Posts Tagged ‘lugworm’

Return to Beara: Pollack Five Ways

Thursday, October 12th, 2017

Driving into Glengarriff around lunchtime I pulled up adjacent to the tidal pool in front of the hotel just in time to see David netting a nice thick lipped grey mullet for Roger, what is it about Cornishmen and their love affair with these fish? Quickly hopping out of the car I ran across and between handshakes and welcomes (it had been three years since we had last met) photographed the fish subsequently returning it to the water. Species number one and our fishing trip to Beara was kick started in style.

A nice Glengarriff thick lipped for Roger.

Over many previous visits to the fish rich waters that surround Beara my friends and I have landed 19 species of fish overall with a haul of ten the best in any single trip. It was our intention to surpass the single trip species catch this time, so with that goal in mind we bade farewell to Glengarriff stopping off in that famous watering hole “McCarthy’s Bar” in Castletownbere for creamy pints, chowder and brown soda bread (sure you have to), before high tailing the last 24 kilometres out to our self catering cottage base.

A nice shore caught Beara Peninsula pollack tempted by a 32 gram kilty lure.

The amount of tackle and sundry items one brings on these expeditions never ceases to amaze me, however two hundred miles from home out on the Wild Atlantic Way is not the place to be missing something vital, cue Roger’s home brew stash of cider and ales plus Henry Gilbey DVD’s (funny and entertaining) to while away the evenings. Having unpacked the cars there was only one thing to do, go fishing.

September/October are months associated with gales and the legacy of three back to back Atlantic hurricanes made sea/weather conditions off Beara challenging to say the least. Rain, north westerlie winds and large swells born far out in the Atlantic limited our fishing to certain rock marks relative to the prevailing daily conditions, however undeterred we set forth. What an evenings fishing, deciding to feather and lure fish for bait, pleasure and food in that order we landed mackerel, launce, coalfish and some quality pollack, day one and our species hunt had reached five.

A double header of Beara coalfish for tourist sea angler Roger Ball.

The rolling sea was alive not only in its visual and aural majesty but below the surface too evidenced throughout our stay by gannets constantly wheeling and dive bombing disappearing below the waves in a welter of spray and bait fish, while a pod of a dozen or so dolphins patrolled the bay and grey seals bobbed their heads watching us with apparent curiosity.

Tourist sea angler David Hoskins lands a nice Beara Peninsula dab.

Days two and three were windy/rainy washouts rendering most marks unfishable however persevering we added to our species tally knocking out lesser spotted dogfish, bull huss and dab off a couple of sheltered locations to leeward. Catching evening mackerel on DOD pier the wind finally died providing a 24 hour window of opportunity which we gladly availed of the following day hiking out onto a favoured headland rock mark.

Hiking towards a favourite rock mark on the Beara Peninsula, County Cork, Ireland.

A pet day, we always get at least one, evolved into a pollack fest. Employing standard jelly worm tactics (two ounce barrel lead, bead, swivel, five feet of line, 2/0 round bend kamazan 496B, jelly worm), first cast in on a rising tide, count of 26 seconds to bottom then reel, three or four winds of the handle and WALLOP pollack on, cue multiple power dives, head shaking zig zaggy runs and joyful sea angler whoops.

Tourist sea angler Roger Ball with a fine Beara Peninsula, Ireland, pollack.

The action never stopped, at one stage all three of us were simultaneously into fish, averaging 3 – 5 lbs on odd pollack leaning towards 6 plus with on two occasions real mothers parting company after savage fights had given clues as to their possible mega size. Having collected a few hard back crab earlier that morning we took a successful wrassing break to up the species tally further which at close of play was increased to ten when yours truly extracted a soft biting, hard pulling angry conger.

A soft biting, hard pulling Beara Peninsula conger eel.

The weather closed in again limiting fishing until the last morning which dawned bright and although breezy was from a more favourable quarter. Needing that elusive eleventh species to set a new “single trip” record Roger and David decided to bottom fish some clean ground for flatties while I set about fly fishing with a possible scad in mind. Pollack to three pound made for a fun session which was capped by David landing a flounder to whoops and handshakes, we had broken our record, a job well done.

Beara flounder to a happy sea angler.

Postscript:

The Beara Peninsula, West Cork, is an area of outstanding natural beauty along south west Ireland’s section of the Wild Atlantic Way. In terms of tourism sea angling it stands head and shoulders above most shore angling destinations within the British Isles and Ireland, the Beara Peninsula really is a jewel in the crown. Roger, David and I travel the long distance, they from Sussex and Cornwall respectively while I make the round trip from Wexford because due to commercial over fishing, undersea habitat destruction and generally bad sea fisheries management our local waters have been rendered deserts.

The Beara is one of the last bastions of  rich marine biodiversity within Ireland’s coastal waters, out where we fish it is pristine and teeming with life. However this underwater aquarium is under threat due to a Government licence granted to an Irish company enabling them to clear fell an initial 2000 acres of underwater kelp forests, the very habitat which underpins the wonderful fishing described above. Referring to just one of the species mentioned within this narrative, juvenile pollack spend their formative years growing up within such kelp forests before as grown adults migrating offshore, remove the kelp and you say goodbye to pollack, it’s that simple.

Anybody who has enjoyed reading this article and who cares about the marine environment should write to the Irish Government asking them to rescind the Bantry Bay kelp harvesting licence before another rich habitat is rendered as useless as the once rich fishing grounds that abounded along Ireland’s east coast but which today due to undersea habitat destruction (in this instance bottom mussel dredging) lie denuded and degraded.

Yours sincerely,

Ashley Hayden

October 2017

Bass Hat-Trick

Friday, October 2nd, 2015

My surf pole bounced in its stand as the rod top first hauled forward then immediately straightened in unison with the main line billowing. Instinctively grabbing the rod I ran backwards into the darkness while simultaneously reeling, my rod heels over, a thump thump contact is made and a good fish swims diagonally to my right. Now retracing my steps towards the water while keeping a tight line a fine bass appears in my headlight beam, all silver and spray as the fish head shakes in the surf line.

Bass fishing in County Wexford, Ireland.

My third bass of the evening all of which were like peas in a pod ranging three to four pound in weight, plump hard fighters in great condition. This fellow like the others had taken freshly dug black lugworm presented on a two hook paternoster fished at about 60 meters into what was a flat calm sea. Earlier a slight breeze wafting from the south east had manufactured mini wavelets however it died off as night fell to create a muggy, foggy, still evening. The strand now deserted of holiday makers was pitch black other than for the narrow swath of light cut by my head lamp beam. Apart from the swoosh of a single wave an eerie silence prevailed.

Beach fishing for bass in County Wexford, Ireland.

On only my second visit to this particular mark, I had always felt it would deliver on a big night tide, this being a four meter full in at 20.30 pm my hunch was proved correct. The first bite as dusk merged into dark had been just a tickle on the rod top, barely visible I thought it was a flat fish. The second had been a rod pulling rush out to sea, rod top bending over and staying down, the third a slack liner as described above. Three bass complimented by two flounder all condensed into a half hour blur of action, then it was over and the road home called…………

Sea Fishing in Wexford: Welsh Rarebit

Monday, September 14th, 2015

South Wexford has the ability to deliver quality sea fishing even when the odds are stacked heavily against you. Stalwart supporters and promoters of Irish sea angling Alan Duthie, Daron Lawry, Clive Jones and friends were making their third trip of Summer 2015 to Ireland only for the weather Gods to throw an almighty spanner in the works. Planning a September shore and boat fishing visit strong south easterlies not only forced the boys to stay ashore they also pushed mountains of wrack onto the beaches making shore angling extremely difficult.

Welsh sea angler Daron Lawry displays a fine shore caught  Wexford bass.

Undeterred the lads asked around and plummed on a beach venue free from the worst excesses of floating weed and set about fishing. Using bait supplied by local digger Joe Carley the boys were soon into fish, mainly good sized flounder with the cream reserved for Daron Lawry who caught a grand 55 cm bass.

Clive Jones with a grand beach caught Wexford flounder.

Not to be outdone the lads beached numerous flounder up to three pound in weight exemplified by the beauty displayed by Clive Jones in the photo above, as they say, out of adversity. Autumn into early Winter is the prime time to shore fish Wexford with resident bass and flounder mixing with codling, coalfish and dab to give wonderful sport which usually lasts until mid to late January. Tight lines………..

Sea Fishing in Ireland: Clones Strand, Co. Wexford

Thursday, July 16th, 2015

Sea fishing on Ireland’s east coast has literally gone to the dog’s and do not let anybody tell you otherwise. Three evening beach fishing trips to date this summer to once quality locations has resulted in dogfish and immature flat fish, whiting, smooth hound pups and tope pups with no adults of any description to include bass and smooth hound. Make no mistake, this boy can fish, correct baits were employed to include lug and peeler, fishing evening into dark. The powers that be need to kop on, a resource with the potential to create tourism employment and maintain existing service industry jobs is being frittered away for short term gain.

Sea fishing at Clones Strand, Co. Wexford, Ireland.

A mid July 2015 session last weekend on Clones Strand, Co. Wexford ended in frustration and disappointment as medium sized dogfish and mini smooth hound, tope and whiting kept taking baits because quite simply commercial over fishing has removed not only the adults but also the multi species biodiversity which used to exist along this stretch of coastline.

Across the water, not 50 miles away, is a market of traveling sea anglers worth €120 million, which is €20 million more in potential tourism angling revenue then Ireland earned in total for 2014 and that from just one angling category in just one country. Does anybody elected to or employed by Government realise this missed opportunity or do they even care?

Further Information see Angling Marks: Clones Strand.

Sea Fishing Wexford: Dogfish Central

Wednesday, June 17th, 2015

Ballymoney strand is a beach that I have never fished. Ironically, most of the beaches south of Arklow I rarely set foot on until the race to catch smooth hound picked up in the early 1980′s. In those days venues such as Morriscastle, Tinnebearna and Blackwater produced amazing catches of ray, spurdog, smooth hound, bass and the odd tope to those anglers who commenced fishing at dusk. Today, while the area can still produce quality bass catches most bites, if they do materialise will come from dogfish.

Evening sea fishing off Ballymoney strand, Co. Wexford, Ireland.

Digging juicy fat black lugworm the day before I placed them wrapped in newspaper in the fridge to toughen up. The secret with lug when gathering is to separate whole ones from split by utilising two buckets. For some reason also two day old lugworm appears better at attracting fish, with dabs especially partial to sticky black gutless wraps.

Dogfish

Anyhow, back to the fishing. Meeting up as planned with the two David’s and coarse fisher extraordinaire Robbie on Ballymoney strand we set up to the left and commenced fishing round 20.00 pm. Armed with lug, rag and crab, smooth hound were the prime target with bass our secondary option. A light south easterly breeze created a bit of movement in the water which raised our hopes for bass. From the get go rod tops nodded that slow dogfish lean and so it transpired. Doggies homed in on whatever bait adorned the hooks. By half ten although both rods were kept busy I called it a night, catching and releasing dogfish not my ideal cup of tea. On the plus side, I’ve got my seasonal shore fishing hand in………..

Double Top on the Beara

Wednesday, October 15th, 2014

Twin paternosters baited with freshly dug lugworm settled on the clean sea bed one hundred meters offshore, a flooding spring tide and a setting sun heralding the promise of fish, I was not to be disappointed. Within two minutes a rod top nodded, first tap tap before a strong downward pull then slack line as the fish swam inshore. Picking up rod number one while reeling to make contact a heavy gliding weight signaled flatfish. Having cast off a rock platform into relatively deep water as the fish came closer dives and a circular motion of the mainline confirmed my assumption, double flounder a great start.

Evening sea fishing on the Beara Peninsula, West Cork, Ireland.

Thump, thump, slack, “what is this no time to think“, having barely had time to unhook my initial catch away goes rig number two. In hand and winding fast to maintain contact over goes the rod into a nice curve, now pumping the fish to clear an inshore kelp bed the white underbellies of two nice codling become visible through the crystal clear water. Ensuring a few turns of shock leader are wound around the reel spool I point my rod down towards the brace and lift them up and onto my fishing station, running a pound and a half plus each they will make a nice tea.

Double flounder on the Beara Peninsula, West Cork, Ireland.

What a start and it did not stop there, six species to include dab, flounder, codling, pollack, coalfish and wrasse over a three hour session to dusk high water. How many fish were caught I do not know it became a blur of double codlings, double dab and any combination of the species list in between. The best fish was a pollack about four pound in weight which hit a trailing bait as I was reeling in a coalfish, what a session on a much loved mark quite obviously back to form. A muggy mid October evening belied the time of year, having made the decision to travel at short notice based on a weather window, one could not have planned it better.

Sea fishing on the Beara Peninsula, West Cork, Ireland.

In todays’ world of diminished marine fish stocks the Beara is a sea angling destination worth visiting and getting to know, traveling down for a decade now this angler has only scratched the surface. Yes I’ve seen changes, while numbers of fish encountered remains high mackerel are both scarce and small, while the average size of pollack on certain regular marks that I fish appears to have halved in weight. That said, a fish a chuck in the 2.lb bracket with at any moment a possible lunker ready to snaffle your jelly worm, then heaving your rod over as it dives for the kelp always making the journey worthwhile.

Sea fishing tackle check.

On this visit over two and a half days yours truly landed nine species, the six already mentioned plus scad, dogfish and conger eels to 15.lbs. Sea food chowder with slabs of buttered brown bread, pints of stout, the full Irish breakfast, traditional music of an evening, a nice welcome wherever you went and of course the scenery, what more could one ask for? It’s why I keep returning……..

Six Species from a Rolling Sea

Sunday, September 14th, 2014

Codling, whiting, pouting, flounder, dogfish and bass, the beach mark which fished so poorly last week opened its autumnal door a chink and hinted at what is to come. A warm south east breeze pushed a heavy swell onto the strand creating a large, heavy, single crumping wave which roared on breaking before racing creamily up the shingle bank. Water fizzed, the air was muggy and mackerel fishers lined the strand as Ger and I cast southwards into the deep gully. Employing fresh black lugworm on a rising tide full at 21.30 pm, Ger hit immediate pay dirt with three schoolie bass weighing 2 – 3 pound each within the first hour, happy days.

Sea fishing in Ireland, playing a bass on a south Wexford strand.

Fishing slowed after the initial flurry, however as dusk merged into dark yours truly landed a whiting/flounder double followed by a dogfish, Ger beaching a pouting. Post full tide a succession of codling in the pound class came to both our rods. Indication of a year class probably spawned in 2012, these young fish which have been evident within offshore charter boat catches all summer giving hope for the future and of course the winter shore codding to come.

An Irish school bass for shore angler Gerry Mitchell.

Yesterday evening showed how much energy the sea has stored up, the single wave digging out a hole in front of us at least six foot deep which ran right along the strand, then filled it in again as the tide receded. Swimming here and or wading is a complete no no. Mackerel fishers who the previous night enjoyed good catches by casting their feathers and kilty lures into the marauding shoals found it difficult to fish this evening due to the forty meter wide maelstrom in front of them. Natures washing machine releasing stored up ozone and oxygen into the air, it is sights, smells and sounds like this which make sea fishing so interesting, all told a nice evening……..

Slow Evening on the Beach

Tuesday, September 9th, 2014

An Irish Anglers World describes and illustrates Irish angling as it presents, good, bad or indifferent. When reading the posts one has to take into account the competency of the angler, experience, effort, bait used, time of day, tide and other such variables. However what should never be lost on the reader is that the accounts are true, accurate and written with objectivity, when its good its good and when its bad, well………

Gerry Mitchell beach casting off a Sth County Wexford strand.

A first beach casting session for this angler since September 2013 has to be taken into account, after all one has been out of the loop, that said, a sum haul of 2 small flounder, a 30 centimeter codling and a dogfish for two competent and experienced anglers utilising four rods over a five hour session is a poor return from a once productive strand. A waxing moon, tides getting bigger, dusk into dark and freshly dug large black lugworm all should have helped. Yes there was a light northerly breeze which flattened the sea and yes it was a falling tide neither of which in principal should have made a difference, still bait came in as it went out.

Twin Daiwa 7HT's.

Beach casting is this anglers favourite way to fish. A lot of effort, thought and cash was invested in last Saturday evening, departing early in the day to dig bait, lunch in a local pub, snacks, petrol which amounted to €60.00 and of course the €1000.00 plus worth of tackle that was employed on the day. Given a healthy inshore environment this angler would go beach casting at least once a week from June to December spending more or less the above amount on each occasion, that’s €1700.00 shared between garages, pubs and shops in the south east. No fish means no spend, it is about time that the Irish government realised that sea fisheries are a public resource and as such should be managed accordingly. No business worth its salt should mine itself into extinction, no business has the right to destroy a resource and at the same time seek recompense through political means for their folly. Yet this is exactly what the commercial sea fishing sector does and worse still Government complies, the famine like experience of last Saturday on a once productive south Wexford strand the sad outcome…………

Fishy Rambles in Deepest West Cork

Tuesday, September 3rd, 2013

South west Ireland besides being wild and rugged delivers some of the best mixed species shore fishing this country has to offer. Pollack, wrasse, conger, and in season mackerel are the mainstay, however for the intrepid sea angler prepared to put in a little planning coupled with a fair amount of effort bull huss, codling, dab, plaice, coalfish, ray (thornback and spotted), mullet (thick and golden grey), scad, garfish, bass, and trigger fish could also have your rod tip nodding. No LRF here, although if you want to practice this new branch of the sport by all means. My advice though is, leave the light rods at home because the four rocky peninsulas jutting out into the Atlantic give access to adult fish, most of which due to the nature of the rough ground habitat they reside in still can reach their full potential size, you have been warned, as this soldier found out the hard way.

A nice Beara pollack tempted by mackerel fillet.

Having never set foot on the Sheeps Head peninsula, and wanting to suss it out, yours truly took a left turn off the Cork ring road onto the N.71 passing through Bandon, then cut across rolling country taking in Enniskean, Dunmanway and Drimoleague before rejoining the N.71 south of Bantry. A short hop and another left turn pointed me towards the village of Durrus, then on out towards Ahakista a beautiful harbour community centrally located on the south side of Sheeps Head.

Ahakista harbour, Sheeps Head, West Cork, Ireland.

Quality self catering accommodation with two pubs close by, one serving great sea food, you couldn’t ask for more. A quirk of the local language which became apparant is the use of north, south, east, and west when discussing where people are traveling on the peninsula, for example one drives west from Ahakista to Kilcrohan, east to Durrus, and north if heading over to Bantry. Concentrating on the fishing, on this my first occasion down I generally just mooched, driving along lanes getting my bearings casting an odd line here and there, mainly for pollack, while conversing with people that I’d meet. What became clear is that very little shore angling is practiced, especially ground fishing, so who knows what could turn up.

A good pollack from the Sheeps Head peninsula, West Cork, Ireland.

The south side of Sheeps Head has some nice pollack marks, evening fishing at two locations producing copper sided beauties to 5.lbs. Mackerel were running during my stay and mullet showed their presence in quiet backwaters. People that I met talked about “Connors” which is a local name for wrasse, so they are present as I’m sure are conger. The airport mark near Bantry is a 15 minute drive from Ahakista so include thornbacks, bull huss, and dogfish, the latter of which I caught when fishing a morning tide at the venue.

Beara mullet from the pond.

After a couple of days sussing out and sight seeing accompanied on occasions by Victor Daly (a great host) whom I rented the cottage off, it was off to meet UK based friends Roger and Dave making their annual Beara fishing trip. A species hunt, after 24 hours we had nailed six, by day two the marker was up to nine to include mullet, pollack, wrasse, dogfish, conger, mackerel, codling, flounder, and dab. This for me being just a flying visit we only hit established marks, that said the pollack and wrasse were there in force albeit smaller than usual and it was nice to see mackerel in reasonable numbers.

A strap conger caught shore fishing on the Beara peninsula.

The high light though was fishing a rough ground mark for conger. Using very simple end rigs baited with fresh mackerel we caught three straps to about 8 – 10 lbs before my rod registered a gentle pull, pull. Now in hand I felt the fish surge forward prompting me to lift and wind my Daiwa slosh simultaneously. Rod heeling over hard I knew the fish was clear of the bottom by the strong free movement registering through rod and line. After a couple of minutes pumping the conger surfaced, dark blue with a white under belly, a big solid head very thick set. Twenty pound plus for sure, I’ll never know the exact weight as a down swell caught it just as one of the lads was about to grab my leader. Thirty pound main line snapped like cotton, well that’s fishing West Cork style…………..

See also: Beara Peninsula Magic.

An Educational Evening at Cullenstown

Sunday, July 28th, 2013

Spent a lazy but informative Saturday evening on Cullenstown strand, Co. Wexford. Earlier while digging black lug at Duncannon I was regularly approached by interested observers eager to see what “that bloke is doing” burrowing away on the beach with his fork and bucket on a hot and sunny afternoon when every other sane person is paddling, playing with the kids, or just sunning themselves. Happy to give the spontaneous marine biology lesson, to a man, woman, and child the people were genuinely fascinated at the size of the worms, their life cycle, and how they engage within their sandy, tidal environment.

Digging black lugworm on Duncannon strand, Co. Wexford.

After a post getting the breath back meal and pint in the Strand Bar plan A was put into operation and the car was pointed towards Cullenstown, if plan B had been followed a 9.5 lb bass could have been mine, well done to a certain Frank Flanagan. As it transpired the primary decision paid off in spades due to the people I met, the varied conversations, shared information, and of particular interest a third party perspective on the current state of Irish sea angling both locally and nationally.

Paddy Barnwell of the Kilmore SAC with a typical South Wexford smooth hound.

On a practical level the main entrance to Cullenstown estuary has moved a few hundred yards east of the parking area creating an open ended lagoon off the main flow which still utilises the old entrance, an evening rising tide pushing in quite strongly. Ground fishing the entrance was hard work due to floating weed, however moving onto the beach west of the bar resulted in a few hounds being caught to crab and lug baits as night drew in. To bass lure fisherman Anthony and match angler Paddy Barnwell, nice to meet and spend time with you the discussions across a range of sea angling and marine issues were interesting and informative. Until we meet again tight lines………..