West Cork has to be a kayak anglers paradise, what with all the bays, inlets, and little slip ways dotted around the place, sure you would be able to go fishing weather permitting whatever quarter the wind was blowing from. Also there are locations where rock hopping is completely out of the question due to sheer cliffs, so these marks would now become accessible. When one considers that depths can reach 100+ feet in places just yards from the shore, big deep water species like ling now become a real possibility.
Gary Robinson is a superb “thinking” angler who looked at the kayaks fishing capability about two years ago and subsequently has put together a formidable outfit kitted out with fish finder/echo sounder, anchor, rod holders, storage facilities, and all necessary safety features, an impressive piece of kit and no mistake. Our trip down to the south west offered Gary the first real opportunity to test his boat handling and angling skills over fishing grounds that are far from depleted. His first day on the water not only blew his mind but this seasoned anglers’ too.
That day I was fishing for wrasse far out on a headland and could observe Gary, about a mile further into the bay, paddling and fishing away. At days end we met up and you just knew by his face and of course the two large pollack, one of which weighed 9.lb plus, that his day had been a success. “Ridiculous” is how Gary described it, just fish after fish until his arms got sore. Initially using hokais searching for mackerel which were scarce, he did boat numerous big launce though, every time Gary hit bottom strings of three/four pound pollack would come up. Changing to a single 30 gram jig head he targeted larger stuff and boated pollack into double figures, all bar the two fish above being released. Gary said that he lost count of how many fish landed, now that is some day. Ground fishing at anchor with large fish fillets is the next logical step, I can’t wait to see the results of that exercise. Bugger it, I’m off to buy a kayak too…..
Read Gary Robinson’s account of the above trip in his excellent article titled; Pollack Perfection in South West Ireland.
