Stingrays

Over the Last few year, I fished for stingrays in Tralee bay at least 10 full days with Dan lynch.  With every trip and every fish we landed, we learned more and more about the bay. Through every flood and ebb of the tide, we would move to different locations of the bay for the next tide to start. We learned that certain sections of the bay fish better at different times of the tide. After many wasted hours catching nothing, [or should I say learning hours], we started to get a patterns on how and where the fish are through different stages of the tide. We decided to put our theory to the test last year. The plan was to move to the different spots at certain stages’ of the tide the minute the rods went quite

The weather in 2016 slightly improved in April last year and as we had nothing else to hunt for we decided to give it an early start in Tralee bay

Six am we were at the slipway getting ready for the day light to make an appearance so we could head to the monk hole for the start of the tide

As we arrived at the monk hole at the far side of the bay, we could see some kayaks heading towards us. As we dropped our baits to the bottom, the kayaks were starting too anchored outside us. It is a cool way to fish but I think fishing for fish that could kill you on an oversize surfboard is quite dangerous. I am not having a go at kayaking as I am thinking of buying one myself.

A growing sport is kayaking for rays, if you are unsure of the dangers of fishing for stingrays try to get a local kayak-fishing guide to bring you out and remember a small stinger sting is as deadly as a big one think safety first.

 

As we fished, the morning breeze got that bit colder and as the tide started to turn, I got a dog type bight on my rod. As I picked up the rod, my reel started to scream, I lifted the rod firmly to set the hook. With the fish using the tide to its advantage, it was hard to say how big it might be. As the ray breached the surface for the first time, we could see it was in around specimen weight. As it dove for the fifth time I could feel it was getting tired, as it came to the surface once more Dan was able to put the net underneath it,  I eased off the pressure to let the tide push it into the net. With the fish on board, we drop the anchor buoy over the side, and headed to the shore to weigh it. As the weighing scales hit the 30lb mark, I jumped with excitement. With the photo taking and the fish put back, we headed back out.

My first specimen stingray of 30lb that I caught on crab in Tralee bay, a hard-earned fish that was well worth the effort over the last few years.

With the stage of the tide over on this spot, we headed up further in the bay to get ahead of them in our second spot. With the anchor down and rods out it did not take long before Dan got a small male undulate ray and a few minutes later, I landed a small painted ray.

Dan with a small undulate that was caught on a strip of mackerel on a size 3/0 hook

My second fish of the session was a male painted ray that took a sand eel on a flowing running trace

As it was approaching midday and the tide, starting to weaken it was time to head to the b&b to freshen up from our three am start. With a quick shower and feed, we were back in the water heading to spot three. The winds were warmed as the sun came out. it got so hot sitting in the cabin that I had to take off my flotation suit. Remember if changing into lighter clothing; make sure to put your life jacket on. With a few small Thornbacks rays and dogfish returned it was time to fish mark four with a quick a careful spin across the bay minding not to hit the sand bars. We arrived just as the tide was at its strongest. At this stage of the tide, the fishing is better for Thornback and undulate. Six or so of each were landed in that two hours, mostly caught by Dan. Redemption for me was when I landed a pup Tope and stinger, and just before the fishing tapered off I got a surprise when I landed a small turbot.

This pup Tope was a first for me in Tralee bay I would love to catch more of them in the larger models.

A small stinger can be as deadly as a large stinger in some case more so as they can whip there tale twice as fast as there larger brothers and sisters.

 

This stunning looking turbot put a great end to an enjoyable fishing day

 

Day 2 was the total opposite; the winds were ten miles faster and coming from the west. The weed was becoming a problem and the cloud cover brought the temperatures down to six to eight degrees, and the swells made it too dangerous to go into the shallow spots, We made a decision to call it a day and weight for the next good spell.

 

It was the following Saturday the weather forecast was given good with light winds and good sunny spells. Like last week end we headed off again at three am and was fishing by seven am. This time we were going to fish for the day as our second day was a disaster the week previous. With the boat in the same gps mark all was left was to bait our hooks and get them to the bottom.  A few hours passed before the tide started to run this was because that they were neap tides. As the tide started to push in the bay, I landed an undulate then Dan landed one.

 

These 55cm amazing looking undulate rays can grow a small bit larger and as they are back on the length base specimen list of 59cm it has made me want to catch more of them.

With the rod back in the water we suddenly saw a large sting ray jump out of the water and as Dan said did you see that his rod was nearly pulled clean over the gunnel thank god for his drag was set. With the ray twisting and turning trying, everything to get free, but lucky for Dan the hook had a good hold. When I slipped the net under the fish Dan gave a cheer. With the boat on sour the scales needle spun until it hit over the 40lb mark, what a fish. With the pictures taking and the fish swimming slowly along the shore. Dan jumped back into the boat and started the engine and we went back fishing.  As we were talking about that fish and were laughing about we could go home now my rod screamed off and like a flash my rod was in my hand [yes my fishing rod,] and as I was tighten the drag the fish started to swim up tide to me. I gathered as much line as fast as humanly possible, then the fish kiting across the tide it was putting a lot of strain on my up tide rod. it took a couple of minutes more before I could get it under control. With the fish board and unhooked we put it in the sling for a quick weigh and as it went over specimen weight we untied the anchor and headed to the beach.  like minutes  before the fish brought the needle to over the specimen weight 33lb to be exact. We stayed fishing for a few more hours without going to our other spots. We had a few dogs but we did not care we had our specimen stingers that we worked so hard for we were packed up by half three and home just after six pm what a relaxing day.

 

Some of the ways I prepare my bait mackerel strip, sand eel and peeler crab.

 

Dan with his first specimen stingray that weighed over 40lb  happy days.

 

 

This 33lb stinger put that warm feeling that you get when everything goes right

when putting back rays from a boat make sure they are upright and ready to swim off

 

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Smooth hound 2016

The smooth hound season starts around the end of May and runs right through the summer months, all depending how warm or cold the seas are. Last year I didn’t get a chance to go beach fishing or chartering for smoothies. That I sorely missed but this year I got a call off my friend Damo to see if Dan and I would like to go on a trip for hounds with Kit Dunne, a well-known skipper in Wicklow. With the day booked off from work all that was left to do was get some crab. With the peeler crab scarce in Cork, I had to ask Glenn and Killian, the other Dublin lads to add another fifty crab onto his order for me. With the weather looking good and a few specimen smoothies being caught, we set off on the three-hour drive from Cork. As Dan and I arrived at the dock, Kit was on his boat, ready and waiting with the engine running as the lads loaded the gear. Within minutes, we were on the way. It was a nice change not to have to launch our own boat!

The boats

 Lisin 1 and the Castle Maiden are docked in Wicklow harbour

The Lisin 1 and the Castle Maiden are 10.5-metre (35′) offshore 105 boats with spacious deck and cabin space, ideal for fishing or simply relaxing while taking pleasure in the scenic views. They are fast, modern, fully licensed and equipped with all the relevant navigation, fish finding and safety equipment. Insured to comfortably carry 12 passengers plus 2 crew.

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Boat charters with a qualified skipper at all times for Angling, Heritage, Scenic and Wildlife Tours, Safety Boat, Dive Charters, Surveys and Passages. All charters have the provision of a safe and secure trip on-board and a comfortable stable boat with inside and outside seating, toilet facilities and complimentary tea & coffee.

YOUR SKIPPER

Kit Dunne is a highly qualified and experienced skipper/angler with more than 30 years angling and boat-handling experience, numerous Team Ireland caps, coupled with coaching qualifications. As a local Wicklow man with experience in the RNLI, Kit has a wealth of knowledge of the local coastline, maritime history, safety at sea and the angler’s needs.

Our session

After a short journey we were at one of Kits renowned hound marks. He quickly dropped the anchor and when the boat settled, we dropped our baits to the bottom along with it. As our baits hit the sea bed  Damo shouted “ten euro a man for the biggest smoothie” When fishing for smooth hounds always have a steady number of extra peeler crab peeled and ready to hook on. The reason is that the faster you get scent in the water the greater the chance of hooking larger hounds. The key for success I have found on these charter trips is to get a bait back to the bottom as fast as possible. Dan and I were soon landing numbers of smooth hound and so were the lads from Dublin. However, as they were catching the larger ones there was another bet announced from Damo which was  “Cork vs. Dublin” With the deal agreed, Dan and myself had to pick up the pace, as there was now three anglers against two of us. I changed from a single Pennel rig to a double Pennel flowing trace, which I loaded with crab.

 Crab peeled and cut, bait elastic ready. All I would do after unhooking a fish is wrap the next bait over the used bait on the hook. This will keep your bait large enough and appetising for the bigger smooth hounds 

 Keep a steady supply of crab peeled at all time and keep them covered from direct sun light to keep them fresh, juicy and in good condition

To be honest, with both smoothies and dogfish coming on board fast and furious between us all, it was hard to keep up with peeling the bait and, with the tide pulling harder as time passed, we had to put on a pound and a half to two pound of lead just to hold bottom. With my bait nailed to the sea floor Kit kindly made us our first cups of tea and coffee of the day. With that I put my rod in the strap that are on the gunnel rails and  I loosened the star drag  on the reel to ensure it didn’t get pulled over the side as I enjoyed my lunch. With just one bite taken out of my sandwich, I got a decent bend on the rod and then the reel started to empty. My reaction was to grab the rod and for the thousandth time I spilled my tea and dropped my lunch all over the deck. [Typical – always happens when you are having your lunch]. With the fish hooked and staying deep, I was hoping it was just one big fish on my two-hook rig. As it came up under the boat I could see it was indeed on its own and of a nice size too. With the smoothie landed, we put it on to the measuring mat and it was shy of the new length based specimen size. We knew it was over the weight though so I put it into the live-well so it could be weighed on land a few hours later.

 My first specimen smooth hound of 2016 that weighed 8lb

As Dan and I fish as a team whenever we fish together, we like to joke around and tag each other in for the next specimen. Unbelievably, within a few minutes of me doing this on board Kit’s boat Dan was fighting a good fish! When we got it aboard and on the mat we realised that it was like mine; it didn’t have the length to be a length-based specimen but did look the weight so, as there was plenty of space in the live well, in it went too along with my fish.

Dan with his 7lb 10oz smoothie that took three crab on a 4/0 Pennel flowing trace

Whilst Dan was re-baiting, team Dublin took their turn at the back of the boat as there complaining that all the fish were back there and not on their side. With the lads at the back and Dan and I at either side the funny comments started to being whispered, like “we’ll show those Cork lads now” Then my reel screamed into action with a heavy weight thumping the rod, and as it neared the surface I could see it was a nice Thornback ray.

my first Thornback ray off kits boat

As I dropped my bait back down as quickly as I could, Dan and the lads were into more fish. Damo and Killian were first in with their smoothies and then Dan landed his hound, all 12lb 8oz of it – what a cracker, and even better it was caught from the side of the boat where there were apparently no fish! It was the largest hound of the trip so far.

 Dan with this 12lb 8oz smooth hound that was the winner of the heaviest hound of the day

With every drop from then on, hounds and dogs were landed but the specimens slowed up until I had a lovely run from a 7lb 4oz fish, my second specimen of the day.

it can be super fishing up the east coast especially when you have a good skipper and landing quality fish like this 7lb 4oz hound

As the tidal pull had nearly stopped at this stage, I was surprised that all our rods were still thumping over with fish. Not that we minded, of course! Then to top off the day myself and Dan got another nice surprise each; Dan landed a bass, a first off Kit’s boat and I landed a good size Bullhuss.

a nice surprise at the end of the day, Dan with a bass and me with a Huss

with kit calling lines up team cork chaired and the competition results were called out.   the “largest smoothie of the day” bet as proposed by Damo went to Dan lynch and the best team “Cork vs. Dublin” challenge, went to cork.

Dan winner of heaviest specimen fish and team cork takes most specimens

The McCormack twins Glenn and Killian, Damo, Dan and myself had a grate day fishing and the crack with the lads on the boat was mighty 

Damo and Killian with a pair of hard fighting hounds caught on large crab baits at the back of the boat

Tips on How to calm a specimen smooth hound                                                                             1]Have a registered weighing scales and a IFI measuring mat

2] After landing the fish weigh it and if it is over specimen weight for that year put it on the mat and put it noes to the up stand of the mat and stretch it out straight along it, then take a photo. If it is over one meter and you have no scailes it can be claimed as a length base specimen

3] Take a clear photo of it mouth

4] Then take a photo of you holding it

5] Down load and print out specimen forms from http://www.irish-trophy-fish.com and fill out and send them to c/o inland fisheries Ireland, 3044lake drive, citywest business campus, Dublin 24

Until next time

Tight lines

Blonde Ray

I was asked about blond ray fishing in cork harbour yesterday and as the peak season is approaching i decided to put up this piece i did for a magazine a few years ago. The Blonde Ray is a deep bottom dwelling species that prefers sandy and muddy areas. They are a gold sandy colour with black spots similar to the spotted ray but the spots extend to the very edge of their pectoral fins. They can have some large white spots as well but most of all the blonde grow much larger than the spotted ray. They sexually mature around ten years old and only lay around a 100 eggs a year between February and August.  Their eggs look a lot like thorn back ray eggs and it takes them around seven mounts to hatch. Their main diet is prawns, shrimp and sand eel but when fishing for them mackerel and squid work best. Their mouth is like every other ray but as they can grow up to 40lb you would have to step up the strength of your trace. I have only targeted them in Cork harbour from mid-summer to December but they can be caught any month of the year. The current Irish record stands at 36.75lb caught in Cork harbour in 1964 and the specimen weight is 25lb When I started fishing for Blonde rays I started fishing for blonde rays in 2007 on a small 14 foot skiff It was cheap to run and perfect for Cork harbour in good conditions. My first outing for blondes we landed five with the heaviest one caught by my son Derick it weighed 24lb 6oz it was so wide it nearly covered him.  Ross with our first guide boat that can be launched in one foot of water witch is deadly for bass fishing Back in the day My son Derick at the age 11 with this 24+ blond ray, It was the norm for someone to catch a fish at this size when the conditions were Wright. Our next trip was a week later with my friend Ross Macklin, And on his very first drop he landed a specimen blond of 25lb 9oz.  Ross Macklin with a 25lb 9oz blond back in 2007 the good years when blonds were plentiful but with cork harbour being netted and trawled to death i cant see to many fish like this getting through We got another three that day on mackerel tipped off with squid but they were no way near specimen weight. Every session that year we caught at least 3 blonde rays and some cracking dab. There are a stunning looking fish especially when they are big, it says a lot when anglers from Britain come to Cork for a chance to land one. With the winter weather arrived it was time to rap and store my boat  and write down my GPS hot spot marked for the blonde rays in my black book. With everything I had learned that year I was so looking forward to next session that I bought a larger boat with my brother and some new fishing gear,  I filled my rig wallet with blonde ray rigs all I needed was some good weather and I was gone. The 2008 season was a cracker I was out every chance I could get and I was landing a lot of blonde rays but could not hook the big ones. I landed this blond ray that was tag. i think tagging is a must to see were they go and how fast they grow, but when there is no safe place for a tag fish to move with out getting caught in a net it is a wast of time, cork harbour should be protected at all cost. If you land any fish with tags take down the serial number and try to get a picture, length and it weight if possible. You then can email the inland fishery board the number and were it was caught, this will help the researchers to see how far it has traveled if it has traveled at all. With that good deed done they will send out a t-shirt with a logo on it.    Back in 2008 the heaviest blonde we had was landed was Dan’s 16lb fish With the 2009 session started I was hearing stories of anglers landing up to forty blondes a day with fish up to 28lb, it was driving me mad, that this was happening when I was at work.  I decided to take Thursday and Friday off that week so I would have a good few days at them. That Thursday morning I was anchored by six am waiting for the blondes to crawl up my line like they were in my dreams. A few hours passed without a fish, I started to wonder was I in the right spot until another boat passed and the skipper said they gone, a trawler man heard about the numbers of blondes being caught and he came out and netted boxes of them yesterday. In recent years there has been a lot of arguments between anglers and trawler men, but this time when the blondes were netted it lead to a shouting match that got out of hand. This lead to a full on attack on Cork harbour bottom feeding fish. You might not be aware; rays are worth little or nothing to the trawler men unless they get them in large numbers. So instead of working things out through the proper channels and stopping the name calling between the users of Cork harbour, the blonde rays and every other bottom dwelling fish that month got wiped out. As I said in my one of my earlier articles if we could only work together we could improve Cork harbour for everybody and help bring in money through tourism for the charter boats, B&B, shops, fuel, pubs, food outlets, hotels and the list goes on and on. Our government is only now starting to realize that sport fishing plays a huge part in our annual tourist attraction to Ireland and generates nearly 750 million euros each year, just think how much more it could be worth if we protected our fish stocks.  When I target blond rays I would start around June right up to December in Cork harbour on a filling tide. Last year when fishing for blondes ray I only got out a couple of times and only landed one small female on them trips.    Its sad to see these fish being killed for little money and no one that has the power to stop this seems to give a crap Back in 2013 Dan landed a 22lb cork harbour blond ray that took mackerel tipped with squid It was the only blond ray of the session but well worth the stop. This is what cork harbour fishing should be like only if it was left alone by trawlers and anglers that are fond of eating them, if it was protected there numbers would multiply. Tips when anchoring This harbour has a lot of ships traveling in and out every day so make sure you don’t anchor in the shipping lanes. All you have to do to be safe is stay on the right hand side of the number 6 buoy as you are looking out at the open sea. one of our naval ships using the shipping lane as it is heading to Cobh When anchoring on a GPS mark in Cork harbour you need to know what way the tide is running and what depth of water you are in. with the tide and depth figured out all you have to do is drop your anchor up tide of the mark, the rule is twice the depth plus the length of the boat.For example if you are fishing 70 feet of water and your boat is 20 feet long the total length of your rope should be 160 feet.  Don’t forget you need a good sand anchor on a length of chain. Rigs and how to fish them I use the same rigs that I used for Thornback rays the only difference is I would step up the trace line between 80lb and 100lb and my hooks to a 6/0 it might be over kill but when a large blond ray is near the surface and the tide is running hard you will be glad you put it on. Remember rays feed on the sea bed so make sure your lead is keeping your bait pined to the bottom. You might have to put on a pound of lead and let a good bit of line off your reel, this will help keep your bait in the path of the rays on the big tides, the small tides are a lot easier to fish and you can use a lighter rod for more sport. When handling a blond ray When handling a blonde ray there is very little to worry about, they have small thorns on their tail like their cousins and a mouth that you could fit your hand in. If you want to hold the fish for a picture you can lift them by searching for the indents towards their nose, if you look at the picture of how and where Dan is holding his 22lb ray it will give you a good idea where your hands should be. When your hands are in the right position and you are ready to lift make sure and don’t be afraid to grip it tight this will stop you dropping it and hurting the fish. If you have the ray out of the water to long the fish will start to go pinky-red around the sides, this is a warning that the ray is under duress and it is time to put it back.    Colour warning of a Blond ray starting to get stressed out  Rods Rods, all depends on your budget any good 30lb class rod with a reel to suit loaded with 50lb braid for down tiding.  I use a TF Gear Force 8 Twin Tip Up tide Rod, it’s a good casting rod of the boat and when the rays runs down tide the power of the rod comes into action. Traces and how to fish them I use size 5/0 hooks , these are tied to 25 inches of 80lb mono, below a silver spoon with another 15 inches of 80lb mono tide to a swivel above the spoon. Your lead is put on a long sliding boom that goes on your main line. Make sure you put a rubber buffer bead between your swivel and boom. When you are dropping these traces to the sea bed you have to control the decent, this stops it from tangling. Make sure your bait is on the bottom at all times you can do this by leaving out line every few minutes, do this until you are confident that you bait is lying flat on the bottom. When using an up tide rod, you are casting your bait in the direction of your anchor making sure you don’t get caught on the rope. As your lead hits the water live out line until your lead hits the bottom and you have a good bow in your line this will help keep your bait tight on the bottom. If it starts dragging your lead could be too light but more likely you did not leave out enough line. Up tiding takes a bit of practice but it nice style of fishing. Warning  Weever fish can be caught in cork harbour so be careful when taking them off the hook  Rigs bait and tips [1] A good up tide rod or a 20 to 30 class [2] A good boat casting multiplier and a 30lb class boat reel loaded with 50lb braid [3] 80lb swivels, 80lb mono for Thrace, 4/0 to 6/0 hooks some beads a large spoon for vibration [4] 10oz to 16oz leads to make sour the bait is tight on the bottom. [5] Mackerel, squid and large sand eel are the top 3 baits for me. Tight lines

Rainbow Trout

An aerial photo of Ardaire Springs. The lake’s banks are built up to avoid flooding. This is quite handy especially when we get a lot of rainfall which floods the rivers and natural lakes

When the weather is wrong for specimen hunting I always turn to rainbow trout fishing. They are a species of fish that will feed in all types of weather conditions and more so when it gets cold. I have fished nearly all of the rainbow fisheries in the south of the country but none can claim to come close to the amount of large trout that are swimming in Ardaire Springs. You will be amazed when you look into the water and down through the layers of the water with your polarised glasses – you will see huge trout swimming beneath your rod tip.  On a recent trip, the owner Ned told me that Ardaire Springs was established in March 2011, is approx. 3 acres and is stocked with rainbow and brown trout from 2 lbs up to an incredible 25lbs. The water is already well established with an abundance of natural feed, such as damsel flies, stickleback, freshwater shrimp and pond olives.

If you are looking for great sport on or just beneath the surface, emerging olive patterns work very well in April/May, and if you have a good knowledge of flies you will have super fun when there is a hatch on. Other flies that are a must for Ardaire Springs are black foam beetles, Diawl bach, corixa and various klinkhammers, especially black quill buzzers, green buzzers, traffic light buzzer, damsel nymphs, hares ear, Greenwell’s glory etc. If you are into fishing lure type flies like myself I would recommend that you have in your fly box some woolly buggers, humongous, snake flies, boobies and blobs – they all work well for me. Onsite there are barbeque facilities available and free tea/coffee for all anglers, which is a nice touch and very welcome on a cold day. If you are a bit rusty or want to learn how to fly-cast then lessons are also available if required. They offer some of the best trout fishing in the country, but make no mistake this is not the usual stockie bashing. Be prepared to be challenged. To catch one of the monsters you have to have everything right, especially when your fly is attached to one of the big brownies.

Ardaire also cater for groups; another plus is they do special rates for schools, youth clubs, junior angling clubs etc., which includes supplying fishing rods and life jackets, which are compulsory for under 14s. Another plus is that they also have an extensive range of flies and tackle available in the shop, with Mackenzie being there main range of both double and singlehanded rods. They also stock Airflo, Sonik and Rio products and as if it seems as things couldn’t get any better they run fishing trips abroad to Terrace, British Columbia (BC) for pacific salmon and from Chilliwack, BC  for pacific salmon and sturgeon that I would love to catch. They also go to Iceland for Atlantic salmon, sea trout, brown trout and arctic char! For further details on their trips give Ned a call on 086 8128937.

This year my friend John o Donoghue asked me did I want to try for large rainbows and brown trout in Ardaire Springs. As he was telling me about the number of huge trout I was beginning to think he was spoofing. Then he told me to check out their website and to give him a call if I wanted to go. As I went through the gallery of what fish were being caught I could not believe my eyes. I then thought that the fish might be killed until I read that it is a catch and release water. I got back on to John and said I was definitely going!

The day we fished was calm and cold and with little knowledge of the lake or what was working we still landed over twenty fish between us. However, by the end of that day I had a good grasp of how and what to use to have a chance of catching one of the monsters that were being caught and swimming around in front of me.

My next trip was the following weekend with my nephew Kenneth, Dan, Ross and Dob. We got our flies and lures organised, then we phone Ned to book in. With the weekend upon us and the weather forecast promising only the odd shower for Sunday morning we gave it the green light. We wanted to be there for opening time and as the lake opens at 9.30am we had to leave Cork by 7.30am.  As we arrived at the lake, you could see trout supping insects on or close to the surface. With the day ticket paid and after a quick chat with Ned on what worked during the week, we all headed off to find some of those monstrous trout. Dan had his rod already set up with a humongous lure so he was able to get the first few casts in before we were ready. As I took my first cast Dan lifted into the first fish of the session. With the trout hooked it took off across the lake taking the fly line down to the backing.  With steady pressure, Dan was able to get the trout under control and as it came close to the bank we could see it was a very large rainbow. As Dan slipped the fish over the net he let out a sigh of relief and punched the air.

Dan with his largest rainbow that was estimated to be easily over 16lb, the fly it took was a humongous that was retrieved through the water quick with short pulls

With the fish put back to fight another day we all got a confidence buzz and with every pull on the fly line we got that exciting feeling as you do when you are fighting a large fish. With about thirty fish landed between us, Dob was next to hit a large trout and like Dan’s it striped line off his reel. As he was fighting the fish, he told me that he had changed onto a green buzzer. With the fish in the net you could barely see the size of the fly in its mouth. After the photos and quick release Dob casted out the pair of buzzers and as he was showing me the speed of the figure eight retrieve his rod calved over. With the fish diving deep he knew it was another good one. It took over ten minutes to get the fish into the net. I could not believe it, two rainbows over ten pound in two casts! You can see the video of Dob fighting the trout on this blog page

To stop the large trout getting around the island Dob had to keeping steady pressure on it and every time it dove he had no choice but to let it take line to be sure it did not throw the fly from its mouth or break him off

David O Brien or “Double figure Dob” as he is now known with one of his double figure rainbows that could not resist a green buzzer retrieved with a slow figure of eight

The fishing started to slow down from 1.30 to 3.30 with only a handful of fish caught between the anglers on the lake.  As the lull time passed we all started to get takes. With every three to four pulls I would be into a fish. I read a bit about snake flies before I headed down to Ardaire Springs and every piece of literature I read said they are deadly when fished close to the bottom. As I was having a good day, I decided to put one on and give it a go – I had nothing to lose. I let the Hi-D5 fly line sink for about twenty seconds before I started to retrieve slowly with some short erratic jerks. As I gave it a second to sink between retrieves, it got slammed. What a run – it took me down to the backing and almost ran me behind the small island. With the rod hooped over, I was able to turn it. As it headed back to me at a rate of knots I had to reel as fast as I could until I caught up with it. With a five minute battle and the fish beginning to tire I could see it was a large brown trout. When the fish rolled over and into the net I was over the moon with joy.

What a day and what a fish! Even when I thought it could not get any better I landed this cracking brown trout estimated to be over 13lb. It fell to a snake fly. Happy days!

As the fish went back, I could see lads landing trout all around the lake. I guess the trigger for these heavy feeding spells was probably the same times the trout were being fed in the fish farms. With fish coming out left, right and centre Ross shouted “I am into a big one!”  As I made my way around to him, the trout broke the surface like a seal. I picked up the pace and grabbed the larger landing net.  Like every large fish we caught that day it did not stop fighting, even after it was netted it was hard to get under control. As a rule I found out afterwards that all large fish must be un-hooked in the water, so be prepared to get a bit wet as you hold it for a picture.

Ross Macklin with an estimated 18lb rainbow caught on a buzzer. He said that he has fished rainbow fishery’s since he was a small boy and has never caught one over 10lb until this trip. What a feeling and what a fishery

Dave Walsh with a pig of a brown trout that most if not all trout anglers would give their left arm for

 

 

 

John Andrews with this cracking 20lb brown trout, another monster to fish for next time

Ned with a cracking summer rainbow from his own fishery. He had a dream like me but he is living it

Michael Crowley with a cracking looking brown trout

Pat Quigley with this double figured rainbow on a six weight Mackenzie fly rod

My nephew Kenneth Im with his largest rainbow of eight that he landed that day, like the rest of us he can’t wait to get back down there

Hunting for carp

As a young boy, I found the lough to be a place of dreams where every dip of a float or an alarm screaming could be a monster. However, nowadays it is a lot less exciting as it has become a runs water instead of a big fish water. As many anglers do not know the history of the current carp stock, I will explain. Back in 2000 and 2001, our club purchased 750lb weight of small carp at a rough cost of €7.50 per pound. These carp came from Decoy Lake in Co. Tipperary, a private water where there was a huge stock of small carp that needed to be removed in order to improve it as a big carp fishery. These fish were purchased to rejuvenate the Lough as at the time although it was unrivaled big carp water in Ireland, the stock of original fish was old and spawning and fry survival was very rarely successful. The club ran out of funds and as I was the organiser I had to with draw hundreds of euros from my own account to cover the balance. That was ok as I was promised by a group of carp anglers (non-club members) that they would chip in and cover me [still waiting].

The size of the carp we bought were from fingerling to palm sized. The survival rate of the small carp was a surprise. With each year that passed, you could see them putting on weight, some at a very fast rate. To be certain of their growth rate Ross Macklin, Bill Brazier and I got 300 fish (floy) tags [not cheap!] to attach to the carp for identification and monitoring. We measured length and girth as well as their weights and photographed both sides of the fish we tagged. With all the tags used up, we had up to three years or so before the small carp’s growth would literally pop the tags out [some of the larger carp we tagged still have tags to this day].
As you can guess there has been a bit of poaching happening out there and not just from our cross water cousins but also from Irish anglers taking larger fish to stock lakes closer to home. This made the research much harder. This is fact as we have pictures of carp from the Lough that match pictures of the same fish in other lakes that I would love to mention. As the young carp turned into adults [around 2003/04] there was an explosion of carp fry and with the vast numbers of carp an Argulus [fish lice] epidemic broke out. This, along with a warm, dry summer and poor water quality overwhelmed many of the older residents and tragically resulted in many large fish deaths.

The highlight of my carp fishing was land this 29lb 13oz Republic of Ireland Irish record carp back in 1998

Back in the early days at the Lough, between the ages of four and eleven I was fishing for Rudd and perch. It was at the age of twelve before I realised was really was swimming around the lough. I was float fishing for perch and as I lifted a small perch into my hand, a huge fish jumped out of the water near Toney and myself. It did not look like a pike, as it was red and gold in colour and way too fat. For the next few weeks, we walked our dog around the Lough to see could we get another glimpse at it. With no luck, we were starting to wonder did we even see it at all. About a week later, Tony cotter and I saw two anglers whom we now know as Connor Healy and Ken Ready. These anglers were catapulting out sweetcorn to attract the fish. We asked them why not maggots or worms and they said, “we would get plagued by perch and Rudd”. I asked them what they were fishing for so and they replied, “carp”. They then showed us how they put on their sweetcorn and to our surprise, they was five grains of corn hanging beneath the hook [I thought there were off their game!]. We sat down next to them, as there were setting up the rest of their gear and when they put their rods on pods that had alarms, I was amazed and wanted the same set up. With every scream of the alarm and with huge fish on the bank I knew it was the same type of fish that I saw when perch fishing and now I wanted to catch them even more.

From that day, all of 30 years ago now, I was hooked on carp fishing. Since then, with the help of the club members especially Ross Macklin, Bill Brazier, Tony Cotter, Paddy Higginson and Barry James, we have dedicated a lot of our free time to protect and try to help the Cork City Council to develop the Lough. This is hard and thankless work. We had meeting with the Council and Fisheries Board (now IFI) and established a fish protection byelaw for all fish in the Lough [that means even if you take a fish under 25cm you can and will be fined]. We also helped IFI and the Marine Institute with the Koi Herpes Virus (KHV) testing that resulted with a clean bill of health for the fish. With all the hard work through the years, since around 1997, we have now firmly hit a brick wall. The Council have blocked most of the fishable water around the island with barley straw that is in long nets. They have also allowed a model yacht club to take over most of the prime fishing areas on a Sunday morning that produce most of the large fish. We have argued until blue in the face and sent countless emails, letters and proposals to complain about this. We also explained that the keels of the model boats are too deep and will hit fish and get snagged up in fishing lines as the lough is to shallow. Worst of all is the markers they use to race around which are not in any way fish or bird friendly.

HOOKS AND LINE CAUGHT UP ON MODEL YACHT MARKERS

Even when we sent in proof that the markers are dangerous for fish welfare they just didn’t seem to care. It is clear to us that it is highly doubtful at the moment if any of the issues with the Lough will be fixed in the near future…

Back to fishing the lough cork

The Lough is one of the easiest lakes I think to fish because the lake has no natural weed (too many fish and birds) and has very little features to cast too. There are no drop offs and any natural gravel areas that were there are long covered with tonnes of silt. What I have found is that if you find the carp you are in with a huge chance of catching them.

Like all waters the best thing to do is pre-bait. What I would do with any new bait I use is, every second day put in two hundred boilies around the lake. After ten days, I would narrow the locations to where I want to fish. When I am sure that the fish are feeding over the pre-baited area I will put large PVA bags or a method ball stuffed with boilies out on each cast. In addition, with every run I would put out twenty or so loose boilies to keep them on the feed. I know some lads say they do not have the money to spend it on bait but I have found a lot of them always have enough for cans of beer or top of the range fishing gear, and will happily spend €1000 to go to France and put in over 15kg of boilies in one week. I know pre-baiting will be hard for many anglers as they live a few hours from the Lough. However, if you are unable to pre-bait what I would suggest to do is pick one area and at least put a hundred good quality baits over it every day of the session. I have found that by doing this you will get the smaller resident fish to move over the baited area and then the larger carp will come over to investigate. This in a lot of occasions will result in you landing fish.

 

One year by not going to France I was able to buy a boilie gun, rolling tables, air drying trays and a enough base mix to last me four years of pre-baiting and to fish with. I believe there are no excuses to arrive at the Lough with a tub of pop up and a hand full of shelf life boilies

A faster way to get fish onto your bait is Method mixes. They are easy to use, all you do is add water until you can make small balls for the catapult and when using on the feeder it has to be more pliable as it needs to break down. With most mixes, I will add chopped and full boilies to give the carp something to pick up and with every run, I would add more boilies in. After applying the mix to my feeder, I will then wrap my hook length around the method ball and push the hook into it, so the hook bait hangs outside. I find by doing this that you will not tangle your hook length and in weedy areas it will help stop your hook snagging before it hits the bottom. I have used this method abroad and at home with great success.

If using a method ball remember, you are adding many ounces of feed to your method feeder and if your rod is not suited be careful when casting.

 

 

 Frame 1 With some method mix in the palm of my hand, I will then push the lead of the feeder into it. Then I keep adding the mix until the feeder it covered with the right shape and weight to cast. Then I will wrap the hook length around the method ball and then insert the hook into it on the opposite side of were the lead is.
I use a throwing stick on most occasions to get the boilies out to where I want them. They can be frustration at times but with some practice they are super. When using a throwing stick keep it roughly at 90 degrees to your back with elbow bent, hand and wrist pointing up. Then with a straight and swift movement bring the throwing stick towards the area were you want the bait. The tricky part is when to stop your arm and throwing stick. Frames 1, 2, and 3 show you where your arm and throwing stick should be from start to finish. All that is left is to practice that vital sudden stop that launches the boilie.

Frame one: keep throwing stick at 90 degrees to your back. Frame two: with a straight and swift movement bring the throwing stick towards the area where you want the bait. Frame three: at roughly this angle and a sudden stop the boilie will travel a long distance.

My son Derick and my daughter Amy, aged three, with her first specimen mirror carp at the Lough

My son Derick with an 18lb+ and a 21lb 10oz carp. This carp is the largest mirror in the lake and they both took boilies over a pre-baited area

When fishing the Lough make sure that pedestrians can walk past your rods, especially at night because it is a public amenity and many citizens use it for their daily walk

A PVA mesh bag loaded with crushed boilies can be deadly when fishing a pop up over it

The late Robin Brazier back on 1st July 2001 with three carp 23lb 10oz, 18lb 15oz and 13lb 10oz

Rainbowtrout

DOBS FIRST DAY ON Ardaire Springs,  HE LANDED TWO RAINBOWS OVER TEN POUND IN TWO CASTS. WELL WORTH A TRIP IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR BIG TROUT

Hunting for plaice

Plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) is Europe’s most important commercial flatfish due to it thicker, meatier body and lives mostly in the open sea. It can weigh up to 7kg and grow to a meter in length. Plaice have an oval-shaped outline and are easy to identified by their brown colour and there bright orange or red spots. They have smooth lateral line unlike their cousins which are rough. The underside is white and they are able to change their colour slightly to match their surroundings. The plaice is a long-lived fish, with the oldest recorded at 50 years. In winter, plaice swim to deeper water where they spawn in the spring. When their eggs hatch, the larvae undergo a remarkable change, with the left eye moving around the head to the right side; this enables the fish to lie flat on the seabed. When this transformation happens they head for the coast were the adults feed in the warmer water in the summer months. I have caught plaice in depths between 3 to 45 meters over sand, mud and shale ground. In recent studies, fisheries biologists have said that European plaice stocks are threatened by commercial over-fishing, being targeted by every country that has a commercial boat in the water. They have no protection when spawning and no sea protected areas for them to mature. In Britain, a grouped Action Plan for commercial marine fish has been produced under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan. This aims to minimise the collapse of local stocks of a number of commercially exploited marine fish. If this works, it could be a carbon copy for the rest of Europe to implement. The Irish recorded stands at 8.23lb and the specimen weight is 3.31lb.

The good old days. Terry Jackson with a shore-caught specimen plaice 4lbs 2oz from Balintoy Rocks on the Antrim coast. They are far fewer fish being caught from that spot nowadays [trawled to death]

 

 
When to start targeting plaice
You could give it a go around the end of spring all depending on how cold the winter has been. I myself would start around the second week of summer when it is that bit warmer. Although they are usually smaller at this time of year, the plaice is still an aggressive ambush predator. You will find they will take most bait especially small bits of mackerel. Many anglers catch plaice when targeting other species like dab or gurnards. Plaice on a light quiver tip rod are good fun, especially when they are over the 2lb mark. When fishing off a boat at anchor or off a shore mark the    lighter the lead you can use to keep your bait on the bottom the better. This will hopefully give the tide a chance to pull the lead along the sand slowly towards a willing plaice. However, when drifting your lead should be consistently dragging along the bottom to increase your chances of finding them. Plaice are not known to come into very shallow water, unlike flounder do, for example. They usually need a few metres of water before you would have a chance of hooking one. Sandy areas next to rocky ground are also good areas to target plaice, especially near estuaries or harbours. Plaice will take almost any sea baits but rag worm and lug worm account for the majority of fish landed. Harbour rag (maddies) are also excellent plaice bait especially when tipped with peeler crab legs. Adding small bits of mackerel to your rag or lug bait for added scent will increase your chances in landing some nice plaice and remember to streamline your baits because plaice do not have big mouths. Plaice are sensitive to certain noises. They are attracted to vibration that blades, sequins and beads make. These are not necessary to add to the hook lengths but can help you land more fish. It is said that dark or dull colour beads are better than bright colours for tempting plaice to hit the moving bait however I have found no difference as yet. If drifting for plaice with a flowing trace or a wishbone bar,I would add six beads and some sequins on one hook length and four beads with a silver blade on the other one. Then I would put a six-inch long thin strip of mackerel belly on one hook and around four inches of a king rag on the other hook. These rigs have worked a treat for me in the last few years. As you can guess, like all other fish plaice have become less common in areas where there were plentiful. You can still land a few around most harbors and sandy areas were the trawlers have missed. If you should catch plaice around specimen weight, try to put it back as they are the future of our breeding stocks.

 

 The week before I went fishing with Dan he landed this cracking specimen plaice, but unfortunately it died [not killed] due to deep hooking

When I started fishing for plaice
Like most sea anglers I have hooked and landed a few plaice by accident while fishing for other bottom dwelling fish, but it is only the last few years I got into looking for them specifically. This came about after Dan Lynch showed me a picture of a specimen plaice that he had taken only the week before. With the drool wiped from my mouth, Dan said he would take me to target them, and with the knowledge of Cork Harbour that he has I knew I was in good hands. Before my first session I called back out to his tackle shop where he went through what I needed and luckily enough I only needed some blades, sequins and a packet of spreader booms. I had everything else already from my general sea fishing. We then sat down and started to make twelve to sixteen inch hook lengths, some with beads and some with beads, sequins and blades. Then we wrapped them around the trace holders ready to go. Preparation is so important! With all the gear packed away, all we had to do was to dig enough bait and catch some mackerel. When we dig for bait, we only try to dig enough that will last us for our fishing session. It’s a bit of a waste of time otherwise. With our king rag and lug dug, our gear and Dan’s daughter on the boat we headed for the Turbot Bank in Bork Harbour. Our first job was to find some mackerel in the harbour and a good as spot as any was the main channel. As soon as we dropped our feathers our rods were rattling from the vibration of mackerel. With an enough mackerel on board, we could start our plaice session. As the tide was dropping, we headed back in towards the number 8 channel marker bouy. When we got there, we turned the engine off and started to drift. Within a few moments, the tide was taking us out slowly towards the mouth of the harbour.

[Remember there a large ships passing through this harbour every day and if you see one on the move keep your engine running until it is safely pass you]

With our hooks baited on the bottom it only took a few minutes before we were hooking some small dab and whiting. The wind was northerly that day and it was pushing us off the sand, so every once in a while Dan had to start the boat to correct our course to keep us on the fish. As we got to the mouth of the harbour Dan would start the boat and bring us back in to start a new drift. That day we had some cracking dab with one just a few ounces shy of specimen weight that was landed by young Sarah Lynch, and some plaice between 1.5lb and 2lb

Dan with two above average size inner harbour plaice that were caught at anchor on Shamrock Tackle’s Herne Bay Spreader

Sarah with a nice size dab caught on a spreader boom with rag tipped off with mackerel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I fished Cork Harbour a few times a week for plaice after that first trip, and with every other drift, I put on different rigs to see what worked best. Through the summer months, I found the fish were getting smaller instead of bigger. I believe this is down to the amount of trawlers working the harbor. To be perfectly honest I am amazed that there is any fish there at all and even more amazed that Cork Harbour is not a marine fish protected area (MPA). The last few trips this year I used Herne Bay Spreader and Tronix spreaders.

 

Dan with a small ling and a nice red gurnards that were caught on a Tronix spreader in over a 120feet of water

I set them up with the droppers that I had made. I found them to be deadly, especially on a slow drift and when at anchor the dab were queuing up for their turn to come on board. We had fish on every drop with some nice plaice in-between dabs, whiting and codling. I think the list is almost endless as to what this rig can catch.

 

My first spreader boom caught plaice that took a thin strip of mackerel

To put them to the test we decided to anchor a few miles offshore to see would these three and two hook wonders work as good as they did inside the harbour. These spreader rigs are designed to make your bait look alive. All you have to do is give them some little twitches as the lead is on the bottom and then stop for a few seconds; then repeat all over again. Any fish near them will be attracted and will hit the bait if they are faster than their competition. These rigs are good and the only downside is that there it a lot of concentration involved in working them properly. We landed loads of dab ranging from the size of your hand to nearly a pound and some cracking gurnards. Since then I have increased the size of my hooks which has resulted in landing some slightly larger fish. I recommend they should be used with at least 40lb braid for main line and 15lb line for hook lengths and 20lb line for your leads just in case you get snagged up.
Tips, Rigs and bait
[1] Light sensitive rod with small multiplier or fixed spool reel loaded with 40lb braid
[2] Spreader boom rigs, flowing two to three hook trace
[3] 15lb to 20lb fluorocarbon line for snoods and for your leads
[4] Beads, silver spinner blades size 1 to 3, hooks size 6 to 1/0
[5] A few different size leads from 4oz up to 10 oz
[6] Mackerel, rag and lug for bait