Posts Tagged ‘Thornback ray’

Irish Kayak Fishing Open 2015, Courtmacsherry, Co. Cork

Monday, August 17th, 2015

The inaugural Irish Kayak Fishing Open was held in the beautiful, picturesque West Cork fishing village of Courtmacsherry last Saturday 15th August 2015. Sponsored by Progressive Distribution Irelands premier distribution source for adventure sports equipment, to the tune of €1750.00 broken down into: (1st prize €1000.00 Wilderness Systems voucher, 2nd prize a voucher from Palm Equipment for €500.00, 3rd prize a €250.00 voucher for Adventure Technology Paddles) plus ancillary prizes from Cox & Rawle , an enthusiastic group of competitors assembled early on Broad Strand to ready for the 11.00 am paddle off.

rish Kayak Fishing Open 2015 winner Ian Burton receives his prize from Shane Cronin, MD of event sponsors Progressive Distribution.

As usual the Irish weather did not play ball with a forecast light north west breeze increasing to 20 knots making for a hard paddle back to shore. Undeterred the competitors fished away under the watchful eyes of appointed Safety Officer Jeff Cochrane, course director of the Outdoor Adventure Education programme at nearby Kinsale College, with the eventual winner being Waterville, Co. Kerry based Ian Burton who landed seven species to include thornback ray, pollack, whiting, pouting, dogfish, scad and mackerel.

Irish Kayak Fishing Open 2015, Courtmacsherry, Co. Cork.

One of many interested spectators, I can only give praise to all concerned as to how this exteremely safe but fun event was structured and ran, it really is a blueprint for the future. To MD Shane Cronin of main sponsor Progressive Distribution, Jeff Cochrane who provided much needed local safety advice on the venue, Courtmacsherry RNLI Coxwain Sean O’Farrell who again gave advice, support and a demonstration on the use of flares, Inland Fisheries Ireland staff and of course to all the competitors who took part, a huge thank you I really enjoyed your company over the weekend.

rish Kayak Fishing Open 2015, flare demonstration with Courtmacsherry RNLI.

A special mention must go to Gary Robinson, who is passionate about kayak angling, the added dimension it brings both to the sport of angling and kayaking and of course the pursuits health benefits and ability to bring diverse people together. His passion to highlight the wonderful hobby of kayak fishing is the reason underpinning what will hopefully become an annual event.

Irish Kayak Fishing Open 2015.

Courtmacsherry is a cracking place to hold the competition, great pubs, local eateries and a beautiful rural hinterland. I stayed at Woodpoint B/B run by Patricia and Mark Gannon who also own the Courtmacsherry Sea Angling Centre. There are fantastic opportunities to shore and boat fish in the locality with bass, flounder, mullet, gilt head bream, pollack, ray, cod, ling, skate and offshore blue shark the main species to target. When you have a free moment get down there, you will have a ball and to the Irish Kayak Fishing Open organisers you can put my name down for next year……………

Rays of Sunshine in Deepest West Cork

Friday, June 21st, 2013

Weather is the final arbiter when choosing a fishing mark on Beara, the sun might be splitting the stones but if a force 5 or 6 wind is blowing in tandem then many potential rock angling locations could be ruled out for safety reasons, Atlantic swells are not to be messed with. However there are a number of fail safe venues on this rocky peninsula which are fishable under most conditions, fair or foul, the inner harbour of Berehaven home to a clutch of them. Yes, they have a tendency to be all or nothing but when they’re on the fishing can be top draw.

Dutch tourist sea angler Martin with a close on 9.00lb shore caught Beara Peninsula thornback ray.

Visiting Ireland on a fishing vacation for the third time since 2010 Dutch sea anglers Tony and Martin were targeting ray off a well known sheltered deep water rock mark west of Castletownbere. Cloudless blue skies, a baking sun, and a one o’clock neap full tide are not traditionally the best conditions to chase shore ray, however casting 100 meters out into 8 fathoms does improve your chances. There is though the problem of negotiating a steep sub surface rock wall which juts out some 20/30 meters in front of the casting platform, utilising a fast retrieve fixed spool or heavy casting multiplier such as a Daiwa Slosh or ABU 7000 deals admirably with that issue.

Pumping up a shore ray from a rock mark in West Cork, Ireland.

Tony and Martin were well kitted out and fishing ledgered mackerel proceeded to land a small spotted ray and a fine thornback running close on 9.00lb. I can still hear Martin repeating “Holy shit” as he pumped his first shore caught ray to the surface. Kiting through crystal clear water the fish could be seen meters below the surface which was a great sight to behold, and even more special as she glided back into the depths on release.

Dutch sea angler Tony with a cracking 2.7 kilo specimen ballan wrasse.

A feature of this location is the range of species that can be accessed to include pollack, wrasse, conger, thornback ray, spotted ray, tub gurnard, dogfish, and mackerel. Tony while fishing down the rock wall with crab connected with a great fish which tested his tackle to the limit. Once safely in his landing net he couldn’t contain his joy as a very colourful 2.7 kilo Irish specimen wrasse now had his name on it. Weighed on certified scales and returned it’s special fish like this that bring Tony and his friends back year after year.

A fine shore caught West Cork spotted ray.

Trying my luck the next day under similar conditions using fresh mackerel caught by friend Gary Robinson jigging from his kayak right in front of my fishing platform, I managed to land a nice spotted ray which again looked special as it glided through the crystal clear water on retrieve, not quite a David Attenborough moment but memorable all the same…….

Further reading: Beara Baskers.

Beara Baskers, Burgeoning Biomass, and Guinness of Course.

Thursday, June 20th, 2013

Ten meters off the point a large shoal of grey mullet finned and opened their collective mouths in unison, sieving plankton and other microscopic organisms from the rich productive waters of a special West Cork bay which over the last eight years has become very close to this writers heart. Loose feeding bread flake after about 10 minutes a number of the multitude proceeded to suck in Mr Brennan’s best, time to introduce my quill floated, 2BB shotted, size 10 round bend, bread flake carrying terminal tackle.

A nice Beara Peninsula grey mullet caught on bread flake.

No sooner had the float settled in the water when a large white shape resembling a bin liner appeared about 5 meters outside the mullet shoal. Becoming closer and larger suddenly white plastic transforms into a cavernous mouth, gill rakers and an extended bulbous nose, a whopping great basking shark not ten feet from my stance attracted by the same plankton rich waters loved by the mullet, who by their body language couldn’t care less about this 20 foot long interloper now entering their parlour. As if to prove this point down goes my float, a turn of the wrist, an explosion of spray and the drag sings on my Mitchell fixed spool. Where would you get it, playing an angry mullet in close proximity to a marine Goliath, awesome.

United Kingdom visitor Keith Kendall sports a grand jelly worm tempted pollack.

Such is fishing on the Beara, marine surprises piled on top of quality sea angling, they don’t happen every day but not a trip goes by without at least one David Attenborough moment. Certainly it’s not just the fishing that encourages tourists like Keith Kendall from the United Kingdom to undertake a marathon 36 hour round trip by boat and car to this far flung outpost of Ireland, but it helps. Inviting Keith to spend a day pollack and wrassing with us we had a great time encompassing bracing headland walks, rock hopping, a smattering of prime fish, all topped off with a few pints and a nice evening meal in O’Neill’s of Allihies.

Sea Kayak Fishing in Ireland, A Ray Day

Wednesday, November 21st, 2012

Studying marine biology and angling, what a fabulous combination, theory and practice all in one. Gary Robinson took time out last weekend, making good use of a break in the weather, to launch his kayak with a spot of ray fishing in mind. Choosing a sheltered location he paddled forth, and with his echo sounder showing a depth of 40 feet (roughly seven fathoms), proceeded to lower his sand eel baited flowing trace to the bottom.

Sea fishing in Ireland, playing a nice ray.

Fishing over sandy ground it was not long before a lean on Gary’s rod signaled interest from down below. Heavy knocks ensued typical of ray. Giving the fish time (five or ten seconds) Gary tightened into the ray and began to lift and wind simultaneously. His boat rod took on a nice curve and after a couple of minutes pumping while reeling an opaque white disc appeared through the murk.

A quality thornback ray for sea kayak angler Gary Robinson.

Shortly after a nice thornback ray knocking six or seven pound, hooked just inside the mouth, lay flapping on Gary’s lap. Using his disgorger with the minimum of fuss, Gary unhooked the fish and took a quick snap before releasing the ray to swim back whence she came. Wasting no time in rebaiting, Gary dropped his rig to the seabed again, knowing that ray swim in groups he was not going to miss an opportunity. Within minutes a double knock ensued, and so the day progressed.

Kayak angler Gary Robinson and his customised craft.

Heading into his third season of sea kayak fishing, Gary Robinson through his own initiative has customised a standard sit on kayak to a very high level, and by applying a baby steps, common sense approach to developing experience and seamanship has opened up a whole new world of fishing opportunities for himself, culminating this season in a fish of a lifetime fifty pound plus tope. What’s next? If I know Gary it’s a twenty pound pike………

See also: I think I need a bigger boat?

See also: Craic on a Yak.

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.

Boat Fishing off Greystones, Tope Quest (Part 2).

Thursday, July 14th, 2011

Another scorcher, reaching 22 degrees with clear blue skies and light variable winds greeted Jean Anne as she motored away from the slip to catch the start of the ebb off Greystones, Co. Wicklow. An early 08.00 am start would give Gary and I enough time to secure some mackerel off Bray Head before heading south towards our chosen mark off the Moulditch reef. With high water at 11.00am we intended to fish down to low water slack, if there are any tope about we should know by then.

A view north towards Bray Head, off Greystones, Co. Wicklow, Ireland.

Other then a potting boat we had the sea to ourselves and it was glorious. Off the cable rock, unlike last week, we hit mackerel almost first drop. Of a larger stamp they still were not numerous, but drifting down tide and motoring back to repeat the exercise over a small shoal gave us enough bait for the day within half an hour. With that we gunned the engine, and in company with a coastguard helicopter and an air corps coastal patrol plane, we anchored up north east of the Moulditch just as the south run was picking up.

The ubiquitous lesser spotted dogfish or LSD for short.

Setting up six foot flowing ledger rigs using 8/0 Kamasans and wire traces below a running boom, a pound of lead was more then enough to hold bottom at peak tidal flow. Using whole mackerel flapper as bait both Gary and I got savaged with LSD’s from the off. A conversation with a boat crew who anchored close to us, also targeting tope, gave us the solution to reduced dogfish interference, USE WHOLE MACKEREL, AS THEY CANNOT GET THEIR MOUTHS AROUND IT. As they say, staring you in the face, “thanks guy’s”.

A welcome thornback ray caught boat fishing off Greystones, Co. Wicklow.

Accompanying the dog’s were some fine huss. These fish have a habit of holding onto the bait without getting hooked. Gary had a beauty, easily ten pounds plus at the side of the boat only for yours truly to lose it. Grabbing the trace instead of the tail first, the fish proceeded to open it’s mouth so letting go of the bait. Frustratingly it hung in the tide below the boat for about ten seconds before swimming away. Easily four foot long with its big pug face and sandy coloured rough skin punctuated with big black blotches and spots, quite a handsome specimen. To make amends a while later a knock on my rod resulted in a small thornback ray, not a patch on the twenty pounders that used to swim here, but welcome none the less. From small acorns and all that. Again no tope, but a great day out for Gary and I, third time lucky?

Click on: Greystones, Co. Wicklow, Sea Fishing Information.

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.

Thornbacks off Courtown

Sunday, May 30th, 2010

The annual Mick and Sean Redmond Memorial competition was held last Saturday 29th May. A small boat competition held by the Courtown SAC  in honour of two local stalwarts of sea angling now passed on. A catch and release event with a twist, the angler who catches the heaviest ray receives the Mick and Sean Redmond memorial trophy. Highly prized due to its significance the competition was fierce.

Members of Courtown SAC with Thornies

Offshore fishing along the north Co. Wexford coast is picking up now with a few tope being boated, a sprinkling of bull huss, and fair numbers of ray. Smooth hounds although on the beaches are scarce off shore, unfortunately clean fish although plentiful are small, really just juveniles. On the day we caught a succession of tiny codling, whiting, and dab, along with the ubiquitous lesser spotted dogfish. Positive on the one hand, at least the small fish are there, on the other, will we ever give them an opportunity to reach maturity?

Thornback ray taken off Courtown, Co. Wexford, Ireland

A south east force six had diminished force three or less and become variable allowing the competition to proceed. A lumpy sea at the start fell away to a nice easy swell as the day wore on. Heading south and fishing the waters off Pollshone Head is always a good bet when seeking ray off Courtown, which is exactly where Mark Chambers on whose boat I was a guest anchored up. Along with singing Seanie O’Keeffe and Ned Carrick what a crew, the afternoon flew due to the banter and the crack while the fishing wasn’t bad either. With a nice coloured sea and a southerly tidal run conditions were good for ray. Employing a ledger/paternoster rig, baiting the paternoster with rag/mackerel strip/lug combinations for clean fish, and the ledger with whole squid aimed at ray, I hedged my bets.

Ned with a fine Courtown, Co. Wexford, thornback ray

Ten minutes in on the second drop down slowly trotting the rig down tide a ray signaled its presence with a heavy leaning thump/thump bite. Feeding line before striking old yellow took on a curve, while the weight and kiting of the main line through the water signaled the obvious. Shortly afterwards a nice ray broke the surface smartly tailed by Mark. Fishing continued with Ned loosing a good fish and eventually landing a ray on the last drop of the day. Back on shore with a number of ray landed the winning margin came down to two ounces, a thornie just short of ten pounds. A worthwhile fish to grace what was a fun day out and one of which both Mick and Sean would have been proud of.