Posts Tagged ‘Ray’

Wicklow Sea Fishing, Ray Start to Show

Wednesday, May 23rd, 2012

Sea fishing in May can be hit and miss on Ireland’s east coast as fish begin to return after their spawning migrations, the shallow banks off north Co. Wicklow being a classic case in point. Last Sunday Kit Dunne’s charter vessel Lisin 1 had a red letter day catching numerous tope, huss, smooth hound, and ray, seventy two hours later the fish play hard ball, but hey that’s fishing.

A homelyn or spotted ray for Wicklow based charter skipper Kit Dunne.

A warm southerly breeze flattened the sea as we cleared the pier head following coordinates to a mark that would see us drop mackerel and squid baited hooks into a flooding tide with a view to catching a few more early season animals. Very quickly it became apparent that a repeat of last Sunday’s performance was definitely not on the cards. Bites were slow with only a few doggies, small whiting and dabs coming aboard during the first two hours.

Myles Howell raising a thornback ray up from the deep.

As the flood eased doggies became more frequent and a heavy lean on my rod signaled something more interesting. Lifting into a resistance that certainly wasn’t dog like, shortly afterwards a welcome spotted ray came into view, quickly netted and photographed before being returned whence it came.

A nice thornback ray for Irish International angler Myles Howell.

A change of mark over slack water to catch the first of the ebb resulted in a nice thornback ray for Irish International angler Myles Howell. One swallow doesn’t make a summer though and as the ebb increased so the fishing tailed off except for an odd doggie. That’s May fishing for you, in another few weeks all will be different as smoothies, huss, tope, and ray become well established and the mackerel start to appear.

To book a day out on Lisin 1 contact Kit Dunne by ringing +353 (0)87 6832179 or email through the Wicklow Boat Charters website, www.wicklowboatcharters.ie.

Sea Fishing off County Wicklow, A Tope Day

Monday, May 21st, 2012

The inshore grounds off Wicklow Head are renowned for their ability to deliver consistent animal fishing. Tope, bull huss, thornback ray, and smooth hound start to appear in May and inhabit the shallow banks and deeper channels well into October. One such person well capable of putting anglers on to these fish is International angler/skipper Kit Dunne who runs the charter vessel Lisin 1, a 35′ offshore 105, out of Wicklow Harbour, which is located 25 miles south of Dublin.

A thornback ray caught off Wicklow Head aboard skipper Kit Dunnes charter boat Lisin 1.

With the seemingly interminable north east winds finally easing and shifting south so producing a mild day allied to the strengthening tides heading towards 4 meters, Lisin 1 anchored and squid/mackerel baited rigs were dropped into the flooding tide where very quickly dogfish began to show along with an odd smooth hound and ray. Over slack water at the top of the tide fishing slowed only to really pick up as the ebb commenced.

A fine bull huss from the inshore grounds off Wicklow Head, Ireland.

Myles Howell was first in with a nice tope followed by a couple of cracking huss, these pug nosed doggies mightn’t put up much of a resistance but their size and tenacity always makes for a welcome sight when they break surface. Down tiding using single hook flowing traces was the main method employed although Kit Dunne up tided at the peak of the flow landing a nice smooth hound. In fact given the relatively shallow depths fished ranging from 5 – 10 fathoms allied to the strong tides encountered in these parts fishing up tide is a useful skill to learn and employ.

A nice Wicklow Bay, Ireland, tope.

In the last hour and a half the doggies eased off, a sure sign of bigger fish in the vicinity and a number of tope were caught supplemented by a huss or two. At days end the party had landed 7 tope, 6 bull huss, 3 hounds, 2 ray, and over 100 dogs, and it only mid May, on this form the summer season looks very promising.

For a day out on Lisin 1 contact skipper Kit Dunne through his website www.wicklowboatcharters.ie or phone mobile +353 (0)87 6832179, a full days charter costs €400.00.

Ray time on the Beara.

Wednesday, May 4th, 2011

In advance of my trip down to West Cork it is nice to see that the fine weather has brought in the Ray. Fishing Dunboy Head a Dromagowlane House regular on holidays from England landed a 5.lb 12.oz specimen homelyn ray. The dry warm weather had brought sea temperatures up to a balmy 15 degrees encouraging fish to move in earlier than usual.

A specimen 5.lb 12.oz Homelyn Ray from the Beara Peninsula, West Cork, Ireland.

Other fish of note included pollack to 6.5 lbs, huss to 10.lb 12.oz, thornback ray to 8.5 lbs, and conger to 20.lbs. As May progresses the fishing will continue to improve only slowing down inshore if there is a prolonged period of rain.

Thank you to Paul Harris, Dromagowlane House, Adrigole, Beara Peninsula, Cork, for the update and image.