the water at all, often the sign of a good fish and after nigh on ten minutes of this I was beginning to think it was a very good fish. Then I caught a glimpse of a massive silvery flank and I knew it was a very good fish indeed! After a few more minutes it suddenly capitulated, surfaced and was in the net.
It was a lovely 6:01, again in pristine condition. After all that protracted fight, the hook just dropped out in the net...
It's easy when writing these blogs to focus on the good days and memorable catches, but it's not always like that of course. After another manky wet day on the 28th, on the 29th the west wind was still howling up the bay. I tried an east facing mark where I hadn't taken the bottom rods before, but it turned into a disaster with four out of five casts snagged irretrievably, possibly because the swell coming round the corner was moving my rig around till the hook found a snag. Or maybe I was casting into a forest of kelp. Or both. The other cast I had a tentative pull on the mackerel head bait but nothing came of it. I'd taken a lighter rod to spin for pollack if the bottom fishing was slow, but I could only muster a couple of pound-size fish on that and lost another set of gear. I packed up and although I'd dodged the showers moving up the bay while I was fishing, I got a soaking walking back across the fields to the car ... capped the day off nicely!
We've been stuck in a rut of poor weather for several weeks now with an out-of-position jetstream feeding depression after depression across the Atlantic, and it looks like more of the same carrying on well into August at least. It would be nice if it settles down in time to have a realistic shot for some trigger fish, for example, and to get to fish some of the choicer west-facing rock marks, not to mention topping up the bait freezer with mackerel for the months ahead. We'll just have to see what happens.
- - - - - - - - - -
PS: Posted this, wasted most of the afternoon then decided it had just about calmed down enough for a quick mackerel session before dinner. Just took the bass rod and sabikis over to Bantry Bay. Breeze was still fresh over there, adding white horses onto the swells of about 3m rolling up the bay. It didn't look very mackerely at all, nor particularly safe to be honest, but I fished off a high ledge and caught eighteen in an hour. Four for dinner tomorrow and fourteen to add to the dozen or so already in the freezer. I still need more but it's a decent enough start.
Fri
30
Jun
2023
This has been one of the quieter fishing spells I've had over the last few seasons. The poor spring weather spilled from April into May then mid-month summer arrived but with a protracted spell of east winds. Also mid-May my exam work kicked off, back to pre-pandemic levels with a vengeance but even more so because of the numbers of experienced markers who've moved on in the past two and three years. My last bundle of scripts despatched back to UK this morning but the weather has turned wet and windy so I'm still stuck indoors, at least with this chance to update the blog.
Throughout I've been carrying a nagging knee injury that has only really improved over the last few days. Hopefully it's the start of a permanent recovery, but I'm still waiting for an MRI scan so we'll see what that throws up.
The knee has more-or-less kept me off the rocks but against my better judgement I did do one last trip up to Kerry early in May to try for a late spurdog. It proved a wasted effort, in fact a complete blank and I had plenty of time hobbling back up through the forestry and on the drive home to muse on what had been a disappointing spur season.
Talking of disappointments, this gilthead season has pretty much passed me by with not much to show.
Shoals of small coalies had plagued trips earlier in the spring but these were gone by the time I returned on 15th May.
This session was actually quite promising. I watched a guy fishing just down the channel landing a decent gilt which looked 3 - 4lbs. Soon after he packed up and brought his surplus lugworm up to me - thanks Evan - and confirmed his gilt had been just over specimen size. Soon after that, as the tide and weed was picking up, I had one myself but smaller, just nudging 2lbs.
Sadly though this was the best of it. I was back
two days later with Evan's lug and although I had plenty of bites these were all from small schoolies.
I had another similar session at the end of the month and a visit mid-June yielded a total blank.
The big gilts are always hit-or-miss but the last couple of seasons I've been getting two or three smaller fish most sessions and it's slightly worrying they've not been present this year in the same numbers.
Maybe I've just not been there on the right days, I've not fished as much as I'd have liked because the lug digging has given me protracted grief from the knee after the days I've been. Hopefully I'll get a couple more goes in when the weather settles.
The airstrip strand at Bantry hasn't really shone yet this year either. A session over low water on 2nd May just turned up a few dogfish. A return visit on the 8th produced fewer bites but a couple of half-decent rays at least, one on mackerel, one on bluey ...
Then into June, on the 6th a couple more rays on mackerel and prawn and a long but very lean bullhuss...
Probably my most enjoyable session with the big rods was on a new mark on 13th May.
It's a spot I've looked at many times, a nice flat rock platform literally only a minute to scramble down from the car parking ... in short, ideal for the dodgy knee.
I'd heard tell of some decent congers from the spot recently. First interest was indeed from a conger, on squid ... but it was only a strap about 5lbs.
After that I had a dogfish then a quiet spell then a tentative pull on a mackerel head fished closer in ... the pulls persisted and I lifted into a heavy fish that turned out to be a huss of 10lbs on the nail.
After another quiet spell I had a good take on squid again, fished further out, and another huss this time 11bs ...
Mulletwise - also quieter than usual but I've tried to keep things ticking over, mostly with sessions in the company of my friend Mike who's been touring West Cork in his motorhome.
I did a couple of sessions at Rosscarbery in early May, legering from the grass below the N71 while Mike was mostly struggling to find mullet at that stage in the lagoon across the road. He's done better in there recently with good numbers and some good individual fish up to his departure for Wales a few days ago.
1st May was a slow session apart from a brief interlude when I had a 2:11 and then a smart 3:11 just after Mike turned up to take the photo.
9th May was busier. This time I lost a decent fish almost at the net while Mike was with me, then had a string of bites after he'd headed across to the Lagoon. They yielded fish of 4:06 and a 5:04 which was well-pleasing for the time of year...
I finished with a smaller fish of 3:00 that looked pristine in the net till I turned it over and found this horrific wound.
I'd say from the size and shape that it was very possibly made by a cymothoid parasite, though it could also be from a lamprey. Cymothoids are isopods that look like huge woodlice typically over an inch long so you can't really miss them if you catch a fish with one on. They are commonest as you'd expect on bottom-dwelling fish like wrasse and rays, but they do also afflict free swimming fish like mullet and even garfish.
There are some cymothoid pics on the link below, and I'm sure the scientist studying them in UK, Tammy, would be just as happy to collect photos and ideally specimens from Ireland as decribed in the article. https://www.thenationalmulletclub.org/isopods.htm
I fished a couple of sessions with Mike on a pontoon mark further east from Ross. The mullet were sparse on our first visit on 29th May but were there in good numbers by the time we went back on 12th June. We caught both sessions but only got among the smaller fish around 2lbs.
On bigger tides, since the mullet arrived mid-May, Mike spent a lot of time on my low water spot in Bantry Bay, averaging about three mullet a trip, mostly 2lbs and 3lbs class fish but a smattering over 4lbs. Oddly enough the mark didn't really shine on the couple of days I was able to join him but we did catch a few mullet and some serious pollack bycatch...
Wed
03
May
2023
On Saturday 1st I headed down onto the Mizen with the twin aims of getting an April mullet under my belt and checking out the form ahead of the visit of my old friend Mike Buckley who would be arriving in West Cork later in the week after a few days stop-off near Dublin for coarse fishing with Jim Murray.
It was exactly a fortnight after I'd caught an astonishing sixteen fish bag from a pool full of mullet, but there wasn't going to be a repeat of that today. The water was carrying a peaty stain after the rain during the week and although I saw an odd fish or two breaking the surface ripple they seemed very sparse indeed.
I fished patiently for a couple of hours without a bite, feeding mashed bread little and often but to no obvious effect. Then, just as the new tide started to creep through the bridge arch, I started getting bites. I missed a few and hooked a couple, thicklips just either side of 2lbs. They were the 74th and 75th mullet of the year after my best-ever winter season, though the fishing looked to be taking a turn for the more difficult now.
On Monday 3rd I made a second attempt this spring down on my gilthead mark, but as with the trip in late March I was plagued by small coalfish. The water still felt freezing and I decided to leave it a while before trying again.
Ahead of Mike's arrival I sneaked in a trip up to Kerry on the 6th, more in hope than expectation of catching a spurdog after a disappointing season to date. I arrived at low water on a beautiful calm spring day, with just a tinge of colour in the water which often seems to bode well for this mark.
I was getting bites from the outset, all dogfish which were incessant for the first half of the tide. Then they turned off suddenly, maybe that would give some better fish chance to get at my baits. A little west breeze kicked up about the same time, perhaps another good sign.
About four hours up the tide, one of my lines fell slack. I wound down and struck, but the culprit had gone. Probably a huss, I thought. I put a new mackerel bait out, and within a couple of minutes the rod pulled over hard.
The fish seemed both lighter and livelier than a huss, zipping around from side to side as it gradually came closer then diving for the rocks close in. I suspected it was a spur and, true enough, it was. I lifted a nice male fish about 8lbs out onto rocks. It was a long way short of my PB but after so many disappointing trips for them this winter and spring it seemed a major success.
After two bites in quick succession I was hopeful of more but it wasn't to be ... I sat out the rest of the flood tide and a couple of hours of the ebb without incident.
On the 8th I visited the airstrip strand in Bantry for the first time this year, for a session over low water.
Soon after starting, with the ebb flow still running, I had a good pull-down on a mackerel bait. At first I thought I'd hooked into a good ray, but it seemed rather lifeless as I drew it closer and turned out to be just a small ray and a frond of kelp about six feet long!
The low water slack passed with just a few rattly bites and a handful of LSDs landed.
About two hours up the tide, I had another good pull-down bite and hooked into what felt a very decent fish, either a thornback or huss I guess but I'll never know for sure. It put up a stubborn resistance all the way in ... then my 50lb mono trace parted with the fish in the margins, the leader knot already out of the water, so near yet so far. I looked for signs of crab damage on the trace as there are some big spiders and edibles on this mark but the break seemed clean, either bitten or more likely cut on a sharp rock in the edge.
On the 9th I fished at Rosscarbery, legering from the grass while I waited for Mike to rock up in his spanking new motorhome.
It was a pretty dour session, staring at my tips waving in the chilly SE breeze willing them to register a bite.
Mike arrived late morning and fished over by the bridge on float, but fared no better.
Not for the first time at Ross this year, the day was rescued by a last-gasp fish. I'd already started packing up when my left hand rod pulled over fiercely, resulting in a thick lip of 3lb 12oz.
It didn't seem enough to alter our plans so we packed up anyway and reconvened for a cuppa in the motorhome.
I was finally able to take possession of National Mullet Club's new Irish Trophy which Mike had kindly brought down from Jim in Dublin. The 7:08 I caught last autumn was the biggest mullet in Ireland in 2022 by a NMC member (and, judging from the IFI specimen list, by anybody else.)
The week ahead was marred by some pretty bleak weather. Mike tried a few venues but was unable to locate any mullet. He seemed caught between times, the best of the winter fishing having passed at venues like Ross but the water still too cold on the summer marks.
On the 16th I met him for a trip down onto the Mizen where I felt we'd find a few mullet at least. "Few" really was the operative word, but on another dismal weather day at least we got Mike off the mark with a couple of fish around 2lbs each and I added a smaller one...
On the drive back the windscreen wiper motor on my car burned out. It was a pity because I'd planned a session up in Kerry on the 18th for a last realistic chance at a spur this year, but I couldn't get the car back from the garage in time to go.
On the 19th my sister arrived for a much-postponed week long visit ... a stiff east wind picked up almost for the duration so I doubt I missed too much fishing-wise by spending the time with her. By the time she was gone we were into the last few days of April, the tides were very neap, and I was nursing a knee-injury I'd picked up earlier in the month somehow then aggravated on all the scenic walks with the sister.
I only managed one more fishing outing, back on the Mizen on the 28th with Mike again as he was still struggling to locate mullet elsewhere. There seemed better numbers of fish present this time but they were on the small side again and we only managed three between us before an increasingly chilly breeze seemed to put them off the feed.
Hoping for some better weather early in May to perk up what's been some patchy fishing of late...
Thu
30
Mar
2023
The easterly airflow spilled over into March. The breeze wasn't forecast too strong for the 1st so I headed to Rosscarbery. Mission: to catch a mullet to complete 24 months consecutive since the last covid travel restriction ended.
I huddled under the brolly on the grass and endured a fairly bleak session on the chilly and grey day.
There was a big shoal of mullet that bubbled up occasionally well out in the pool, but very few fish were showing within casting range.
After five hours I'd had enough and started packing away. I was just breaking down the brolly when I noticed my left hand rod pulling right round. I dropped the brolly, grabbed the rod and a few minutes later had a fit mullet of 3:06 sliding over the net.
It was a stroke of luck, but on the other hand I firmly believe you make your own luck in fishing to some extent. I could have easily called time an hour earlier; and when I do decide to pack up I always leave the rods fishing to the last moment as I tidy everything else away.
On the 3rd I fished from the rocks up in Kerry. The breeze was still out of the east so I wasn't expecting the best of days but on the other hand, after the huss last time and dogfish hordes on previous trips, I wasn't expecting a complete blank either. I fished the bulk of the flood tide and half of the ebb ... and not a single bite so far as I'm aware.
My friend Steve Smith was arriving on Tuesday 7th for a week of early-season mullet fishing. I wanted to check on the form down on the Mizen, so on Sunday 5th I headed down to fish the estuary there. There were fewer mullet present in the low water pool than on my last couple of visits in February, but I did see movement from time to time and had sporadic bites. I ended up catching three mullet, all middle 3lbers...
I picked up Steve from Cork Airport on a pleasant spring afternoon, but the forecast for the week ahead was on the grim side of unpleasant.
The east wind was back with a vengeance for Wednesday, so it was back to Rosscarbery for another session hunkered under the brolly.
The air temperature was 3degC and we were barely set up before horizontal rain was rattling onto the back of the brolly. About lunchtime this was replaced with sleet and occasional flurries of snow.
Perhaps surprisingly for the conditions, there were plenty of mullet about. The big shoal was present again, today moving actively about the pool, perhaps because it was being harassed continually by several cormorants. Multiple times we had hundreds of mullet moving all over our baits, giving us line bites but no proper takes.
This is pretty much the norm for these tightly-shoaled winter fish. They don't seem to be on the feed at all, it's just the odd straggler from the shoal that might buck the trend and have a go at your bait.
I'd just re-cast after about the fourth such episode when, against the odds, one of my rods pulled over properly and I found myself connected to a very decent mullet.
I wish I could say playing it was an enjoyable experience, but it really wasn't at all once out from under the brolly and in the bitter wind. I had fingerless gloves on but my exposed fingertips were so cold they were painful; the sleet was stinging my eyes.
It was a relief when Steve got the net under the mullet after eight or nine minutes. It was worth the endurance test ... a mint fish of 5:10.
We packed up soon after, both chilled through.
The wind was forecast to drop overnight and to turn southerly for a while on Thursday afternoon. After a leisurely start we headed down onto the Mizen to fish the low water pool. I was pleased to see the water was still clear after yesterday's rain, and even more pleased to see odd mullet topping in the middle of the pool. There seemed to be more than when I'd checked the venue on Sunday, though still far fewer than had been there earlier in the year.
I really wanted Steve to have a good session after yesterday, so I decided not to fish myself and to act as ghillie, feeding his swim and netting his fish. After getting into the groove of striking the bites he had five, including a chunky 3lber and a very nice fish of 4:10...
The wind was howling out of the east again by morning, stronger than it had been on Wednesday but thankfully without the rain and sleet. We settled down under the brolly at Rosscarbery again, and blanked. The large shoal was still there but not as active today, they only came through our swim once. A short while later Steve had a couple of promising nods on one of his tips, but nothing hung on.
The wind was turned to a moderate westerly for Saturday, ideal for fishing the pool on the Mizen but the water would be too high till lunchtime. We headed down for an early lunch at O'Sullivan's in Crookhaven and arrived to fish at about 1pm. Happily the morning rain had cleared through by then.
We really needed a good session because the weather forecasts for Sunday and Monday were dire, and Steve was going home early on Tuesday. Wonder of wonders, the pool was packed with mullet, as many as I'd seen all year.
I let Steve get a head-start of a couple of fish before getting going myself, but I needn't have bothered. He added another nine fish to my six, and his included a trio of heavier fish from among the 2s and 3s. My best was a modest 3:13 while Steve had a 4:08, 4:12 and a very good fish for the venue of 5:04.
The forecast was unremittingly wet for the next two days. Best bet looked Sunday morning but the drizzle turned to steady rain soon after we arrived at Rosscarbery. We fished from the road on the west side of the pool, reasonably sheltered from the south-east breeze by the car but getting steadily damper and colder. We packed up just after lunch, not even having seen many mullet today. We gave fishing a miss on the Monday so we could get Steve's kit dry for his flight home, and had a nice lunch with Sylvi at The Quays in Bantry. The day fined off for the last hour of daylight, a tantalising glimpse of what might have been.
I didn't bother fishing the rest of that week with continuing poor weather and some very neap tides.
Saturday 18th saw a break in the weather and the tides starting to pick up. I wanted to watch the rugby that afternoon, so I headed down onto the Mizen for a morning session. The water was more coloured than when I'd last been there with Steve, but there were mullet topping all over the pool again.
I fished four hours and had, I think literally, a bite every cast. I missed a good few but landed an astonishing 16 mullet in an eclectic mix of sizes from 1:05 to 4:02, mostly 2s and 3s.
The weather soon returned to wet-and-windy. It wrote off the next set of spring tides when I'd really liked to have been up in Kerry chasing spurdogs.
I finally got back there on Sunday 26th for an afternoon session wiith Sylvi, after the rain had stopped that morning and a stop for brunch at Perrin's in Glengarriff on the way.
There was a stiff north breeze but we were sheltered from that by the hill behind. Everything looked perfect but yet again no spurs, just a few LSDs from the smattering of bites.
It was a disappointing outcome ... again ... as it has been all year. I'll probably give the spurs another chance or two in April, if only on the basis it would be a crying shame to miss them now after all the effort.
On Wednesday 29th I headed east for a first go at the giltheads this year. I've never tried this early before but I noticed on the IFI specimen fish list there were some big ones caught in late March last year, so worth a shot, potentially.
The day was supposed to brighten up for the afternoon and evening, but it was decidedly gloomy when I arrived and stayed that way. There was a fresh southerly breeze blowing straight up the estuary and perhaps because of that the tide never went out as far as expected, though it did drop enough to dig some lug, fortunately.
I'd been fishing an hour or so when Jason pulled up on the road behind. The good news was he'd caught a gilt about 3lbs the evening before. The bad news was that it was his first in five attempts so they weren't really in yet in any numbers. He kindly donated a couple of well-popped peeler crabs from his stash, and went on his way.
The fishing wasn't great. The water felt cold and as if to confirm the fact, I had lots of bites from small coalfish, landing several about 8oz. A couple of better pulls yielded shoal bass about the same size.
I'd intended fishing right into the dusk but about 7pm the heavens opened, the lashing rain moving up the estuary in waves and soon finding every opening in my waterproofs. It didn't seem worth carrying on, the slim chance of a gilt diminished even further by the shoals of little coalies. There'll be better opportunities ahead, no doubt.
Mon
27
Feb
2023
On the 1st I was down at Rosscarbery, looking for a February mullet.
I started off legering from the wall on the west side. There was a huge shoal of mullet well out and from time to time a large group would break off and rampage round the pool, putting up a spectacular bow wave. Several times I had mullet boiling all round my baits but I couldn't get a touch apart from a couple of very obvious line-bites.
I was picking up some horrible black slime on my line which I guess was the rotting remains of last summer's lettuce weed. Sometimes I'd have to stop two or three times while retrieving to pick it off as it jammed in my tip ring. After a couple of hours I'd had enough and I decided to move over by the bridge hoping there might be some mullet feeding and/or less black slime in the deeper water channel.
I was miffed to find a load of litter, quite unusual at Rosscarbery where most of the mullet guys are well-behaved in this respect. Mostly it was screwed up and shoved into crevices in the rocks, which is surely more work than bagging it and taking it home?
I cleared it up anyway and while I was doing that I noticed some nice mullet flanking close-in right in front of the bridge. I went back to the car to get my float rod, and set up a light waggler rig.
I fished the float almost under my rod tip, feeding small amounts of mashed bread. I was soon getting bites, half-hearted at first but becoming bolder as more fish started competing for my feed. I missed a couple of good takes but soon hooked up, a chunky fish of 2:08. Three more followed, increasing in size 2:12, 3:08 and a very nice 4:11 to finish.
On the 4th I headed down to the estuary on the Mizen where I'd had good mullet sport towards the end of January. Today there was a stiff breeze running up the estuary and ruffling the water but I found a swim where I could get my back to the wind, more or less. Nothing much was showing on the surface but clearly decent numbers of mullet were present because I was getting bites from the off and these persisted through the shortish morning session, with short lulls after each hook-up till they came on the feed again. I landed five mullet, losing a couple of others. One was a baby of barely a pound, two solid 3lbers and a couple of beauties of 4:07 and 4:08.
I had a minor calamity at the end of the session. I propped my Preston float rod against the car while I loaded in my other kit, only for the wind to catch it and send it sliding then crashing to the ground.
One of the stand-off rings was broken ... unusual I'd say for the steel frame to break rather than the ceramic insert but equally unusable.
Fortunately I found a very near match for the ring on the remains of my broken Drennan Acolyte in the loft ... I knew it was good for something! I whipped the replacement ring on while watching the rugby on TV that afternoon, and put the first layer of epoxy over the whipping, adding several more coats over the next couple of days.
On the 7th the rod was ready to go again, and that afternoon I headed back to the Mizen. It was a warmer day and there was more surface activity, and some of the fish out at the back of the shoal looked a good size. Again I had bites on and off throughout the session, starting with four 3lb class fish that went really well.
Later on some of the bigger mullet started showing close in. I hooked into a 4:15 that fought for ages, but I couldn't get the exposure right on the self-timer pics and I didn't want to mess around too long as the fish was obviously knackered. Almost as soon as it was returned and swum away I was into another good fish. The mullet was obviously weighty but it was a more pedestrian sort of fight. It's always tempting to pile a bit more pressure on when they're like this but it's easy to ping the hook out like that and I resisted the temptation. Eventually I had a lump of a mullet on the surface, at 5:12 a PB for this venue. Unlike the pristine smaller mullet I'd caught, this one seemed to have been in the wars with minor damage to its tail, scales missing and small red marks on both flanks. Not that I'm complaining...
As I returned the fish I noticed the flood tide had reached the pool and water was starting to flow up through the bridge arches. In another ten minutes it would be pouring through and the swim unfishable. In fishing, success often hangs on very fine margins.
Between these latter two sessions I headed up to Kerry on the 5th to try again for the spurs but as with my last visit in January, it turned into a doggie-fest. I landed ten or more, punctuated only by a single thornback, a pretty one but much smaller than Stephen's last time in January ...
Frustratingly it turned out there were actually some spurs caught that weekend by some Cork anglers fishing further up the bay on the other side. And there was more frustration to come on my next visit on the 11th. I fished a low water mark on the other side and drew an almost complete blank. A single LSD hung itself on on my last cast before I had to beat a retreat to avoid being cut off by the tide.
The next set of suitable tides was written off by poor weather then a brief UK trip for a family funeral. While we were away the weather turned cold with a NE breeze and the forecast was threatening full easterlies for the rest of the month. Easterlies are never good news but it can take a few days before the fishing degenerates completely, so I was anxious to get out again as soon as we were back.
I headed up to the low water mark again on the 24th. The breeze was still NE at this stage, forecast 6 - 8 knots but it seemed more like 16 - 18 knots when I arrived. It wasn't best pleasant but I was there now and going to fish, and the breeze did die off a little later in the session.
To cut a long story short ... still no spurs. The bottom of the ebb was mostly quiet with just one good pull that dragged the bait down onto the bend of the hook and didn't hook up. The start of the flood was a different story ... one doggie and three big slack-line bites, each of which resulted in good huss. The first two were each dead on 10lbs, one on mackerel, the other on sandeel. Last cast before evacuating the mark I was in again, on sandeel again. This felt a heavier fish altogether and stayed deeper than the others, catching a couple of times in the kelp on the shelf close in. I managed to heave it through and grab its tail at the edge ... it was a beast of 14.5lbs, a new PB for me.
Mon
06
Feb
2023
2nd January was the only calm day forecast for the forseeable future, so I decided to try to get my mullet season kicked off at Rosscarbery. Conditions were hardly ideal though - it was bitterly cold and last evening's sleet had frozen solid to my windscreen. I chiselled it off and set off with the car's outside temperature gauge telling me it was -3degC!
At Ross, the grass was covered by a thick frost. Understandably there wasn't much mullet activity evident but after watching a while I did see a few whelms in the tail of the flow from the lagoon. I set up my two leger rods close to the bridge arch, fishing one crust bait as far out as I could towards those fish and the other closer in the deeper channel.
The morning passed with only a few trembles on my tips, then just after lunch I had a little drop back bite on the distance rod. I struck and thought I'd missed the fish, but it must have been swimming in and I caught it up as I started to wind in. After a fair scrap I landed my first mullet of 2023, a long but lean thicklip of 3:10. The sunshine had just about melted the frost off the grass by this stage, but the air still felt icy cold.
An hour later I had a much more positive bite on the rod fishing closer in. The mullet made a few short runs but mostly put up a very solid resistance hugging the bottom in the channel.
While I was playing it I noticed my other rod tip nodding - another mullet had hooked itself and was ticking line off the reel drag which, in hindsight, I wish I'd tightened up a notch or two. I tried to ignore what was going on there while I concentrated on landing the first fish, which seemed to take an age. Eventually I got a very decent mullet into the net, and left it in the margins as I dashed back to the other rod.
Unfortunately by this stage I'd say about eighty metres of line had disappeared off the spool and the mullet had found a snag among the old oyster pens across the far side of pool. I couldn't feel the fish or see any swirls on the surface out there, so my guess was the fish had gone. I spent ten minutes pulling from various angles but eventually broke off. It was a disappointment for sure but at least the mullet in the net was a good one - 5lb 8oz in pristine winter condition apart from a split in its dorsal fin.
The next day the weather took a turn for the warmer but with that came a wet-and-windy spell that persisted through most of January. Sylvi and I came down with covid, hot on the heels of the cold virus I'd had over Christmas ... it was the 19th by the time both the weather and I were both recovered enough to get out fishing again.
I met my friend Stephen up in Kerry for a first attempt this year at the spurdogs. We arrived to find the track to my favourite mark closed by forestry work, and opted for a different track down to a different mark that I'd only fished once before.
The mark turned out to be on the snaggy side - we lost three or four sets of gear each - and on this day at least it was almost devoid of fish. We fished most of the flood tide to no effect and the tide was dropping away before we had a meaningful bite. I had a small conger, Stephen had a dogfish, that's all. Apart from Stephen's company I'd say the best part of the day was being treated to a wonderful Atlantic sunset.
On the 21st I was back on the mullet trail, at Rosscarbery again.
It wasn't the greatest weather, with a surprisingly chilly south-west breeze and prolonged spells of heavy drizzle. I settled for fishing from the back of the car along the wall where at least I'd have some shelter from the tailgate.
There were a few mullet showing in front there but the first couple of hours passed without activity on the tips apart from when a mullet swam through one of my lines a good ten or twelve yards in front of the bait, leaving a big
whelm as it spooked. At least the mullet present seemed fairly active so I was reasonably hopeful.
Early in the afternoon I had my only proper bite of the session, a fish that came in quite easily then decided to fight it out close in. After some to-and-fro it was in the net, a fish of 4:04. This one had some damage around its tail, possibly resulting from a close encounter with an otter.
The swim died a death after that and I was chilled through, so I soon called time on the session.
On the 23rd I was back up to Kerry to fish with Stephen again, with lots of new spurdog rigs tied.
The forestry work was still ongoing but this time we walked past the new mark to get my preferred spot which is much less snaggy and a little deeper.
In contrast to the session last week, this one turned over almost a bite every cast, but unfortunately nearly all the activity was from dogfish. I think I landed six and had several drop off near the edge, Stephen's seemed to be hanging on better and he landed more.
Mid-session Stephen had a stronger pull-down bite which he wondered whether was a ray settling over the bait ... and when he came to wind in there was indeed a nice thornback of over 9lbs on his line. It was the only decent fish we managed between us. The doggy-fest continued unabated till we packed up apart from a first (but small) whiting for Stephen. I was surprised that across the two trips we didn't see a huss, given they were coming out one or two every trip this time last year.
The spurdogs will always be hit and miss, perhaps even more so now that the EU has lifted the moratorium on commercial fishing for them. There's a new Total Allowed Catch (TAC) of nearly 11000 tonnes from western fisheries areas of which the Irish share is a bit over 1800 tonnes. Apparently the stock has increased but I think the problem here is there's no meaningful baseline data from, say, the 1960s when they were a very plentiful fish. If a stock is reduced to something like 10% and increases by 50% from there, it's still only 15% of what the stock should be.
On the 24th I headed down onto the Mizen Peninsula. I arrived at the low water pool to find mullet ... everywhere. There must have been many hundreds of fish present, topping in all parts of the pool. Imagine threading your line through eighteen small rings of a 15' Preston float rod with this lot going on ...
Despite a serious case of mullet shakes, I managed to get tackled up okay. Out went the float, and a handful of bread mash, and I sat poised for instant action. It didn't happen though, and remarkably it took nearly forty minutes of light feeding before I had a definite bite. Yet once they were turned on to the bread it was incessant action and I finished up with thirteen mullet from two swims, and lost a couple more. Most of the fish were solid 3lbers - great sport - with just a couple smaller and a couple bigger at 4:01 and 4:13.
By contrast when I returned on the 26th there was a light but biting cold north-east breeze blowing down the valley, rippling the water surface. Nothing at all was showing so today I set up to fish just off bottom and hoped for the best.
The large shoal of 3lb-class fish did seem to have moved on but I had a few bites, from a couple of 2lb fish then a better one of 4lb 2oz. Later on the bites, sparce as they were, dried up completely so I packed up and took the dog for a walk along the beach. As we drove back along the causeway in the last hour of daylight, it had calmed right off and some nice fish were topping right by the bridge. I broke the tackle out again, missed a string of bites in the failing light and finally had one out of
4lb 10oz.
The 28th was a nicer day altogether - mild, calm and misty - and good numbers of mullet were showing again when I arrived. There's a truism in fishing that you can only catch what's there in front of you, and today I had a string of 2lb-class fish, eight in all. I'd never knock catching fish of this size, especially on light float tackle when they put up an unfailingly good scrap, but I was really hoping for one of the couple of bigger fish I'd see topping occasionally out of range at the back of the shoal of smaller fish. Eventually I got one 3lb 10oz which may or may not have been one of the fish I'd seen ... I really thought they looked bigger.
Sat
31
Dec
2022
No fishing for me since the last blog update. We had our UK trip through mid-December, very enjoyable to be fair but not for the first time I brought back a very unpleasant virus that has laid me low since. I hope to get out early in the New Year but for now I've just been doing a bit of tackle tinkering that has inspired me to write this piece ... basically just some random tackle-related stuff from the last year.
Mon
05
Dec
2022
The grisly weather through the second half of October looked like continuing well into November. It was a case of looking for a short break in it to try for a November mullet. One such opportunity came by on the 4th, so I headed down to Rosscarbery.
It was flat calm on arrival and despite my doubts after all the recent wind and rain, there were mullet showing all over. The grass by the bridge looked as good as anywhere, so I set up the leger rods and cast out two crust baits. I didn't get as many bites as I'd thought considering the number of fish about, but by lunch I'd had a couple 2:12 and 3:13 ...
Mon
31
Oct
2022
On the 2nd I was up at 3 a.m. to drive Sylvi to the airport for a ridiculously early flight to Manchester. I'd loaded my mullet gear into the car the previous evening, and diverted back via Rosscarbery on the way home.
Fri
30
Sep
2022
My last trip to Rosscarbery with Dave Matthews was on Friday 2nd September. As on our visits earlier in the week we fished from the grass bank near the bridge with Dave to my left fishing the slightly deeper water on the edge of the flow from the lagoon.
Wed
31
Aug
2022
We were back from England on 4th August.
I took a day to get sorted then on the 6th headed over to a Bantry Bay mark, mission to catch some mackerel. Alas the shoals that had arrived just before our departure seemed to have moved on, either further up the bay or back out into the Atlantic.
Sun
31
Jul
2022
Only really a half report though - the last fortnight of the month we've been visiting family and friends in the UK and I've been taking a break from fishing.
Fri
01
Jul
2022
My exam work proved busier than expected, so fishing opportunities have been few over the last month or so.
It was a glorious summer's morning on 28th May, and I couldn't resist sneaking off for a few hours down onto my low water rock mark in Bantry Bay. There was unbroken sunshine and a little heat haze over the Beara, the water was clear and perfectly calm.
I set up with light float tackle on my Preston rod and centre-pin reel, baiting with scraps of fish on a #8 hook. First run through, the float dipped...
There were plenty of mullet about, though on the small side again as has been the norm this season. I had a couple around 2lbs as the tide dropped away, then two more as it started to flood back.
Finally as the water was lapping over my feet, I struck into a positive bite and found myself attached to a better fish. It put up a stubborn resistance for a good few minutes, and for a while I thought it might go bigger than its 3lb 6oz, probably something to do with its huge paddle of a tail.
Wed
18
May
2022
The easterly winds at the end of March spilled into April. Mulleting seems to be one of the last forms of fishing to be badly affected by easterlies, but even so...
On the 1st Sylvi and I headed down to Rosscarbery, setting up on the grass near the bridge with the brolly up against the chilly breeze. The water was unusually clear and the sunshine unbroken ... I immediately knew that it would be a struggle for bites and so it proved, with just one good take well into the afternoon. Sylvi was just across the road at the hotel grabbing us a coffee, but she was back in time to take the photo of a 3:09 thicklip that had fought above its weight.
Another hour passed uneventfully. We packed up as the new tide broke into the pool and took the dog for a walk down the west side of the estuary, only to find good numbers of mullet milling around close in at the bottom end of the pool. I wished we'd made a move down there earlier!
Wed
02
Mar
2022
It wasn't going to last, but February did at least get off to an encouraging start.
Mon
31
Jan
2022
As has become traditional, I started my mullet angling year on New Year's Day at Rosscarbery.
It was a grey but calm day. I found good numbers of mullet moving in the shallows down the west bank and soon had two leger baits out amongst them. But just like on my last visit in December, these fish showed little sign of feeding and three hours passed with only a couple of knocks on the tips that didn't develop into anything.
As the water level started to back up slightly, I began seeing fish moving close in to the wall to my left. This was very much into last chance territory, because in wintertime once the seawater floods through the pool on the new tide it seems to kill the fishing. I moved along taking one leger rod and my float rod with me, cast out the leger line then concentrated on the float.
I struck and missed at a couple of bobs of the float. Next cast it buried properly, and I was into a decent mullet that scrapped well for a few minutes before I could net it. I weighed and returned the fish then went to re-bait the leger rod ... the line was moved well round to the right and was slightly slack. I tightened into another mullet that had self-hooked while I was playing the first. It looked remarkably similar in size, and in fact both went exactly the same weight at 3:15.
Fri
31
Dec
2021
We weren't back from our UK trip till the 21st. We'd managed to avoid catching covid over there, so we passed our tests and were allowed back into Ireland, albeit both with a really unpleasant cold we'd picked up along the way and which still lingers on...
I didn't feel fit for much with the cold and tired after all the travelling, but on the 23rd I headed down to Rosscarbery to try to catch a December mullet. There was more water in the pool than I expected, rainwater probably, and I had to hunt around for signs of fish. Eventually I found some in the shallows down the west side.
The mullet were present in reasonable numbers and seemed quite active, but I couldn't get any interest apart from a few trembles on the tips that I put down to fish swimming over my lines rather than attention on the baits. After a couple of fruitless hours I packed up and headed over to Clonakilty hoping to find some more obliging mullet in the estuary there. That proved a complete waste of time, no mullet at all to be seen, so 90 minutes later I was back at Ross for another go in the remaining couple of hours of daylight.
Sun
28
Nov
2021
Just a brief mullet-only report this month. I've not been doing much with my seasonal exam work underway.
Thu
04
Nov
2021
A slightly truncated report this month with fishing opportunities limited by a variety of factors.
Thu
30
Sep
2021
I started September with a few trips just local onto the rocks near Kilcrohane, mostly spinning for pollack. The wind had been set in the east for a good while so I wasn't expecting much, but in practice there were plenty about.
Many of the bites came from what seems to be a healthy year-class of fish about ten or twelve ounces, a good sign for future sport but not much more than nuisance value at the moment. Among them, a good few fish around 2lbs.
Occasionally the redgill would be stopped in its tracks by bigger pollack. These two were just either side of 4lbs caught on the 1st ...
Tue
31
Aug
2021
I did two more gilthead trips in August. Both were unsuccessful, though on the first early in the month I was hooked into a gilt within about ten minutes of starting. It felt reasonable but nowhere near the biggest fish I've had this year and it came off after a few seconds anyway. The rest of that session was quiet, as was the entirety of the other. A flounder and a modest schoolie chanced along to save me from blanking on each occasion, but it wasn't scintillating fishing and I feel the gilt hunt is over for this year.
Sun
11
Jul
2021
My exam work, though reduced, kept up a steady pace from mid-May and inevitably limited fishing opportunities to a few shortish sessions.
My mullet fishing has felt rather on the back-burner recently anyway. I somewhat lost the habit over the winter lockdown then was unenthused if not actually demotivated by some pretty dour sessions in the grim spring weather once travel restrictions were eased.
Over the last month or so I have had a few quick goes in the bay here just local. In fairness I've found mullet each time but only in small groups and very easily spooked in the clear, shallow water. A few opportunities came and went fleetingly as I missed the handful of hard-earned bites, a bit frustrating.
Tue
25
May
2021
On the 5th I headed down to Rosscarbery on a mission to catch a mullet for May before moving on to other things. It was a fairly miserable day's weather, grey and blustery, spitting with rain on and off and none too warm. I had a good look round but couldn't see sign of mullet so I set up to fish the deeper water by the bridge arch.
After a couple of hours I hadn't had a bite or seen a mullet in that swim, but as the water had shallowed up on the ebbing tide I had started to see an odd one or two moving in front of the rocks to my right. I shuttled my kit over but had to endure another couple of biteless hours. Those mullet seemed not to be feeding then disappeared anyway.
Sat
01
May
2021
The 5km travel restriction came off on 12th April and I was straight down to Rosscarbery to try to get my mullet year underway.
After a long spell of northerlies and easterlies, the wind had at least gone west for the day, but it was cold and mostly grey with dishearteningly few signs of mullet present. I set up on the grass under my brolly and settled down for what was likely to be an attritional session on the leger.
Sun
11
Apr
2021
Thu
07
Jan
2021
I headed down to Rosscarbery again on 7th December. It was a grey, gloomy day with occasional rain showers, so I set up under the brolly on the grass. Although it was mild there were evidently far fewer mullet present than last week; I'd see a bit of surface activity from time to time but bites were hard to come by. I had a couple of takes mid-afternoon and landed both fish, 2lb-class thicklips.
A wet and windy spell followed, and my next trip out was on the 12th for a night session on the pier just local on Sheep's Head. It's a Jekyll and Hyde sort of venue but tonight it was on form; colour in the water seems to help the bottom fishing and there was plenty of colour at the moment.
First fish out was a three bearded rockling that took lugworm on a scratching rig ...
Sat
05
Dec
2020
Well, my run of consecutive months with mullet came to an end (at 32) with the 5km travel restriction throughout November. I can't even say it went out with a bang; more of a fizzle ...
I thought I was in with a shout at the start of the month. On the 1st I went for a walk along the brackish lake that had turned up trumps during the spring lockdown. It's never a prolific venue but I spooked a couple of mullet out of the margins so I was hopeful of some action when I went back with my float rod on the 2nd.
I waded out in a favourite area, and ran through a float on the drift caused by the gentle SW breeze, loose-feeding a little mashed bread every trot. After about ten minutes the ripple was broken by a swirl under some floating scraps of bread. Whether it was a mullet or one of the resident trout I don't know, the fish didn't show again and I didn't get a bite. I gave up after a couple of hours.
I was back next day in a flat calm, but didn't see a sign of mullet aside from a small shoal of fingerling fish in the margins.
I decided I'd leave it a few days till the lake had had a top-up on the next set of springs, but instead the weather took a turn for the worse with one of the wettest and windiest spells since we moved over here.
By the time we had a couple of better days we were heading into the last week of November, and winter seemed to have set in. The leaves were off the trees and the lake seemed devoid of life. The fingerling mullet had gone; even the resident swans had disappeared. It didn't seem worth getting the mullet rods out either at the lake or indeed off the pier, the water in the bay being unusually clouded from all the swells and rain.
I decided to call time on my mullet run ... a decision not exactly helped when Jason posted photos on Facebook of the six mullet he'd caught in the shelter of the estuary near his home at Clonakilty the very same day! I was tempted ... but stuck to the Level 5 rules.
Instead I ventured out onto the pier one evening with the big rods. I was hoping for a huss but in the event managed only dogfish and poor cod. I had one tentative take on a mackerel head, but my leader parted when I tightened into the fish, the last few inches shredded - I'm guessing it was a conger that had just backed off with the bait under a sharp rock ledge.
It wasn't much of a session but appetite whetted I headed out onto the rocks on the 27th ...
Fri
30
Oct
2020
My October fishing started on the 2nd at Rosscarbery.
I arrived late morning and had a good look round. I couldn't find many mullet anywhere, so in the end I went for the default option of the grass by the N71 where I could get the brolly up as shelter from the chilly north breeze and the showers that were threatening. It's also nicer for Fern collie than fishing off the side of the road and where I'd be more socially-distanced from people passing by!
I was spotting occasional mullet whelming, mostly further out, but it was lunchtime before I had a take on one of the leger rods. The mullet ran out powerfully then took me right along the grass to the right to land it. I was a bit surprised it was smaller than I thought and only went 3:15. It was a decent enough start though.
Sun
04
Oct
2020
September was a busy fishing month, with the weather thankfully much improved after the storms and flooding in August.
Possibly the most exciting news was the appearence in Bantry Bay of shoals of spurdogs, big ones some of them. The boat doing mostly short trips out of Glengarriff was reporting them on their Facebook page late in August and into the first few days of September, seemingly mostly high up the Bay, not far below Garinish Island I think. I got as far as having a look for some shore access in that area but there doesn't seem to be much - a mark that seemed promising on Google looked much less so on the ground. I didn't pursue it as the spurs didn't reappear on the next set of tides; I suspect their appearence coincided with some really exceptional numbers of mackerel in the Bay and once the mackerel started to thin out the spurs were gone. If anyone knows of any shore access to deep water up towards Glengarriff I'd be very happy to hear from you for future reference.
On the 1st of the month I headed to a north coast mark on Sheep's Head mainly intending to get a hit of mackerel for the smoker and the final top-up of my bait freezer. There'd been loads of mackerel on this mark for several weeks and it had become quite popular, and I'd noticed some of the guys fishing were cleaning the mackerel on the spot and dumping the heads and guts over the side. It seemed too good an opportunity to miss, so I took one of the big rods with me and lobbed out the head of the first mackerel I caught, stopping the spool as the bait sunk through the deep water so it would swing in towards the base of the rock face. As usual I popped-up the head by lashing on a small piece of polystyrene with bait elastic; it's a proper snag-pit of a mark.
Sat
05
Sep
2020
It's been a funny few weeks. It took a few days to get properly mobile again after crocking my knee on the rocks, then August became something of an exercise in weather-dodging. First we had thunderstorms that caused flash flooding around West Cork - Rosscarbery was hit twice in the space of 48 hours - and the bays both sides of Sheep's Head turned brown with peaty water pouring in off the hills. Then later in the month, two major storm events - Ellen and Francis - kept things stirred up and brought more floods including wrecking the middle of Bantry town.
Thu
30
Jul
2020
July isn't normally a month I get to do much fishing but with my work from the UK cancelled this year I found myself with plenty of time on my hands. I was determined not to spend it all mullet fishing ...
Early in the month I did a couple more trips to the Airstrip Strand. It was hard work getting past the dogfish but I landed three more thornbacks, a couple of small ones and my best for the venue so far just a shade over 6lbs.
Tue
30
Jun
2020
We entered June still on a 5km travel restriction, due to be extended to 20km on the 8th on the government's covid roadmap. Unfortunately the small mullet population of the brackish lake seemed to have dwindled to nothing, perhaps gone out on the last set of springs or eaten by the otters. My attention turned to the bay here.
Sun
31
May
2020
The 2km travel restriction was raised to 5km, but this did nothing meaningful to increase the choice of mullet marks available. We were blessed with warm sunny weather for the most part but easterly winds persisted on and off throughout the month. Only once did I find a few mullet on the open shoreline of Dunmanus Bay and I couldn't get them interested in feeding in the fleeting opportunity available. This left me with the brackish lake, and unfortunately numbers appeared well down from when I'd caught in April.
I found an old research paper online about the lake, which is apparently a designated Local Nature Reserve though there's no signage on site to suggest that. It was an interesting read though not an encouraging one ... an unusual ecology but not a rich one, with few species of flora and fauna able to cope with both the sudden increase in salinity when spring tides break in and massive influxes of acid, peat-stained water after heavy rainfall. Relatively poor feeding is perhaps why despite looking the part the lake never seems to hold more than a handful of sizeable mullet. I also wonder whether even on spring tides many fish would be deterred by the journey up through the narrow channel and under the very low flagstone bridge.
Sat
16
May
2020
My previous writings about pop-up crust mullet baits in NMC's Grey Ghost magazine and on my blog here seem to have attracted some interest both back in the UK and in Ireland. I started some new experiments with the technique last autumn. In an ideal world I'd have liked some firmer conclusions but some particularly poor winter weather limited progress and now the covid travel restrictions look set to reduce my leger opportunities severely till at least 20th July ... so I thought I'd get on and share some thoughts now.
Mon
11
May
2020
Some more rod renovations as the covid lockdown grinds on...
These are not as old as some of the others I've been giving a facelift, but they still have history.
On the right is my Zziplex 3500. It was a gift from my friends and colleagues in 2000 when I moved on from Fareham College in Hampshire after nineteen years there teaching physics. It's a lovely slim blank that in many ways reminded me of my original 1005, more so anyway than the Dream Machine GS Match I'd had in the interim.
In 2001 I caught a 52.5lb stingray on the 3500, by accident really when I was hound fishing at Selsey but it won me the fish of the month competition in Sea Angler magazine, and the prize was the rod on the left. It's a Shimano Antares 129 Beach. It is a nice blank but the rod came without any sort of reel fitting which I thought was a bit cheapskate (I bought coasters for it) and the rings had poncey gold ceramic liners which started chipping and cracking at the first sight of a shingle beach, so within a couple of weeks I'd had them off and replaced them with a set of BNHGs.
Photos. The 3500 in action with a Solent smooth-hound, my lad Luke is now 26! And one of several Selsey tope I had 2005 - 2008 mostly on the Shimano Antares, this one 38lbs.
Thu
30
Apr
2020
On Friday 17th April IFI published clarification that we are, after all, allowed to go fishing during the covid lockdown as part of our exercise regime. The inevitable conditions attached are rather limiting though ... only for brief periods, walking to a venue within 2km of home. A "brief period" is defined on their website as not more than an hour or an hour and a half.
This allowed just a chance that I might be able to keep my monthly mullet record going, but only a slim chance. The mullet don't seem to arrive in the bay here particularly early in the year. The earliest I've seen them is mid-April and the earliest I've caught one is well into May. So I wasn't expecting much over the next few days as I used my dog walks to check out some possible spots. Indeed nothing at all was showing along the rocky shore; the chances of an early mullet showing were probably being further diminished by a nagging easterly breeze.
I did however see some encouraging swirls and bow-waves in the brackish lake east of the village, 1.1km away from home measured on Google Maps. It's not a venue I've fished much as it's mostly only inches deep, and though it looks the part and there are usually half-pound size mullet to be seen, it's rare to see more than an odd bigger mullet in there. It's also very badly affected by heavy rainfall though the mullet must be able to survive the sudden plunges in salinity as they can only get in and out on the biggest couple of tides each month when the lake tops up from the sea.
I waited a few days for the east breeze to die away. Then on the 23rd I printed off the IFI poster in case anyone objected and set off with Fern collie and fishing tackle ...
Mon
20
Apr
2020
One of the few positives about being locked down has been the opportunity to get on with some rod renovations, some of which were tentatively underway already and accelerated, some were scheduled and others brought forward. I have some fairly modern mullet rods but otherwise it's been a bit of an eye-opener realising just how old some of my kit is - some rods already on their second or third iterations and in need of TLC again ...
Sat
04
Apr
2020
March was always going to be a truncated fishing month with a UK trip planned.
I drove down to Rosscarbery on the 2nd. The water was horribly coloured after Storm Jorge and the day was grey and blustery. I didn't get a bite or even see a mullet move for sure.
We headed for the Rosslare ferry on the 4th with Ireland beginning to shut down with the coronavirus crisis. It was good to see family and friends but we were pleased to get back on Patrick's Day ... it was obvious by now the way things were headed and the Atlantic coast of Ireland seems as safe a place as anywhere to weather out the storm.
I went back to Rosscarbery on the 18th, fishing from the grass by the bridge arch. It was blustery again and none too warm. I couldn't see any fish moving but after a couple of hours Jason arrived and said there'd been "thousands" of mullet here yesterday and no way could they have moved out of the pool on the very neap tides at the time. Jason hadn't caught yesterday and went off to fish down the west side but he didn't stay long. As it calmed down later in the day I started to see big shoals of mullet boiling from time to time along the fringe of the mudbank, way out of range across the pool. There didn't seem to be any at all straying closer in and eventually I tired of waiting and took Fern collie for a walk down the estuary before driving home ... and promptly wished I'd packed up earlier as we found an active group of mullet in one of the deeper pools lower down. A quick dash back to get the car and tackle and soon we were relocated by the pool with the mullet still showing. I wasn't sure whether to try trotting a float through, the ebb flow looked a bit fast for that so in the end I broke out one of the leger rods again and touch-legered. I had quite a few knocks but I couldn't say for sure if they were proper bites or just fish bumping into the line ... nothing I could strike anyway and after ten minutes or so the fish moved off and out of the estuary with the tide.
I was back again on Sunday 22nd. Someone else was fishing from the grass, a blessing in disguise as it turned out. I drove slowly down the west side and soon came across a big shoal of mullet just within casting range, so I parked up there and set up the leger rods. I had these fish all over and around my baits for a couple of hours, but they obviously weren't feeding as there was barely a twitch on either tip. I started to see an odd straggler from the main group closer in, so I dropped one of my baits in there just in case one of these fish might be bucking the trend and feeding ... and a few minutes later, mid-coffee as usual, the rod fishing closer in jagged over.
The fish powered off and put up a good scrap all the way in, to the extent I was surprised it looked relatively modest in size when it reached the foot of the wall. After a bit more struggle it was in the net, it went 3lb 14oz on the scales and had a massive paddle of a tail that was probably something to do with how well it had fought...
Sat
29
Feb
2020
After those first few calm days and my mullet on the 5th, the February weather has been truly dire. Storms Ciara, Dennis and Jorge have written off three out of four weekends and the weather between was scarcely better with a string of other low-pressure systems pouring in off the Atlantic. I don't think there's been such a protracted windy spell since we moved to Ireland and the rain ... well at least living on a mountainside we don't have to worry about flooding.
It was an effort to get out fishing at all but fortunately there were a few brief gaps in the dismal weather.
The wind dropped light on the afternoon of the 18th in the aftermath of Dennis. I headed out onto the pier that evening not sure what to expect, but in the event the huss were unusually active again. Perhaps the water in the bay, now as coloured as I've ever seen it, suits them. I missed a few runs and latched into five. Two were only 5 - 6lb size; two better fish let go of the baits as they reached the surface but fortunately the best of the night had the circle hook firmly planted in its scissors. The scales said spot on 13lbs, equal to my personal best ...
Wed
05
Feb
2020
After the busy session on New Year's Day, the Rosscarbery mullet fishing quietened down in January. I went down twice, on the 8th and 22nd, and on each day I could see a shoal of mullet well out in the middle of the pool and mainly staying put. The sessions became a bit attritional, whacking out leger baits to maximum range and hoping an odd straggler would find them. In the event I had just one mullet each day, both middle three pounders ...
Wed
01
Jan
2020
I arrived back at Rosscarbery at about 9.45am on New Year's Day. The mild spell had persisted and a gentle southerly breeze was putting a slight lop on the water. The tide had only just peaked and I couldn't see any sign of fish moving, but I felt confident I'd be in with a good shout in the swim where I'd caught last time out.
I was fishing by 10.15 but the first couple of casts passed without any indications on the quivertips. Around 11.15 the left-hand tip trembled slightly then a few seconds later it nodded more decisively. The nodding repeated and I struck, hooking into a solid-feeling fish that chugged out a little then hung out there a while before coming back in very slowly, hugging the bottom. It wasn't a scintillating fight to be honest, but the fish obviously had some weight to it and when it surfaced just slightly off to my left I thought it might make 6lbs. I had it in the net at the second attempt and soon had it in the weigh-bag on the scales, 5lb 14oz as it turned out and a very satisfactory start to the year.
Tue
31
Dec
2019
To be fair, there's not a great amount to update here! I was busy with exam work throughout November and well into December, and the weather was mostly wet and windy. I did however get out in a few of the calmer interludes to try to keep my monthly mullet run going.
Wed
16
Oct
2019
Wed
02
Oct
2019
I had a couple of days mullet fishing yesterday and today, making the most of a brief calmer spell before ex-hurricane Lorenzo heralds the arrival of another lengthy unsettled spell. I'll write up the mulleting separately but today's session on a low water rock mark in Bantry Bay brought something of interest - my fourth new species of the year.
There were mullet present but they weren't really hanging on and nearly every positive bite I hit turned out to be a mackerel. They were quite good size and I decided to keep a few for eating, in the end taking a dozen. One immediately attracted attention, being a really slippery customer to get hold of, much more so than the others. Then I noticed its black band markings weren't quite right and it had feint spots right down its silver flank to its belly. Its tail was noticeably yellow and its eye seemed bigger than normal. Here it is with a standard mackerel below for comparison. The spots and yellow tail have faded somewhat in death ...
Fri
27
Sep
2019
My first trip out after Dave's return home was down onto the Mizen on September 5th.
I really wanted one of the bigger thicklips that browse the sandflats over HW like I had fishing last month with Mike. But after a couple of hours on the leger, the tide hadn't come in as far as I'd hoped and I'd had only one small mullet with no other bites. I wasn't even seeing any fish moving over the flats so there didn't seem to be much prospect of getting anything else and a change of plan was called for.
As the first of the ebb flow eased off, there were some quite decent numbers of mullet starting to show in the deep pool by the bridge arches. Although most of them looked small, occasionally I'd see a bigger fish so I decided to take the leger rods back to the car and break out the float rod.
Thu
29
Aug
2019
On 1st August I headed down to see my old friend Mike Buckley who was over on a break from UK. Mike had been staying in B&B in Skibbereen for a few days already but had found the fishing along the road at Rosscarbery still in poor sorts, with just a few smallish mullet landed. So we decided to head to a pontoon mark to the east where he'd found more consistent fishing.
Sadly this day most of the mullet seemed to have vacated the pontoon: we saw a few fish but after an hour we were still without a bite between us.
Someone called down to us that they could see some mullet under a small boat moored next to the adjacent higher section of quay, so I went to investigate. Sure enough, I could see three or four mullet under the bow of the boat that was actually tied to the outside of a larger vessel that was against the quay. I was able to drift some crusts down towards them and I thought odd pieces were being taken just as they disappeared out of sight down the far side of the boat. We didn't have a drop-net with us but I decided to fish anyway with a vague plan to walk a hooked fish back to the pontoon or send Mike with the landing net down a rather rusty-looking ladder ...
Mon
12
Aug
2019
Late in July a German friend in the village had visitors, including twin lads who wanted to go fishing. I somehow got volunteered to take them ...
Wed
31
Jul
2019
June and July are never the greatest fishing months for me, with loads of exam work on and precious few opportunities to get out. However I did manage to slip away a few times ...
On 7th June I headed down to Rosscarbery for a shortish session over lunchtime. It was a blustery day threatening rain, and as far as I could see in the choppy water there didn't seem to be many fish in residence.
I set up on the grass and catapulted out a dozen small balls of groundbait in a tight pattern, supplemented each cast into the same area by another ball moulded round my leger weight . Often it's not possible to tell if this groundbaiting does much good, but today when I started to see mullet moving, after about an hour, it was right in the area I was baiting. Activity remained concentrated in the same area over the next couple of hours.
Soon after this activity started up, I began getting bites. First up a modest fish that threw the hook after a few seconds. No matter, as I was soon in again, and then again, with a couple of fish either side of 3lbs ...
Wed
22
May
2019
Each spring some sickly mullet return inshore, individuals that haven't coped with the rigours of the winter and spawning, most probably old fish nearing the end of their lives ... "on their last fins" as one of my Facebook friends put it. These fish are particularly visible at shallow venues like Rosscarbery, and I'd seen a couple earlier this year. One, pale in colour, swam along listlessly just under the surface. Even more distressed, one was belly up near the bottom but just barely paddling itself along against the gentle current. Such sad specimens can't last long before the otters get them.
Then early this month reports started circulating of greater numbers of poorly mullet at Rosscarbery. I wasn't convinced it was anything (much) more than the normal state of affairs for the time of year, but still when I headed down on the 10th there was a slight sense of fearing the worst.
In the event everything seemed fine. There weren't great numbers of mullet around - a legacy of weeks of mostly easterly winds I think - but the small gaggles of fish moving past me as I fished near the bridge all seemed to be in good nick apart from one tatty-looking individual that even so was keeping up with the others. I couldn't get a bite from those close-in fish but eventually got one legering further out. Later I walked Fern Collie all down the west side of the estuary and saw more mullet in ones and twos, and they all looked fit and alert. I decided to have a last hour fishing from the wall. Again I couldn't get any interest from the near-in fish but had one at long range. Both the fish I'd landed were pristine four pounders ...
Fri
29
Mar
2019
Back from Africa, a few days to recover ... and then a really stormy spell of weather that knocked thoughts of fishing on the head!
Mon
11
Feb
2019
I next ventured down to Rosscarbery on 25th January, just about over a miserable cold that had hung on me for most of the month. There were plenty of mullet present but they seemed to be in two or three big shoals way out in the middle of the pool - I'd see them occasionally boiling the surface when a bird flew over and spooked them.
I fished from the same area as last time and cast both leger rigs out as far as possible, which was still well short of where they needed to be. It proved quite a wait before (I guess) one of the shoals edged my way a couple of hours after starting. My left-hand rod nodded then pulled over, and soon I was involved in a feisty scrap with a decent mullet ... and while that was on, my right hand rod pulled over too and line started stripping off against the drag! I got the first fish in fairly quickly, left it in the landing net in the shallows then went to the other rod. This felt a better fish and it was miles out by now, though fortunately it didn't seem to have found any of the many snags out there. The mullet came back very grudgingly but I did eventually get it in to complete my second brace of the year already ... 3lb 5oz and 5lbs exact.
Thu
20
Dec
2018
Apologies to my regular readers for the lack of new material over the last couple of months.
I'd planned to have a good few rock sessions through the early autumn but it certainly didn't work out that way. First time out on the rocks and I somehow injured my back. I'm not even sure how, I had a few chucks with mackerel feathers to no avail then sat down on the rock ledge dangling a float close in for wrasse. Had a couple of small ones out then realised I couldn't stand up! Eventually I managed to get onto all-fours and scrabble my kit together and crawl off the rocks. Then I hobbled my way back to the car using my net handle and a rod butt-section as makeshift crutches. Not recommended.
Mon
17
Sep
2018
Last Tuesday I met Steve Smith at Cork Airport for his second trip over this year.
Best laid plans and all ... Steve's flight was delayed and an already tight schedule to fish a low-water pool in an estuary not too far from the Airport became even tighter. We were heartened to find some good numbers of mullet on arrival, and even more heartened when they showed interest in the scraps of floating bread we put in. But by the time we were set up and fishing, the first of the tide was beginning to push through the pool, and soon it became a torrent, taking the mullet with it upriver.
Tue
11
Sep
2018
My mullet fishing has also been patchy recently. I missed a potentially good week for a family visitor staying with us, and the mullet themselves seem a bit unsettled by some up-and-down weather.
Sat
08
Sep
2018
I've not done a huge amount of rock fishing this summer, and the rock fishing form has been patchy on those occasions I have been out.
Fri
20
Jul
2018
Apologies to my regular readers for the lack of recent updates. I've not been fishing much - a trip away in the UK, an exceptionally busy exam work season and the World Cup footie being mostly responsible.
I did manage to get out on the last day of June for a short mullet session on the Bantry Bay rocks. I caught it just right with lots of mullet showing on a sunny day with just a touch of breeze to ripple the surface. I briefly contacted a decent fish first cast on bread bait, but after that the bites became very finnicky on bread and I couldn't hook up again. I changed to using slivers of salmon and the fish bait produced much better bites. I finished the session with three nice mullet before the rising tide forced me off the spot, the best a lovely 4lb 12 oz thicklip, the best I've had from this particular mark.
Sun
20
May
2018
Last Friday was a wonderfully sunny day with a fresh westerly breeze. I had to go to the dentist in Bantry about lunchtime but on the way back I drove along the coast road. I wanted to have a look at an outfall pipe that I haven't fished before, and maybe get the rod out if conditions looked suitable. The pipe has been there a while but only over the last few months does it seem to have become active, carrying waste from a fish processing plant.
It's not an easy spot to fish, the end of the pipe only being accessible for a short session over low water and it's not far above water level so it's prone to getting sloshed over if there's any swell. The water in front of it is not very deep, and there's a kelp-covered reef just under the surface only slightly to the left.
Anyway, today the conditions looked fishable with just a light cross-wind from the left and only a small swell. I walked out to the end of the pipe and it was working well ...
Wed
16
May
2018
Last Friday my old friend Steve Smith flew into Cork Airport for a short mullet fishing break. He'd decided to try an trip over in May on the basis of my early-season fishing the last couple of years, but regular followers of this blog will know that this year the fishing has been patchy so far, with a long winter stretching into a disappointing early spring.
The most consistent venue has been Rosscarbery, so there we headed on Saturday for Steve's first session. The tide was still quite neap and, paradoxically, unbroken bright sunshine streamed down on us. We could see lots of mullet in the shallow water, contentedly browsing over the surface of the mud, possibly sampling the algae that has put on a growth spurt over the last week or so. They looked like they might be difficult to turn onto bread baits, and so it proved.
We started off by the bridge arch. I set Steve up with two leger rods and fished one myself. Predictably, because I was keen for Steve to get off the mark, it was my tip that nodded first. I struck and played a modest mullet two-thirds of the way in, at which point it picked up one of Steve's lines and then came off.
Tue
08
May
2018
Writing these blogs it's easy to gloss over the bad days, concentrate on the good days and give a sometimes over-optimistic impression of the fishing. There's no disguising though that the last month has been difficult, and after some promising catches in March and April the mullet fishing has gone backwards. Main culprit I'm sure has been the unseasonal weather. Two early heatwaves have come and gone in the UK and the east of Ireland, while West Cork has languished under a blanket of cloud and mist with temperatures struggling to get into the teens of Celsius and some days much colder than that!
Mon
09
Apr
2018
I've been keeping an eye on some marks further west, but for now there's been little sign of any mullet on them. To get my mullet fix I've been heading back to Rosscarbery, trying to pick the milder days with a gentle southerly breeze to maximise my chances of getting a few fish. The last couple of weeks the tactic seems to have been working.
Fri
16
Mar
2018
February mullet fishing proved difficult and ultimately unsuccessful. I did a first trip to Rosscarbery on the 4th. I couldn't see any sign of mullet and ended up fishing blind in the swim where I'd caught the two fish at the end of January. Incredibly, I missed a decent pull on my very first cast! As I wound in, the thought flitted through my mind that I may have just missed my best chance of a February mullet. And how prophetic that turned out to be, as that session petered out without further interest, and three further blank sessions followed before we headed for the ferry and a long-scheduled UK trip on the 19th. That put an end to any prospect of a mullet in February, though as the Beast from the East and Storm Emma arrived shortly after and dumped a blanket of snow over West Cork, I doubt I'd have been out much anyway.
It was frustrating that I'd missed that chance, frustrating also that I'd seen mullet on the other trips, albeit not in big numbers and apparently not feeding. And frustrating that as soon as we were back in Ireland and I was fishing again, the mullet were around in greater numbers and feeding again ... in March!
My first trip was on the 8th and there were decent numbers of fish showing out from the west bank when I arrived about lunchtime. I put out the usual two leger lines but I didn't get any definite takes, I thought slightly surprisingly given the fish seemed quite active. Eventually a sizeable group of them gathered in a shallow corner and I decided to break out the float rod. Tackled up again, I waded out a little way, crouched low and put a little Puddlechucker out into the midst of the feeding mullet, fishing a small flake bait just a few inches deep. Still bites were hard to come by, then unexpectedly the float stabbed under and I missed with the strike. But I was better prepared a minute or two later when the float dipped again and I was in ...
The fish bow-waved out through the shallow water scattering its shoal mates then put up a decent if uneventful scrap before I could beach it. It weighed 4lb 5oz. The blingy reel is the Shimano Catana that I won in the raffle drawn at the Mullet Club AGM ... it seemed churlish not to give it a whirl and in fairness it did a decent job but I don't really like rear-drags much on fixed-spool reels so it may not get a lot of other outings.
Tue
30
Jan
2018
The storms between Christmas and New Year and on into January made for some difficult fishing.
I visited Rosscarbery on the 1st and the 10th of the month without seeing a mullet or getting a bite fishing blind. On the 10th I packed up early and had a good look round several parts of the Clonakilty estuary hoping to find some fish but to no avail there either.
Sat
23
Dec
2017
The weather has stayed very mild this week, so today it was back to Rosscarbery for some more winter mullet.
On arrival I could see a group of fish grubbing around in very shallow water on the west bank. I fished for them for twenty minutes or so, getting a couple of line bites but no proper takes. Then a couple of cormorants arrived and started harassing the fish, which soon moved on. The cormorants left and I fished on for a few minutes hoping the mullet would reappear, then I decided to move. I was just breaking down my first rod when the other pulled over hard then sprang back before I could pick it up - a missed chance.
Thu
21
Dec
2017
Work took up the rest of November, and the first week of December. I finished the last batch of exam scripts just in time for a visit by Keith Gillett, the chairman of the National Mullet Club in UK.
Unfortunately Keith brought some horrible weather with him, a blast of strong northerly winds straight from the Arctic dropping the air temperature close to zero. We fished two long days at Rosscarbery and though I was slightly surprised that we saw a few mullet each day and we did have a couple of half-hearted bites on the first afternoon, ultimately we blanked. The swan population of West Cork seemed to have descended on Rosscarbery and they made a real nuisance of themselves.
On Monday this week I was back, this time with Julian. It was flat calm and the water was both low and very clear and although the air temperature was up to about 10 celsius, the water still felt icy cold. There seemed to be plenty of mullet about but they mostly stayed well out in the middle of the pool. The few that strayed into range showed no sign of feeding on our baits, another blank! Most of the swans had moved on but those still present hung around us right through the session, a proper pain.
And so to today. It was overcast with drizzle on and off, but there was a gentle SW breeze putting a ripple on the surface and the air temperature was up to 13 celsius so despite the recent poor form I felt much more confident about the prospects. Another positive, the swan population was down to just two adults and their four nearly-grown cygnets, and happily they left me alone all day!
Sat
04
Nov
2017
Ex-Hurricane Ophelia and Storm Brian rattled through in quick succession and the inshore waters around West Cork were thoroughly stirred up. I ventured down to Rosscarbery on 22nd October, just after Brian, and even in the relatively sheltered waters there the mullet had made themselves scarce. It was a six hour blank across two different swims, not a bite and only a couple of fish seen. That was my last chance gone before a trip to the UK spanning two sets of work meetings in Cambridge, more than a fortnight away in all.
However, between the meetings I was staying in Christchurch in Dorset with my sister, and late in the season though it was, it just wouldn't have been right not to have a go fishing in the Harbour there.
Sat
14
Oct
2017
I arrived at Lough Hyne in the half-light early on Monday morning to find the Lough mirror-calm. The place hasn't been on great mullet form this year, and I was disappointed again not to see much sign of activity on the surface. Still, I got the rods out and started feeding a little mashed bread, and soon Julian arrived. Mission: to catch his first mullet.
Given there weren't many mullet showing, and maybe it would be a one fish day, I got Julian fishing while I sat next to him slowly feeding the swim. Soon his float dipped away and he struck into ... a mackerel. A few missed bites, then another mackerel!
Soon we were seeing an occasional mullet swirl on the surface and Julian was getting, and missing, bites regularly. The mullet we were seeing looked small and in keeping with that the bites weren't particularly positive. Julian wasn't doing a lot wrong, but every miss was increasing the frustration level, and in his frustration he passed the rod to me to show him how to strike. I suppose the outcome was inevitable, one miss on another fiddly bite, then next cast when the float was pulled under much more decisively, I struck into a very decent-looking mullet.
Mon
09
Oct
2017
Mackerel had only been showing patchily here this summer, but on both sets of springs in September they seemed to be around in force, especially on the Bantry Bay side of the peninsula.
I do quite enjoy catching them individually on light tackle, but for now the order of the day was to catch big numbers for some meals and to stock up the bait drawers of the freezer.
I've been a long-term fan of the Mustad Ayaka shrimp rig for mackerel fishing, and these were catching well enough, but I had a few sets of TronixPro Sabikis I'd been meaning to try and one of these did finally get a go ... and I must admit they were better fish catchers than the Ayakas. Quality kit though they aren't: at the end of their first session the set of six had lost one hook completely and two others had been reduced to bare hooks. I had in mind to salvage what I could as a set of three, but by the time I got round to it the hooks were all very rusted so I chopped the rig up and consigned it to the bin.
Tue
03
Oct
2017
Three mullet sessions to report on here, all at Rosscarbery which is a great venue to have available when westerly winds write off most of my other mullet marks, as they have all too often recently.
On 26th September I had a morning appointment in Cork, so I arrived late lunchtime. It was another dull and blustery day, so I set up the leger rods on the sheltered west side of the estuary pool. There were decent numbers of fish about and I ended up with four on the bank ... 4:06, 2:14, 4:10 and a lovely specimen fish of 5:07 to round the day off nicely.
Thu
21
Sep
2017
It's been a slightly frustrating few weeks at what is generally one of the best times of year for mullet fishing. The up and down weather has limited my opportunities, but even when I have got out I seem to have missed the best of the fishing. I've also lost a couple of good fish under unusual circumstances, more of which later.
On 4th September I had a short session on the rock mark on the north side of Sheep's Head which had been reasonably consistent when Steve was over, if not hitting the heights of earlier in the summer. There were still mullet in residence, but the size was disappointing. I had three between 1:12 and 1:14, this from a mark where I've rarely had fish under 2lbs before. Pretty little fish though...
Thu
31
Aug
2017
I arrived back from driving Steve to the Airport about lunchtime. After a pretty gloomy week weatherwise while he'd been here, today it was bright and sunny. I was feeling inspired by my efforts with the wrasse on soft plastics yesterday, so I bundled the kit together and headed to a rock mark close to the mouth of Bantry Bay.
Well sometimes things just don't go to script ...
Wed
30
Aug
2017
Tuesday last week I picked up my old friend Steve Smith from Cork Airport; Steve was over for his annual mullet bash with us. It had been a miserable wet day and we didn't intend fishing, but it brightened up progressively as we headed west and I couldn't resist a look at a mark on the Sheep's Head as we neared home.
I chucked out a few crusts and we watched, but nothing moved to them. Steve however spotted a mullet flanking occasionally as it scraped the stones on the bottom of the shallow gulley. It looked a decent fish, so we headed back to the house, offloaded Steve's suitcase and headed out again with fishing tackle.
Ninety minutes later we packed up fishless, Steve having missed the only bite of the session. I secretly hoped this wouldn't set a trend for the week ahead, especially after the lean trip Steve had had last year.
Bright and early we were out to fish the bottom of the ebb and low water on a local rock mark. I really wanted to get Steve off the mark, so I fed bread into the swim little and often while he fished. He was getting sporadic bites almost from the off, and before long he connected with one ...
Sat
19
Aug
2017
Two different ends of the rock fishing spectrum this week.
On Monday - coarse float rod, centrepin, 6lb line, waggler float and size 10 hook. The target was mullet, and I had five, two on bread bait and three on mussel flesh. I kept them in a rockpool pending release at the end of the session. No monsters today, the biggest was a middle-three pounder.
Thu
03
Aug
2017
I finally emerged from under my mountain of exam marking in mid-July, with just a short window before we had family visiting and then I had another short work-related trip to the UK. Desperate for a mullet fix, on 12 July I headed for Rosscarbery for an afternoon session. It was a bright if blustery day, and Sylvi came too.
Sun
25
Jun
2017
I have a load of work to do from the last few days of May through to mid-July, so the option of some quick mullet sessions on the shore near our home in Kilcrohane is very attractive.
A lot of the fish are tiddlers like this one, but get past them and there are some bigger fish to be had.
I arrived one particular Sunday evening to find a few fish moving, and I soon had them swirling on loose-fed mashed bread. I had some stabby little bites on my little Puddlechucker float and wasn't unduly surprised when the first fish I connected with was a small one. However, as high water neared I started to see some bigger swirls, and after a few more misses I connected with a much heavier fish which put up a terrific fight trying to get among the rocks to my left ... 4lb 3oz. I waded out again and fished on more in hope than expectation, and as the tide started to drop away another decent fish turned up and started attacking floating pieces of bread. I tried fishing a surface bait but couldn't get a proper take ... I reset the Puddlechucker to fish flake a foot deep and soon had a good bite. The fish felt more solid than the first but the fight was steadier and less spectacular ... 4lb 10oz.
Tue
30
May
2017
I've had a few short sessions out on the rocks recently, making use of some settled weather.
First up a trip to a mark on the north side of The Sheep's Head to fish for conger and huss. Disappointingly after a bit of a walk and climbing down to the rock ledge, I noticed one of the local crabbers had dropped a pot in the exact same spot I usually cast to! I relocated thirty yards or so along the ledge and cast into the unknown, only to find it a bit of a snag pit. I persevered and eventually got out a couple of eels before deciding I'd lost enough kit for the day. This the best, just into double figures ...
Wed
24
May
2017
A couple of mullet sessions to report over the last few days. Firstly to Rosscarbery earlier in the week, where some new flags were flying to welcome me, and some new advice for would-be swan feeders...
Sat
13
May
2017
The east wind certainly didn't bring any favours fishing-wise ... though the associated dry weather was a bonus for some work we were doing in the garden. Perhaps I should have stuck with the gardening, but I gave over two days to investigating new rock marks. Both marks accessed cleanish ground, and both maybe will fare better later in the year, but I couldn't muster a credible bite from either on a variety of baits. One day the wind fell light enough to get onto a favourite rock mark for some mulleting, but the place was infested with baby coalfish.
The easterlies had now been replaced with a southerly, much better but already the strength was kicking up towards a proper blow over the next couple of days. I still haven't seen much by way of mullet locally this year, and these conditions weren't ideal, so I headed down to Rosscarbery.
Not so many fish were visible as earlier in the month, but the ones I could see seemed a better size. Both observations were borne out by what was a slowish session, punctuated by occasional bites on the leger baits that yielded three fish of 4:11, 4:04 and another 4:04 ...
Tue
02
May
2017
The weather forecast for the next few days or so isn't great, a strong and cold east wind about to set in for a week at least. I was keen to get out fishing before that arrived, and there being little sign of mullet around Sheep's Head yet this spring, I headed down to Rosscarbery. There was already a touch of east in the wind, but mostly it was southerly and running up the estuary, variable in strength but never more than a fresh breeze.
Sat
22
Apr
2017
I've had a few mullet sessions over the last week or so that I can report on - had some fish but nothing very special size-wise.
On the 13th I headed down to Rosscarbery for an afternoon session. It was a grey day with a none-too-warm breeze blowing up the estuary. I settled for a favourite west bank swim where I could sit in the lee of the car. It proved a slowish session with just three definite takes on the leger baits ... 2:04, 2:12 and to finish a 3:10.
Tue
11
Apr
2017
... another rock mark. Again on the south shore of Bantry Bay. And more bullhuss. Three of them today, all on popped-up mackerel heads. Two were about 7lbs, and last knockings out came this one just over 10lbs. This is a good illustration of why I use a wire biting-piece for them ...
Sun
09
Apr
2017
In contrast to the mulleting, other fishing has been slow recently. I fished a rock mark last week for just a couple of doggies. The only better fish of the day - probably a big huss - escaped when the Sakuma circle hook snapped, there's a first. This was followed by a blank session one morning on Bantry Airport strand, definitely not a first.
This afternoon I headed to another rock mark on the Bantry Bay side of the peninsula.
Tue
04
Apr
2017
Today I headed back to the same estuary as Saturday.
I was hopeful that the falling water level over the smaller tides would have concentrated the fish into the deep pool, if indeed they hadn't evacuated altogether when they could on the last of the bigger tides. This is a risk particularly in high summer - perhaps when it's warmer they fear the water deoxygenating over several days without a top-up. But equally I've had some big bags in springtime before. Also after a foul day's weather yesterday, I thought there might be a little more colour in the water which might help.
On arrival I could see mullet topping occasionally in several parts of the pool ... game on.
I set up in the same swim as Saturday, but this time set the float to fish only about eighteen inches deep. I could already see fish swirling around the floating bits of the first handful of loose-feed I'd chucked in, so they were obviously going to feed shallow, at least to start with.
What followed was an incredible four-hour session that resulted in ten mullet landed. None of the fish were over 4lbs but who cares really when you can fish in such wonderful surroundings and get loads of bites and rod-bending action from mullet around the 3lbs mark? For the record the best was 3:11 ...
Thu
30
Mar
2017
Two trips here, separated by a few days, in contrasting weather conditions but with similar results.
Last Saturday, and it was back from warmer climes to a chilly easterly breeze that looked set to increase in strength over the next few days. I decided to get out at the earliest opportunity to get some fishing in before the worst arrived. This meant a relatively brief Saturday afternoon session.
I headed for Rosscarbery and although there were good numbers of mullet to be seen, I wasn't that hopeful with the water low and very clear, bright sunshine and the breeze a bit fresher than forecast. I cast out my leger rods well out expecting an attritional session, but in the event I had a good pull-down bite on only my second cast and landed a 4:12 thicklip a few minutes later.
It was quiet for a couple of hours after that, but as the water level (and colour) increased as the flood tide arrived, I had another bite. This time I struck at a couple of knocks and duly played in a 3:11 ... it fought better than the first fish and I was mildly disappointed it didn't turn out a bit bigger.
Sat
11
Mar
2017
After a wet old week, Saturday was a lovely warm and sunny spring-like day and an ideal opportunity to get a March mullet before I'm off on holiday on Monday.
I drove down to Rosscarbery and set up on the west side of the estuary, arriving soon after low water. I could see odd fish moving in the shallow water in front of me and to both sides so I was hopeful of some quick action as I welted out both my leger baits.
The reality was somewhat different with not a touch for the first four hours. The swans were a complete pain, back and forth in front of me and occasionally one would get its head down on my groundbait. I noticed a pair of anglers set up near the bridge ... but didn't see any action their end either and they left a couple of hours later.
Sun
26
Feb
2017
One bonus of our trip to the UK was that it allowed me to attend the Mullet Club AGM held in Portsmouth. It was the first time I'd been for a couple of years. It was nice to meet so many old friends again at one time, and there was a nice buzz about the meeting from the 40ish members present.
One good feature of the AGM is that the formal business of reports and elections is dispensed with quickly, allowing time for plenty of chat before the meeting and over lunch, and a series of presentations by guest speakers.
This time we had Martin Salter of Angling Trust in the morning and after lunch, Mat Mander of Devon & Severn IFCA both giving conservation-related talks. Then there was a presentation on fly-fishing for mullet by Colin Macleod and finally my good friend Mike Ladle, who'd been doing book signings with me on and off all day, gave the last talk about his innovative fishing as only Mike can. All the speakers did a great job.
Tue
14
Feb
2017
Not much fishing to report on in February.
I had a blank mullet session at Rosscarbery early in the month; there were still a few fish around just no takers.
Then a spell of cold east winds set in for a week, and only abated today. We are off on an extended visit to the UK later this week, so I was keen to get out if not overly hopeful following the easterlies.
I chose a deep rock mark on the north shore of the Sheep's Head. For bait I grabbed some mackerel bodies and a bag of heads from the freezer, and fished fillet baits and heads as pop-ups to raise the bait a foot above the snaggy sea-bed.
As half expected action was slow to come, but as the tide neared high in late afternoon I did start to get a few knocks and eventually a couple of decent takes, both on heads, and both yielded bullhuss.
The first huss was about 7lbs, the second was bigger and put up a good scrap as it neared the rocks. It went just into double figures on my scales. Neither was particularly co-operative about holding still for a photo, so not the best pics I'm afraid ...
Sun
22
Jan
2017
It's not been a hectic start to 2017.
I've had two blank mullet trips, a night session on a local pier that produced only two poor cod and the smallest conger I've ever seen, and today a session on the rocks locally that produced a few rattly bites but nothing that held on to the large hooks I was using for huss or conger.
In the midst of all this, a small success story. I headed down to Rosscarbery last Tuesday for a go at the mullet. I'd been there the previous week and blanked, though I'd seen a few mullet moving. Today was such a mild day I really fancied my chances if there were any mullet present. It was so calm when I arrived I was sure I'd see any mullet if they were about, but disappointingly the normal swims down the west side of the estuary pool seemed barren of fish. I walked round to the bridge arch, still without seeing anything. Then, to my relief, I saw a few fish moving further along to the east.
It's not an area I've fished before as it requires an awkward jump down from the road causeway then an undignified scramble back up at the end. Still, needs must ... a few minutes later I was back with my kit. I had one leger rod set up so I put out a pop-up crust bait on that while I set about making up my second rod. The line was half-threaded up through the rod rings when I noticed a couple of bumps on the tip of the rod in the rest. Line bites probably ... I stopped a moment to watch, and suddenly the rod pulled right over. I grabbed it as the rod rest threatened to collapse, and a great scrap followed with a thicklip that turned in at 4lb 6oz ...
Sat
10
Dec
2016
Make hay while the sun shines. Or translated for West Cork, catch mullet while the mild, still, misty weather persists ...
I arrived at Rosscarbery to find the water still well down and mullet all over the estuary pool topping, bow-waving and occasionally jumping. They seemed slightly more numerous near the top end so I walked round to the grass bank by the bridge arch and set up my leger rods there.
Thu
08
Dec
2016
I'd never caught a December mullet before. I'd caught late into November on the south coast of England, but that was always a bit of a struggle and I'd run out of enthusiasm by the time December came. Years ago I took a pre-Christmas trip to Alderney and managed to blank.
December is a busy time of year for me work-wise. Last year I'd missed out on some potential good fishing, finding out after the event there'd been big shoals of mullet at Rosscarbery. So in the current mild weather I was determined to get out ...
I arrived to find good numbers of mullet in the shallows down the west side of the estuary, so I was keen to make a start. As I unloaded my stuff from the back of the car, I was dismayed to realise I'd left my landing net head at home. I had to relocate a hundred yards along the wall so I could fish close to an area where I'd be able to beach hooked fish ... not a problem in itself but the road is much narrower here so I wouldn't be able to fish out of the back of the car, and there was a persistent heavy drizzle.
Wed
07
Dec
2016
National Mullet Club's Grey Ghost magazine is arriving with members about now. I have an article in it about fishing the pop-up crust leger bait that has been so productive for me in Ireland this year, and before that at venues such as Christchurch and Broadwater in the UK.
If it helps, here is the picture sequence for baiting up that appears in the article, in colour ...
Sat
05
Nov
2016
After work meetings in Cambridge I headed down to the south coast for a few days before returning. It proved to be a fairly hectic stay trying to dovetail work stuff with seeing family and friends, but on Saturday I managed to steal a few hours to fish in the morning, before driving back to Cambridge later that afternoon.
I set off across Stanpit Marsh before it was properly light. My friend Dave Matthews had been catching up to last weekend, but the temperature had plummeted this week and the heavy frost on the ground didn't bode well. On the plus side I was treated to a wonderful dawn as I set up to fish the river channel down from Grimbury ...
Fri
28
Oct
2016
I found out today that my long-term writing project with Mike Ladle has finally been published. Mike and I wrote the first draft of the book - now titled "Fishing for Ghosts" - way back in 1990. At that time it turned out Mike's previous publishers weren't interested - mullet fishing too niche - and we had a similar result when we tried again a few years later.
Since then it had been a case of "we must do something about the book" without ever getting round to doing anything, until Mike sent Medlar Press a couple of chapters in 2013 and they wanted it! Only trouble then was that the text was pretty out of date, so we spent the thick end of a year rewriting sections and adding new material, and I recruited Paul Fennell and Nick Murphy to add sections on kayak fishing and dinghy fishing for mullet respectively. We spent the summer of 2014 sourcing more and better photographic material and the package went off to Medlars in the autumn.
Since then it's been slow progress but the outcome was never in doubt and I'm pretty pleased with the book, especially considering it's my first (and probably only) attempt.
If you're interested in mullet fishing or just in collecting angling books, you can get more detail and order a copy from the Medlar Press website here.
Fri
28
Oct
2016
I have an extended visit to the UK coming up followed by a load of work to do. I wasn't at all sure what the mullet prospects would be later on in November and into December when I might get a chance to go again, so I was keen to get out this week.
First up on Wednesday, a trip to Rosscarbery for a relatively short afternoon session. I headed straight for the shallow west bank swims that had been so productive for me this year, and set up both leger rods to fish the pop-up crust baits that had done so well. The tide was well down so I cast well out and sat back to await developments.
Wed
26
Oct
2016
It was an unusually quiet session on the north of the peninsula today. I had just a few rattles that didn't come to anything and a couple of small LSDs. Then near the end the session was rescued by a proper run at last on a popped-up mackerel head and this character joined me briefly on the rocks ...
Thu
20
Oct
2016
Two mullet sessions to report on this week.
On Tuesday I went down to Rosscarbery to catch the last of a series of really big spring tides. Although I arrived well down the ebb, the estuary pool had had a really good top-up and there was plenty of depth to fish the west side swims throughout the low water period.
I fished two leger rods with pop-up crust as usual. The first hour was slow, but shortly after missing the first, rather half-hearted bite I was into a good fish that pulled the left hand rod over. It turned out to be 4lb 3oz ...
Sat
15
Oct
2016
I fished today at an estuary on the Mizen peninsula. There had been a lot of mullet showing there on the same tides a fortnight ago, on a day I wasn't fishing for them, but that was a fortnight ago and today I was disappointed to see hardly any mullet activity as I looked around on arrival. There were a few shoals of fingerling fish surfacing from time to time, but that was all. The breeze was just about southerly so whether it was still recovering from the east winds of the last two weeks or now winding down for the winter, I don't know.
I set up to float-fish in the deep pool just above the bridge. The float was trotting through nicely left to right, with the breeze in my face gradually pushing it in closer to the bank. Many trots later, the float dipped near the end of the run ... missed it, but I was ready for the repeat performance on the next time through and struck into a weighty fish.
The fish chugged all round the pool staying deep, but never did anything very spectacular. Eventually it weakened and a very thick-looking fish surfaced. Soon after I had it in my net. It weighed 5lbs exactly, and I was well pleased with that as it was only my second "five" from this venue.
Thu
13
Oct
2016
We've been plagued by east winds of varying strength for well over a week now. All forms of fishing seem to become instantly harder with the easterlies blowing; mulleting seems to hold up better than most, but after a few days even the mullet seem to go off the feed.
Wednesday last week I fished a newish mark south and east of Skibbereen, crucially on a west facing shore so I'd be out of the worst. I'd fished the spot briefly a couple of times before and had seen mullet on each visit, but I was yet to catch one there or even have a definite bite. Today I arrived halfway down the ebb tide and immediately saw a couple of mullet working over mudflats near where I parked the car, but I chose to ignore them to go and floatfish some deeper water a few hundred yards away. It was a mistake, and three hours later I returned to the mudflat area without having had a bite.
There was barely a foot of water over the flats now, but I could see a half-dozen or so decent mullet moving around. It was too shallow to floatfish sensibly so I set up my leger rods and cast out a pop-up crust bait on one and flake on the other. I fished an hour or so without a bite but as the new tide started to push up the shingle, some interest at last. I had a couple of very sharp tugs on the flake, but nothing hung on; I missed a half-decent take on the crust; then more tugs on the flake that came to nothing.
By this time mullet were moving close in so, frustrated by my failure to catch on leger, I dropped a float out just past the bladderwrack fringe, fishing flake a foot deep. After a couple of minutes the float bobbed but didn't move away; I left it and after another minute it buried, and I struck into a good mullet that immediately cartwheeled out of the water then ran out strongly.
The fish put up a good scrap. At one stage I had to wade out and free the line from a clump of weed it had swum round, but I landed it without further mishap. I was pleased with this 4lb 8oz thicklip as the first fish from a new venue ...
Sat
01
Oct
2016
A mixed bag of stuff here covering the last few days; none really seemed to warrant a blog entry on its own.
On Tuesday I grabbed a couple of hours fishing in Bantry while Sylvi did some shopping and had her hair done. The harbour there has a lot of development work going on, including a new pontoon extension for the old railway pier that is currently being used for the Whiddy Island ferry while construction work goes on around its old berth. Swimming and diving are prohibited from the pontoon, but fishing is allowed ...
I set up with sliding float tackle for mullet on the harbour side of the pontoon towards the end. I plumbed the depth - about 14 feet - so set the float to fish around 12 feet and fished breadflake, dropping in loosefeed.
A couple of guys were fishing from the end of the pontoon. One was getting plenty of mackerel on a set of feathers, the other catching them singly on a Toby-type spoon. So it wasn't a huge surprise when my float first slid under after a few minutes and I struck into ... a mackerel. Two more followed, then a few bites that I missed ... maybe a mullet, but probably more mackerel. Sylvi arrived; I changed to a mackerel-sliver bait which upped the bite rate and she landed a few more till we had enough for a good meal.
On Wednesday I headed to a shallow estuary south-west of us. It had fished really well for mullet early on in the season but really poorly recently. Today it was still carrying a peaty stain, the surface was ruffled by a stiff breeze and there was not a sign of mullet moving around. I feared the worst but I did in fact have a few flurries of bites. I should have done better but ended up with just the one fish, 3lb 6oz ...
Sun
25
Sep
2016
I was hoping to fish for mullet near home today but a big swell running into Dunmanus and Bantry Bays and a strong westerly wind put paid to that. With rain forecast too I opted for the relative shelter of the Rosscarbery estuary.
I set up by the bridge arch on arrival, not the most sheltered swim but the only one offering much depth of water with the neap flood tide yet to arrive. I put out my two leger lines, put some additional groundbait out by catapult and sat back to watch the tips. All was quiet for an hour or so, as best as I could tell with the gusty wind waving the tips around. Maybe timid bites were passing by unnoticed but there was no missing what was going on when my right hand rod suddenly pulled over and locked down in the rest.
The mullet didn't seem that big at first but then got its head down in a series of short but powerful runs out and to the left - fortunately my left-hand line was out of the water being baited up when the fish took so no worries there. Eventually I was able to stop it and recover line little by little, till the fish was in the deep water in front of the bridge arch where it swam to-and-fro hugging the bottom. I was acutely aware of losing a big mullet in exactly the same circumstances a few weeks back, and this time the wind buffeting the rod around only added to my nerves ... but the hook held and eventually the mullet surfaced and I was soon able to net it.
I've not had a mullet over 6lbs in Ireland yet. I knew this one would be close, but the scales stopped at 5lb 14oz. Very happy with that but still waiting ...
Wed
21
Sep
2016
I drove down to Rosscarbery today to fish with Eddie Baker on the last full day of his holiday there. The tides were dropping away in height but I arrived on the high water which may have been somewhat wind-assisted by the strong southerly wind. Whatever - there was enough depth to float-fish along the west bank below the N71. Eddie was already fishing when I arrived, and had just landed a four-pounder. I had barely started fishing a few yards down from him when he struck into another good mullet, and after a long scrap he netted this 4lb 12oz thicklip ...
Tue
13
Sep
2016
My good friend Steve Smith arrived on Tuesday 6th September for a week of mullet fishing. Steve has had a dreadful year with illness since his trip over last September, but looks to be on the mend again. It was good to see him out and fishing again, albeit a little rusty after his lay-off. His flight into Cork was delayed so the planned afternoon session became a 90 minute evening session.
We went to the spot near Castletownshend where I'd seen the mullet yesterday. It was even foggier this time. The mullet were there again in some force, but in the end we didn't catch. We had a few knocks and pulls on our quivertips, but couldn't really tell if these were proper bites or just fish bumping into the line.
Mon
05
Sep
2016
I started today at the wonderful Lough Hyne near Skibbereen. I arrived on the morning high tide and could immediately see lots of mullet finning on the surface on either side of my chosen spot. I floatfished over the drop off from the shallow nearside shelf into the depths of the Lough. Considering how many mullet were around, bites were relatively few and far between, but when they came they were quite positive and over about 90 minutes I had four mullet out. Slightly disappointingly they were all less than 2lbs, although there were clearly some bigger fish around.
As the tide began to drop, bites more or less dried up. Then as I was on the verge of knocking off, I had one last good bite and I was into a better fish, only 3lb 5oz but they always fight above their weight in the clear, deep water.
Sun
28
Aug
2016
I've been over in England this week visiting family and friends. It has been a pretty hectic schedule but I'd left time to fish Christchurch for two mornings on the weekend of the National Mullet Club's National Rover fish-in.
The tide timings weren't great with an 8 a.m. high water yesterday, on Rover Saturday. I was out and fishing by 6.30 a.m., specifically legering at Grimbury Point with one rod fishing the edge of the main river channel slightly to my left and one fishing further into Grimbury Bay slightly to my right.
All was quiet till just before high water when I had a couple of healthy plucks on the left hand tip. I struck and found myself playing a small mullet. The fight had a slightly different feel from normal and I had an inkling what this fish was before seeing it clearly - a lovely little golden grey of 1lb 9oz, a rare capture this far up Christchurch Harbour, especially mixing with the coarse fish on a neap tide when the water is almost fresh.
Sat
20
Aug
2016
I have to travel back to England tomorrow for a week and Mick will have moved on in his tour of Ireland by the time I'm back ... so one last session together today.
Mick had blanked after I left on Wednesday, and was unlucky to lose two big fish in the lagoon at Rosscarbery on Thursday, but he had four out from the estuary yesterday including a 5:02 and was clearly on a roll as he had a fish on the bank before I'd even tackled up today ...
Wed
17
Aug
2016
Back at Rosscarbery today to fish with Mick after we'd failed to contact the mullet on a Sheep's Head rock mark yesterday - though we had a bit of fun later on catching mackerel on light tackle.
I arrived after lunch to find the pool below the N71 very low but well populated by mullet, most of which seemed to be cruising around with little sign of feeding. Mick wasn't there yet so I dropped into the swim where I'd done so well last week and started off trotting a float down the flow of water coming through the bridge arch.
30 minutes later, without a bite, I was changing over to my leger rods to fish further out. Mick arrived and set up to my right. The first hour legering was quiet apart from one pull-round that may well have been a line-bite. But as the flood tide arrived and the water level began to edge up, I started getting a few trembles and knocks on the tips and eventually three good bites which yielded at hat-trick of four-pounders at 4:03, 4:07 and 4:01 ...
Sat
13
Aug
2016
What a difference three days makes.
Saw hundreds of mullet today but all juveniles from fry up to about herring size. I mostly fished down in the water hoping there might be one or two bigger fish lurking beneath. But the only bites suggested micro-mullet and eventually I hooked this scale-perfect specimen, one of the smallest I've ever had on rod and line ...
Wed
10
Aug
2016
I fished with Mick Buckley today at Rosscarbery. It was a very neap tide that had not yet started to flood; the best bet seemed the slightly deeper water close to the bridge arch on the N71 bank of the pool below the causeway. We could see many mullet breaking surface with their backs and fins a fair distance out. We set up leger rods to fish the pop-up crust baits that have been so successful for me this year.
Mon
08
Aug
2016
I fished today with an old friend from the National Mullet Club, Mick Buckley, who has recently retired and is on an extended fishing tour of Ireland. I can't even remember the last time I saw Mick, it may well have been on a trip to Alderney in 1989! He came to see us for the day, leaving his highly impressive trailer home on a site near Skibbereen.
After the blow yesterday afternoon and evening I was concerned the rocks here would be unfishable, but the swell had gone down quickly leaving a difficult but fishable choppy sea. I wasn't sure either the mullet would have hung around during the rough weather, and it did indeed prove to be a day of few bites.
About an hour after starting, and continual drip-feeding of mashed bread, my float finally dived under. I struck and instead of the pollack or coalfish I was expecting, a mullet came to the surface. It was only a small one 2lb 12oz but it was a start.
About an hour later I missed a similar bite. At least there was another fish around and a few minutes later, it found Mick's bait. It was a fish similar in size to mine. Mick played it for a couple of minutes and then it came off.
Half an hour later, a repeat performance ... I missed a bite, and Mick hooked the fish a few minutes later. This one stayed attached and was a bit bigger - Mick didn't weight it but it I'd think it was over 3lbs.
Sun
07
Aug
2016
This was a pretty forgettable session to be sure. It was forecast windy so I chose an estuary mark south-west of us. On arrival in the early morning it was slightly misty and more-or-less calm, and I could see some fish moving on the shallows below the road causeway. I set up my leger rods and started fishing.
Second cast in I had a persistent bite and hooked a decent but obviously not huge mullet that turned out to be a long and lean 2lb 14oz ...
Wed
03
Aug
2016
It's been a while since I'd been down at Rosscarbery and I've been out of touch with how it's fishing. But a new guy, Martin, on the Chelon labrosus forum posted this week that he'd been there recently and had a 6 and a 5 and some smaller mullet - it seemed like time to head back.
I started in the lagoon float-fishing. It soon became clear there were huge shoals of tiny mullet in there. They were very quick into the groundbait and onto my hookbait. After 30 minutes of almost constant dink bites on the float, but nothing remotely strikeable, I decided this was a waste of time. I moved over the road and wasted some more time trying to fish the edge of the stream of water exiting the lagoon - it was really far too windy for effective float fishing and I saw not a sign of a mullet.
Sun
31
Jul
2016
This session came about by accident. I'd been onto a south coast mark after pollack, and although I'd found plenty they were all disappointingly small. There was a fresh southerly wind and the swell got up before high water cutting the session short. I headed instead for a north coast mark, stopping in at home for a cuppa on the way.
I was set up and fishing again soon after high water. The pollack were again playing hard to get, with just a couple of small ones taking the redgill over the first hour. Then a mackerel latched on, and it seemed a good cue to change over to a shrimp rig.
I had eight more mackerel in ones and twos. Not great numbers but they were decent size, around a pound each. They were down deep and I could only find them with a very slow retrieve; fortunately the bottom is quite clear on this mark till close in.
Sat
30
Jul
2016
I first fished this swim in August 2014 with Steve Smith. Steve had a nice 4lb thicklip and I missed a few good takes until bumping a fish off on the strike. Next visit wasn't until September 2015 ... more missed bites and another fish bumped. Yesterday evening I managed to lose two decent mullet, one when the hook length parted on the strike, one that came off after about a minute. So you can imagine I was pleased to actually land a mullet here this morning, albeit not the biggest ever ...
Sun
03
Jul
2016
I've been grinding out the exam work over the past few weeks - and more of the same to come over the next few weeks - got to lunchtime today and thought, "I need a break from this."
I drove along the south coast of the Sheep's Head looking at likely mullet marks but at every one there seemed to be just that bit too much breeze and swell. It looked a struggle so in the event I headed off the peninsula and south-west to a small estuary where I've done well before.
The high tide was pouring through the bridge arch into the pool above the causeway. My normal swim looked impossible so I settled on legering over the sand flats on the other side of the road.
Sun
12
Jun
2016
I've been back in UK working for the past week. I managed a half day on the National Mullet Club fish-in at Lymington yesterday, and blanked, before heading for the ferry home last evening. This morning I stopped off at Dungarvan for a break on the drive back across Ireland, and found these mullet (and many others) around the boats and pontoons in the harbour ...
Wed
01
Jun
2016
Eight days later, the sun is still shining. And the wind has turned west - it's a pity I have work on now! I had to drive into Bantry this afternoon and I decided I could afford the time for an evening session from about half-tide down on the way home.
Tue
24
May
2016
Work on and visitors staying so not much fishing at the moment. I managed to find the time today but it was always going to be a struggle in a strong easterly wind against a larger-than-expected swell off the Atlantic, and bright sunlight. I picked some limpets for bait and headed off to one of the few rock marks that would be sheltered.
Thu
19
May
2016
It was a rough old day on the Sheep's Head with Atlantic swells pounding the rocks, so I decided to head for the calmer waters of an estuary on the Mizen peninsula.
I arrived at 4 p.m. which was about high tide, so there was a decent depth over the sand flats below the road causeway. There was a stiff breeze and small wavelets running up the estuary, so I decided it would be best to leger. I set up on a rocky outcrop of the west bank, and cast out two pop-up crust baits.
Thu
12
May
2016
It was time for a return to the rock mark in Bantry Bay where I'd done so well with seven mullet in a session last week.
Any pretensions of a similar haul today were soon dashed. I took up exactly where I'd finished last week with a string of small coalfish that were whacking the float under. However, as the tide dropped away towards low water I started to get some more delicate and missable bites, and I wondered if a mullet or two may have moved into the swim. After a few more misses I was suddenly into a powerful fish that shot off down the tide then came up and splashed on the surface - a mullet!
After a good old scrap I slid the net under this one, a pristine 3lb 10oz ...
Tue
10
May
2016
Rosscarbery today! I arrived late morning at about high water. There was a good depth in the lagoon after several big spring tides, so I decided to make a start there.
An hour later, slightly deflated, I decided on a move. I'd only seen one mullet whelm and had only had one proper bite, which I'd missed, plus a few dinks and trembles on the float that may have been gobies or sandsmelt rather than mullet.
I headed down to the bottom of the tidal pool below the N71. It's been a kind swim to me this year, and once again there were mullet in residence. Despite the reasonable depth they seemed to be staying out from the wall, so I opted for legering with pop-up crust baits.
It was a slow start but I kept catapulting a couple of extra balls of groundbait out every cast, and eventually a pod of fish seemed to move over the carpet I was building up. I had three solid takes. The first fish came off about half way in, but I landed the other two. They were nothing spectacular in size but nice clean fish of 3:02 and 3:10 ...
Thu
05
May
2016
There was a big swell running yesterday but this morning it had calmed off enough for a first mullet trip this year on the rocks on the Bantry Bay side of the Sheep's Head ... I was keen to give it a go before yet more northerly winds arrive for the weekend.
I set up a sliding float to fish bread flake about ten feet deep. I'd slightly over-shotted the float and it was struggling a little with the lop, but I thought I had bites on my first two trots through the swim. Then on the third trot, the float buried. I struck into a powerful fish that ran off parallel to the rocks on my right, worryingly close to the kelp, before coming out into open water. It turned out to be a very long and lean thicklip of 4lbs exactly with a great paddle of a tail.
Tue
03
May
2016
Really quite a disappointing day ... I drove off the peninsula along the Dunmanus Bay shore, checking several shallow spots for mullet ... but the fish that were present last week were nowhere to be found. So I carried on to the south west and the estuary where I'd had good bags in March.
Clearly there were far fewer mullet present now, apart from large shoals of fingerlings. I did however have quite a few bites on float both above the road causeway and below when I tried a move to change my luck. I really should have caught more, but I only connected with two mullet, one very briefly as the trace parted just above the hook on the strike. The other was this slightly sorry specimen of 2lb 4oz and half its tail missing ... it fought surprisingly well considering.
Sat
30
Apr
2016
Just a couple of short and blank mullet sessions since the last post, both in the shallows of Dunmanus Bay. There were plenty of mullet around for a while both times, but chasing each other and bow-waving around at speed, no real feeding activity. A cold north wind had persisted all week, and the water felt chilled despite good sunshine, definitely not helping.
Then today the wind was turned to west. I headed to a Bantry Bay rock mark with the big rods. On one I fished big pop-up baits either mackerel head or squid/mackerel cocktail. On the other, a two-hook paternoster with size 2 hooks baited with frozen lug and mackerel strip to see if there were any smaller fish about.
I had a dogfish out on the mackerel strip first cast, then surprisingly despite knocks and rattles most casts, nothing else hung on to the small hooks.
Meanwhile, a missed run on a mackerel head, then a dogfish on the same head cast out again. Then two missed bullhuss. One felt heavy for a few seconds then came off, the squid/mackerel bait had slipped down and choked the hook. The other was an unusually pale-coloured fish for the area that spat out the hook at the edge, good size too. Finally a good run on a mackerel head and this one stayed on ...
Tue
19
Apr
2016
The east wind didn't seem to be blowing more than a gentle breeze yet, maybe time for one more session before it really kicked in ... I headed down to Rosscarbery.
Straightaway on arriving I knew it was going to be a struggle ... a fresh and cold SE wind blowing up the estuary, bright sunshine and the water the clearest and lowest in the pool that I'd seen this year. How low? About thigh deep for a heron ...
Mon
18
Apr
2016
There were strong east winds forecast for the rest of the week after today, so I was keen to get out. I chose a deep water rock mark over the hill on the Bantry Bay side of the peninsula. I set up with two big baits - mackerel heads and squid/mackerel cocktails.
Sun
17
Apr
2016
Back from our trip to the UK and my birthday today. I really wanted a birthday mullet, a feat I've only managed a couple of times over the years back in Hampshire. So I headed back towards the estuary that had been producing so well before our trip away.
A few minutes fishing was enough to tell me the number of mullet in the pool had reduced significantly over the past fortnight, and on this very neap tide there was no chance of any more arriving on the high water a couple of hours hence. So I fished patiently hoping for a chance with whatever mullet were left trapped in the pool.
After the thick end of an hour, my float bobbed then slid away, and I struck into a mullet. It put up a decent fight but obviously wasn't a massive fish, and after a few minutes this thicklip of 3lbs exactly was in the net ...
Sun
03
Apr
2016
I fished a rock mark on the north side of the Sheep's Head today. It was in the main a rather quiet session ... somehow the ground fishing hasn't quite kicked off this year yet. However there was a little flurry of activity in the run-up to high water with a few knocks and pulls and a fish (almost certainly a bull huss) that let go part way in. Finally this one, possibly the same one, was landed after taking a popped-up squid and mackerel cocktail. It was nothing special in size, about 6lbs to 7lbs, but I was pleased to have avoided a blank with a decent fish. We have some time away back in the UK coming up, I'm hoping the rock fishing will get going in my absence.
Thu
31
Mar
2016
Today I intended to dig some lug then go fish for bass on a surf beach on the Mizen peninsula. However as this took me close to the estuary where I caught mullet on Tuesday, and as my mullet gear was still in the car, I thought I'd head out a bit early and get in a couple of hours of mulleting before going to dig at low water.
I set up in the swim where I'd finished on Tuesday. The conditions were very different - gentle SW breeze and wall-to-wall sunshine - but the mullet were still at home.
I had the first bite on my second cast, and my first fish on the bank after about fifteen minutes, 3lb 14oz. Then a sort of pattern set up with bites stopped till the mullet gradually came back onto the feed, another fish and repeat ... the non-feeding spell getting longer each time. Five more mullet followed of 3:12, 3:07, 3:10, 3:05 and 2:10 ... I fished on another hour without a bite so decided that was that.
Somehow I'd fished right through the low water period, I'm sure I could have still got a few worms if I'd rushed off but I was happy with what I'd had and there didn't seem much point in rushing. The lugworms, and bass, could wait for another day.
Tue
29
Mar
2016
I fished a shallow estuary south and west of us today, one that had fished well when we'd been over on holiday in April 2014 and 2015. I'd had a look a couple of weeks ago but not seen any fish, and I wondered if I was still too early today ... it looked windswept and bleak on arrival.
I felt mildly encouraged to find a pile of scales on the bank ... looked like an otter had had some luck with the mullet anyway. I set up in a swim that offered a little shelter, but the first few times the float trotted through uninterrupted.
Then I started to get stabby little bites. They were impossible to hit but eventually one held under slightly longer and I connected. After a short scrap this pretty little 1:10 thick lip was netted; it had been hooked in the outside of the lip.
Fri
25
Mar
2016
I had a blank session from the rocks midweek so decided on another trip down to Rosscarbery on Good Friday.
There were visibly less mullet this time in the shallows where I'd fished before, but I could still see a few moving around with trademark bow waves and swirls.
I put out two leger rods with pop-up crust baits like last time, and soon had a good take on the right-hand line. The fight was dogged but unspectacular, and after a few minutes I was able to reach down from the wall to net this one of 4lb 4oz.
On starting again there were now very few fish at all showing but I fished on more in hope than expectation while I ate lunch. All was quiet on the tips but just after I'd finished eating the left- hand tip pulled over.
It was obviously not a big fish but after a game scrap I landed my smallest mullet of the winter to date, this pretty 2:10 ...
Thu
17
Mar
2016
I had a decent session this morning considering the chilly and freshening east wind blowing across the rock mark on the north side of the peninsula.
I had a couple of aborted pulls on mackerel head but most of the action came on squid/mackerel cocktail fished as a pop-up. This produced a small bullhuss and this brace of strap congers ...
Thu
10
Mar
2016
I had another blank session with the beach rods since my last post, this time at Bantry Airport Strand, so it didn't take a lot of thought deciding to head back to Rosscarbery today. There were many fish browsing around in the margins when I arrived but the first hour was quiet. It was much calmer today and easy to see the mullet swimming around and over not just my hookbait but free offerings too.
Tue
01
Mar
2016
I headed back to Rosscarbery today. There were good numbers of mullet in the shallows where I caught on Sunday.
I soon had a float out among them, but there was very little of interest in the bait. The float bobbed or pulled across the surface a few times, but as far as I could tell this was just fish brushing the line as they passed.
Then, after about an hour, a mullet stopped by my bait and the float bobbed repeatedly three or four times. I struck and hooked the fish.
This one fought much better than Sunday's 4:01 with a long initial run out towards the middle of the pool and several spells of resistance bringing it back. It was eventually in the net and weighed at 3lb 9oz.
Sun
28
Feb
2016
It was a bright if chilly, breezy morning. We decided to have a drive out and walk the dog somewhere different, and as it was the National Mullet Club AGM back in the UK and I thought it might be a smart trick to catch a mullet to coincide, I put my mullet tackle in the car and we headed for Rosscarbery just in case there were some winter mullet about.
Despite the sunshine there was a perishingly cold south-east wind coming up the estuary. We sat in the car to eat our picnic next to the pool below the road causeway. I kept my eye on the water but saw no sign of fish in an area I'd normally expect to see them if present.
However, as we started to walk the dog down the west bank, we started to see odd mullet in the shallows towards the bottom of the pool ... then a group of fish that bow-waved out as we spooked them ... then a large shoal that was apparently feeding.
Wed
24
Feb
2016
I decided to use my lugworms at a mark on the south side of the Sheep's Head that I'd looked at several times but not yet fished. I reckoned - correctly as it turned out - that it might give way to a clean seabed away from the rocks.
The day was bright and sunny with a touch of east breeze. Not great to be honest but I fancied the mark for a plaice or other flatfish.
Tue
23
Feb
2016
Another blank session on the pier followed. I thought possibly the seabed had taken such a pounding that the area had been temporarily vacated by fishes, but at the same time I wanted to ring the changes on my normal fish and squid baits just in case. So today I set off on a drive off the peninsula to a spot I'd seen before and which looked to have some prolific lugworm beds.
Sat
24
Oct
2015
I'd been meaning to try the spot for a while. It's east-facing and sheltered from the worst of the Atlantic weather by a headland. It may become a regular haunt over the winter!
Mon
19
Oct
2015
I feel like I'm beginning to get to grips with the rough ground fishing on (most of) the rock marks here now.
I'm fishing 30lb mainline on a fast retrieve multiplier (Daiwa SL30SH or Penn 525) with an 80lb leader - partly to give abrasion resistance down near the terminal tackle and partly because I am sliding/lifting out biggish fish. I don't like using a gaff for fish I'm returning and anyway it's just not safe to get that close to water level most days.
The end tackle is shown in the photo. The lead-link very free running on a plastic leger ring, and the link itself is 25lb so strong enough to lob-cast with but also provides a rotten bottom effect which has saved me a few rigs and a couple of fish so far.
The hook trace is 100lb mono knotted to 60lb plastic covered wire for the last few inches, crimped to a 6/0 hook.
The jury is out on the breakaway lead. I think it does reduce snagging by not rolling into crevices etc; but when one is lost it is expensive. I may change to using some form of disposable weight in the snaggiest areas.
Thu
15
Oct
2015
I headed down to a north coast rock mark for an afternoon session on the rising tide. Plan was to put out a bottom bait on one rod, leave it with the reel on the ratchet, and floatfish for mullet with a second, feeding bread close in to the rock face. It was the first time I'd tried this combination, and maybe one of the last. There was so much action on the bottom bait I couldn't really concentrate on the mullet fishing at all, though as far as I know none turned up! I soon had to give up and concentrated on the big rod ...
Wed
14
Oct
2015
The last time I'd fished this mark for mullet I'd lost two powerful fish that went to ground in the kelpy reef a few yards out and to the left of where I fish. Even though they took bread I was sure they were big ballan wrasse, so today I arrived with some more appropriate gear ... carp rod, 10lb line and sliding float to fish a limpet bait.
I was soon getting bites fishing about 10 feet down close in, and landed several wrasse to about 3lb 8oz ... point proved, sort of, but even allowing for the lighter mullet gear I think the fish I lost before were substantially bigger ... must try again. After the wrasse came a couple of pollack over a pound, also on limpet.
Tue
13
Oct
2015
Just a short session on the rocks this evening. The fishing was a bit patchy as a large seal was around with a shared interest in the pollack.
Lure fishing isn't really my thing and I'd begrudge the price some lures cost. But I saw these in the Snowbee end-of-year clearance sale and thought why not? They are called Snakebites and I bought a load in different colours: as well as the pink, orange, black and a rather subtle shade of peach.
They seem to do the job ...
Thu
08
Oct
2015
A weather-enforced change of plan today. It was forecast dry but the morning dawned grey with repeated heavy rain showers. I'd thought I'd bottom fish a deep rock mark but the rocks here get very slippy when wet with rain and it no longer seemed a great idea. Instead I packed my mullet gear into the car, and my brolly, and headed off to the estuary where Steve and I had done so well nearly a fortnight before.
Doubts set in as soon as I arrived. For a start it had brightened up a lot and the showers had stopped, maybe I should have stayed on Sheep's Head and fished the rocks after all? Then as I unpacked I realised I'd left my landing net head at home! The shallows below the causeway seemed empty of fish. I saw an occasional fish move in the deep pool above the causeway, but couldn't be sure if they were mullet or trout. I decided to try there anyway.
I fished for an hour without a bite. I could see fish - now recognisably mullet - moving regularly but all across the far side of the pool near a sandbank. Only a very occasional fish strayed closer.
I walked up through the reeds till the pool shallowed then waded out onto the sandbank, then crept back down to where the mullet were. I put some bread samples out, followed by my float and bait. The fish didn't spook but neither did they show any interest, they seemed engrossed by whatever they were scraping from the bottom. Then, out of the blue, a single fish clooped a couple of pieces of floating bread off the surface near my float, dived and my float shot under ... and I missed the bite. Soon after, the mullet just melted away, perhaps because the new tide was just starting to push through the bridge arches into the pool.
I returned to my original swim which seemed more hopeful now with more flow through it. I missed another bite third or fourth trot through, but no more followed. Instead I started to see fish surfacing where the pool shallowed up near where I had waded on and off the sandbank. I moved up there and straight away was getting a bite a cast. I missed several - what a muppet - had a hook open out on the strike and had a fish come off after a few seconds. The number of fish showing and the number of bites started to decrease as the flow through the pool slowed - it had only lasted forty minutes on this smallish tide.
Wed
07
Oct
2015
Bantry Airport Strand is a relatively well known mark and perhaps the nearest I'll come locally to beach fishing back in Hampshire. Okay the cobblestone beach is a bit difficult underfoot and the water's deeper, but it goes out onto a more-or-less clean bottom so I can use normal beach tackle! And I can fish at night, which I won't do alone on the rock marks.
It has a reputation for producing thornbacks and bull huss as well as smaller stuff. Well, I'm sure it has its moments but as of yet I've not experienced one.
Sun
04
Oct
2015
I've had a few days off from fishing after Steve flew home on Wednesday, and only time for a quick session today.
Had an early start, down to Skibbereen for an 8 a.m. cancellation appointment for an NCT test on Sylvi's car, the final stage in a convoluted two month long process of getting it re-registered and legally driveable in Ireland. Then a nice walk with the dog in the woods overlooking Lough Hyne, and on to Schull via a couple of possible future fishing marks for a late breakfast at Café Cois Cuan (very recommended!) Back home the scenic route, couple of cuppas, washed my car ... and so on to the rocks near Kilcrohane this evening for a quick pollack session.
There were pollack aplenty about though a couple of quieter interludes possibly to do with a large seal who stuck his head up a couple of times to eye-ball me. I had a dozen or so in 90 minutes on the trusty firetail Redgill, mostly around 2lbs size but a smattering of larger fish, best this one just 5lbs ...
Tue
29
Sep
2015
Steve's last day, and miserable conditions. There was a heavy overcast and it felt distinctly parky in the east wind that was still blowing about f6.
We settled on revisiting the estuary where we'd had nine mullet between us on Saturday, partly because the wind would be behind us on the causeway, and partly because of the number of fish we'd seen. Surely some would still be there ... maybe in hindsight that was a mistake. We stood on the causeway watching the surface of the shallow water raked by the cold wind and the pool looked devoid of fish.
We tackled up anyway and were relieved finally to see a fish or two moving as we prepared to make our first casts. These casts passed without incident but on my next the rod pulled well over and I was in. What followed was a terrific fight of ten or twelve minutes as the fish kited round to the right and got its head down in the flow coming through the bridge arches, perilously close to the rocks where we'd started on Saturday.
Eventually the fish weakened and Steve was able to net a 4lb 3oz thicklip ...
Mon
28
Sep
2015
Today was much brighter but the east wind was really howling now. We decided to have a break from the mullet fishing and do some general rock fishing for wrasse and pollack instead.
First we headed to a shallow rocky bay to collect some shore crabs for the wrasse bait. We found plenty of crabs ... but nearly all baby edibles that had to be returned as undersize. The shore crabs were like gold dust ... eventually we got a few but I really need to sort out a better supply, perhaps on the muddier ground towards Durrus. We topped up the crabs with some big limpets knocked off the rocks.
After a bite of lunch, we headed off only a mile or so from home to fish from a rock mark that would be out the worst of the wind and swell in the lee of a headland.
No monsters today but we had a very enjoyable session. I caught some decent pollack on redgills. Steve spent the time floatfishing the few crabs we had and limpets close to the rock edge, catching wrasse up to 3lbs or so. Plenty of the wrasse came to the limpet baits, and they also picked up a number of smallish pollack.
Sun
27
Sep
2015
Today was a dull day with a freshening easterly wind that was threatening to make fishing difficult.
We started by spending an hour at a north coast rock mark on our way off the peninsula, just before low tide. It quickly became obvious there were no mullet in residence today, and with no guarantee any would turn up we stuck with Plan A and soon headed off back to Rosscarbery.
There was more water in the lagoon now on bigger tides, but it retained its brown tinge and apparent dearth of mullet. We tried an hour or so but soon moved to the estuary proper.
The wind was indeed troublesome, but I tucked myself down behind a grass bank and legered out into the shallow water in front of me. I did see occasional whelms but had not a single bite all afternoon.
Sat
26
Sep
2015
Venue today was an estuary about an hour's drive from Kilcrohane where I've had some big bags of mullet before ... but it can be a very moody venue.
We arrived to find one of the bridge arches on the road causeway collapsed in the flash floods the previous weekend, and the road causeway closed to traffic. This actually enabled us to park on the road very close to the fishing!
Even better, good numbers of mullet could be seen swirling in the pool below the causeway.
Fri
25
Sep
2015
We dropped Sylvi off at the trekking centre then headed to a north coast rock mark to fish the first half of the tide up for mullet.
It proved to be a slow session with just a few bites for me and none at all for Steve. Mine yielded a mackerel then a small coalfish ...
Thu
24
Sep
2015
The stiff west wind threatened to make mullet fishing on Sheep's Head very difficult, but I was keen for Steve to get his first mullet of his holiday under his belt. So the decision was made to drive the hour or so to Rosscarbery, known to be in some mullet form after Pete and Jen's trip, and offering some shelter from the wind.
We parked up alongside the lagoon. The water was a foot lower than last week after the neap tides and carried a brown colour. We fished for an hour but with no bites and it seemed pretty hopeless, so we moved over the N71 to fish the estuary outside the lagoon. The tide was low but we could see a (very) few mullet moving on the shallows well out of range.
I set up leger gear and welted out a pop-up crust bait as far as possible. Steve set up float gear to fish in the outflow from the lagoon, the only area with any meaningful depth.
Wed
23
Sep
2015
I had been back in the UK for a few days for my Mum's 90th birthday party, and flew back into Cork yesterday on the same flight as my friend and NMC chairman, Steve Smith who was over to stay with us for a week.
The weather was against us today, grey and blustery and intermittently wet.
We decided to start at a sheltered pier close to Kilcrohane. I hung a bread bag off the end, and set about trying to catch a few mackerel for tea while the tide was still high. Steve started tackling up to fish for mullet.
Almost straight away I saw a small mullet on the surface. I called Steve over and we saw it again, but before Steve had finished setting up it had disappeared.
An hour passed with just three mackerel for me and Steve one missed bite on the float with bread bait. I decided to join the mullet hunt, and set up a sliding float to fish deeper than Steve, about twelve feet.
Fri
18
Sep
2015
Those who know me will know that lure fishing isn't really my thing. I'll make an exception though when it comes to pollack and when it comes to Redgills.
The pollack are a novelty for me and I'm impressed with the attitude they seem to develop when they reach 4lbs or so. Redgills bring back fond memories of childhood holidays in Cornwall. I must say though the modern colours seem a lot more effective than the natural finishes on Ingrams' original Mevagissey Eels. I particularly like the black/orange firetail and bubblegum pink.
Tue
15
Sep
2015
I arrived at the venue on the north shore of the peninsula at 10.00 a.m. to find my friends and fellow NMC members Pete and Jen just getting out of their car. They are over from Cornwall staying at Rosscarbery for the week but were making the most of a calm day to come on a first visit to fish the rocks down on the Sheep's Head.
Sun
13
Sep
2015
Made a right mess of swim selection today. Went out to drive along the south side of the peninsula back towards Durrus to check the various shallows for mullet, only to find the water everywhere still heavily peat-stained from Friday's deluge. And seemingly devoid of mullet.
I ended up on a north coast rock mark at the "wrong" state of the tide - nearly HW whereas I've usually fished this mark for mullet over LW. At least the water was clear. I started feeding close to the edge and watching the sinking bread - no sign for ten minutes or so. Then I saw a suspicious swirl further out and then (to my surprise given the water must have been at least 30 feet deep) a piece of floating bread disappeared amidst another swirl.
The breeze was carrying the floating bread offshore and all this was going on far out of range using my usual centrepin reel. I set up with a fixed spool and a Puddlechucker float set to fish a flake bait shallow, about two feet. But by the time I was ready, the surface activity had stopped.
I carried on feeding and fishing at all depths, but it was another hour before the mullet returned. This time they were much closer in, but the bites were really hard to hit and I missed six or seven before finally connecting. And even then the mullet came off after a minute or so. A tiny scale from around the outside of its mouth came back on the hook point.
Happily there were still signs of mullet feeding in the swim, and I was soon into a fish. I was wishing I'd changed back to my centrepin. For some reason I really hate playing mullet on a fixed spool on my float rod though it doesn't bother me using one when legering - go figure! I felt I had way less control over the fish than normal but disaster was avoided and the mullet duly landed. It turned out to be the only one of the day ... 3lb 12oz.
Thu
10
Sep
2015
Same routine as last time but I headed a mile or so further west to a different rock mark. The east wind was really set in now and even the dogfish were subdued: quite a few typically rattly bites on the squid and sandeel baits but only two were hooked. Then towards the end of the session a much better bite ... the fish came in grudgingly, seeming to get heavier and heavier as it neared the rocks, then finally really diving for the kelp. No doubt what this was. Sure enough a bull huss surfaced, a typically dark fish from the kelpy bottom, about 9lbs ...
Fri
04
Sep
2015
We've been here properly in Kilcrohane a week. I've had a few short fishing outings and have caught a few smallish mullet at different marks, but now with the worst of the unpacking done it was time for a serious session.
I chose a rock mark on the north side of the peninsula I'd fished before, and arrived a couple of hours before low water. There was an easterly cross-breeze blowing which was rippling the surface, but as I fed a little mashed bread in close to the rock face, I thought I could already see mullet moving down deep.
I set up with a sliding float set at about ten feet, and started fishing. Almost straight away I was getting bites but they were unusually timid for this mark and I missed a few before connecting. It was a decent fish about 3lbs and fought strongly in the clear water but all seemed under control till I thought about reaching for the net, at which point the mullet gave a twist and was off!
I was mentally cursing because I've had this swim die on me before in response to losing a fish, but this time bites resumed after five minutes or so and I was soon playing and landing a smaller mullet, weighed at 2:05.