Mullet on lures - 31st March 2012

I got up at 5.30 am to try lure fishing for bass given the calm conditions, my third attempt to get my first bass on a lure this year. It was just getting light as I made my way down to the rocks. I have never seen the sea so calm at this mark nor seen the water so clear. The sea was flat, just gently lapping on to the shore. I would have prefered to have had at least a little turbulence in the water.

I began to work my way along the shore, scanning for some sign of fish activity. Then I spotted a disturbance on the water to my right, cast a Feed Shallow across the area but after a few minutes realized it was a shoal of small mullet. However, I reckoned there might be a bass lurking about waiting to pick off the smaller fish. But after about 10 minutes the lure spooked the fish and they moved off.

I continued working my way to the east towards a small bay that has been very productive in the Summer and Autumn. I was not long there when another fish shoal appeared. I cast the Feed Shallow across them and on about the third retrieve through the crystal clear water I could see a small fish dart at the lure as it passed, it was hooked! At first I thought it must be a bass but as it lept out of the water I could see that it was a mullet. It gave a good fight for such a small fish. That spooked the shoal and they disappeared. I doubt it was trying to eat the lure as it wasn't much bigger than the Feed Shallow, maybe it was trying to play with it or just wanted to chase it off but it must have snapped at the lure as it was hooked in the mouth.

I continued fishing in the same area, tried a few other lures and some soft plastics. Then another mullet shoal appeared. I lobbed a weedless Slug Go over the shoal and as I retrieved it through them I could see five or six fish turn and chase the lure and one was hooked under the chin. It again fought well and when I eventually got it onto the rock I realized that it was a golden grey mullet.

I made my way to the opposite side of the bay. Bass often show up here about an hour before high tide. There was no sign of any fish activity, the crystal clear water looked lifeless. Then I noticed a disturbance 20 m away. I clambered across the rocks and cast towards the fish activity. It looked like another mullet shoal was moving closer to the shore. Then I foul hooked one with a Feed Shallow. This was a bigger mullet, lept clear of the water, fought like a manic until I eased it into a shallow rock pool.

I fished on for about another hour but there was no more activity. I guess the water was just too clear and still for bass to come close and maybe its not warm enough yet for them to readily take lures.

Silver dozen - 29th March 2012

I had close to a dozen crabs to use up so headed out for a bait session although the wind had calmed down considerably compared to earlier in the week. However, when I got to the beach and stepped out of the car and saw the surf my heart fell. There was just a very weak surf rolling in with little or no wind. I was sorry I hadn't gone lure fishing but as it was about 8 pm at this stage it was too late to go home and get the lure gear. But at least it was a nice sunny warm evening so it was good to be out in the fresh sea air.

I made my way down to the shore - there were already three optimistic anglers in place casting into the very gentle waves.

I set up two rods, one with a 4/0 pennel pulley and the other with a two hook flapper with 4/0 hooks. I baited the pulley rig with crab and put crab on the lower hook of the flapper and half a razor on the other. Then cast out at about 8.30 pm. I knew there was some rocky exposures, now submeged, in front of me so I didn't want to cast too far. However, with the lack of wind, my cast of the rod with the pennel pulley rig went a bit further than I intended. A little later when I tried to retrieve it was solidly snagged requiring a break.

As I was attaching a new shockleader there was a strong tug on the other rod, I grabbed it and felt a fighting fish on the end. It was a 41 cm bass, caught at dusk just as the light was beginning to fade. It took razor on the upper hook.

After a few quick photos, I released the fish, rebaited with the remaining half razor and then got back to work on attaching the shockleader. But before I had a chance to trim the knot ends there was another strong knock on the other rod. A second bass, just above 40 cm in length, again on the razor. That got me worried, I had only taken one pack of five razorfish out of the freezer, if they were going for that in preference to crab I was going to have to be more economical with the remaining four.

I rebaited, this time using about a third of the clam. Again before I had chance to put a bait on the new rig for the other rod I had another bite. This was a slightly bigger bass of 43 cm, again on the razor.

I recast and the bait was barely in the water before I had a fourth bass, smaller this time at 37 cm. I was still baiting the rig for the other rod when I had a fifth bass, just 36 cm this time, and yet again on razor.

I eventually got the other rod set up and cast a crab baited pennel pulley back out. Shortly afterwards I had a subtle knock on the rod with the two hook flapper, picked it up, felt another pull and struck, but the fish was not hooked. I left it for a few minutes then noticed a stronger tug. This time it was well hooked and felt to be a bigger fish. However, as I hauled it on to the shore I saw two glints of silver - I had a bass double, a 41 cm fish on the upper hook and the smallest bass of the night on crab on the lower hook.

This was followed a little later by the first bass on the other rod, another undersize fish.

The bites were slowing down now - I had a chance for a brief rest but it was not long before I had another 40 cm bass on the razor. About 10 or 15 minutes later I had a 42 cm fish on the pennel pulley. That brought the night's tally to 10.

There was a bit of a break then, I had a few missed bites, the bass seemed to have become more cautious and were dropping the bait a second after picking it up. But then I had another strong bite, struck and this time the fish was well hooked. It was the biggest bass of the night at 45 cm, again on razor.

I was almost out of razor at this stage, just enough for one last decent size bait. The tide was now beginning to drop so I reckoned it would not be long before the fish moved off. After about 15 minutes I had another bite on the razor, it was only a 33 cm bass but brought the total to 12. So with that I decided to pack up at a reasonable hour (11.30 pm). It turned out to be a much better night's fishing than I expected with the neap tide and lack of surf and I still went home with half a dozen crabs still in the bucket.

Hopefully the bigger bass will begin to move in during April.

Bass on a sunny Sunday afternoon - 25th March 2012

As Sunday was a lovely sunny day I headed to the coast for some daytime bass fishing. There was a strong southeasterly wind which had blown up a big surf so I was going to have to stick to bait fishing. I got to the shore just as the tide was beginning to push in. There was a lot of kelp at my perferred mark so I moved about 200 m further down the beach until I was clear of the weed, set up two rods with 4/0 pennel pulleys baited with fresh peeler crab on one and lug on the other as usual.

I had a couple of strong tugs but nothing was hooked, then as the tide began to push in more strongly I had another strong tug on the rod baited with lug, This time the fish was well hooked. From the fight it felt to be a small bass and a minute or two later I eased a 36 cm fish on to the sand.

Shortly afterwards I spotted a small knock on the rod with the crab. The line went slack as I lifted the rod, I reeled in the slack and connected with the fish, again it did not feel to be big. It was another small bass, similar in size at 36 cm.

It looked like a shoal of small bass was moving in. Shortly afterwards I had a strong bite. This felt to be a better fish, but then the line went slack - the fish was gone!! A few minutes later I spotted a large seal in a breaking wave just at the distance I was casting. It is possible that it had snatched the bass off my hook. The seal worked its way up and down a 250 m section of coastline right in front of me for about two hours. It was probably chasing the bass shoal. During that time I did not have another bite.

Eventually the seal moved on. A little later, just as the sun was sinking below the cliffs behind me, I had another bass, this time on lug. This one was bigger, a 46 cm fish.

Following that I had two small flounder close to high tide, the first was about 34 cm, the second barely 25 cm long. Then over high tide as the light was beginning to fade I had a fourth small bass, again on lug. This gave the rod a mighty whack and I initially though it was going to be a good size fish. It did put up a spirited fight but I could feel that it was not big. It was another 36 cm bass.

I fished on for about another hour but there were no more bites, the fish had moved on as the tide began to drop. I was happy enough with the result of 4 bass and 2 flounder for a daytime session with a southeasterly wind but reckon I would have done a lot better if the seal had not been there.

A few more bass - 19th March 2012

After the mega bass session last week I returned to the same mark on Monday night. I arrived at an earlier stage of the tide compared to the previous session. There was a nice surf and it was a dark overcast night with a light southwestly breeze. I dug some fresh lug earlier in the day and also had a dozen fresh peeler crabs. As on the previous session I set up two rods with 4/0 pennel pulleys, one baited with lug, the other with crab.

Shortly after setting up I had a small coalfish. After about half an hour I had a sharp tug on the rod with the lug. This time it felt a much stronger fish and after a few minutes I hauled a 49 cm bass out of the surf - so off to a good start!! I had a couple more coalfish after that.

The tide was rapidly moving in now, so after moving everything back about 50 m, I started casting into a sandy gap between low bedrock exposures which was now submerged. First cast into this area produced another good bite again on the rod with lug. This time it was a smaller bass, with a length of 42 cm.

About 25-30 minutes later this was followed by a 44 cm bass, taken on crab.

Maybe another 30 minutes later I had the fourth bass, a 47 fish again on crab. This ran a slackliner in towards the shore, I had to reel in a lot of slack before I reconnected with it.

There was then a dry spell with just a few small coalfish to keep me occupied. First I had a double, a small coalie on each hook of the pennel on the crab, then another one on the lug. After about an hour I had the fifth bass, a 43 cm fish, taken on lug.

After that the bass appeared to have moved on. A fished for a hour or so more but only had 31 cm flounder at the end. So while it was nothing compared to the bass frenzy of the previous session, I was happy with the result: 5 Bass,6 Coalfish and 1 Flounder.

Bass frenzy - 15th March 2012

I had not been fishing for three weeks. I was away on business for one week and over the remainder of the time the conditions were very calm so not ideal for beach fishing, I couldn't be bothered going out and catching nothing more than a few small coalfish, flounder and dogfish. However, the weather forecast for Thursday looked promising with moderate southwesterly winds. I would be fishing neap tides so it would be the least prospective according to solunar predictions but I reckoned that the rapidly dropping barometric pressure after a prolonged period of high pressure along with a moderate surf would bring the fish on the feed.

I arrived at the beach and had two rods set up just after 7 pm, one baited with fresh peeler crab and the other baited with lug. There was a nice warm southerly breeze and a moderate surf, so it looked good. However, I got off to a bad start. First cast on the rod with lug I spotted a small knock, struck but nothing was hooked. I waited for the few minutes in case the fish returned before retrieving but then found I was solidly snagged. Eventually I had to break the line. As I was beginning to attach a new shockleader there was a strong tug on the other rod. I grabbed it but after a couple of turns of the reel I found this was also snagged, requiring another break. So with having two shockleaders to replace it was 7.45 pm by the time I got fishing again.

Shortly after that I had a couple of small coalfish on the rod with lug. Then a little later I had a 42 cm bass on crab. It was quite for a while after that, apart from one or two more coalfish. Then the bass onslaught commenced. Over the space of the next hour and a half it was total mayhem - I had another eighteen bass. Most were in the 40-47 cm range, the largest was 51 cm and a few were undersize.

Sometimes the bait was barely in the water before it was snatched by a bass. They typically ran slackliners in towards the shore and I missed several as well.

The majority of the bass were taken on crab. I did get maybe a third on the lug as well as a few more coalfish.

Close to high tide the bites began to slacken off. I was also running out of bait. But the time I had the nineteenth bass I had very little left and resorted to using the crab claws and legs hoping to make it to an even twenty. But once the tide began to drop the fish had moved on; the last bite was another small coalfish. Still a total of 19 bass and 6 or 7 coalfish was a good night's fishing!!!

Search for the elusive bass

I was delighted to see that my ray from a couple of weeks ago made "Catch of the Week" on IFI Irish Angling Updata Ezine:
http://fishinginireland.info/news/sea-reports/specimen-painted-ray-and-bass-from-an-east-cork-beach/

However my fishing since then has been rather on the slack side. I didn't get out much since I was very busy with work but had about three sessions over the last week:

17th February 2012

I returned to the beach where I caught the specimen ray, this time planning to fish from early on the rising tide to an hour after high tide. There was a good surf, not too rough and the water was weed free. I set up two rods, one baited with fresh crab, the other with razorfish on 4/0 pennel pulleys. Shortly after setting up there was a tug on the rod with the crab. At first I thought I had a small bass but as I began to retrieve I realized it was coming in too easy. Soon afterwards I hauled a dogfish out of the surf.

As the tide began to push in more strongly the codling began to feed. The first one felt a lot bigger than it really was as it managed to get entangled in the rig, and pierced in the side by the upper hook of the pennel. It was only about a pound in weight so too small to keep, fortunately after I untangled it and removed the hooks it seemed to swim away without a problem.

This was followed by another three equally small codling in fairly quick succession. A little later I had another dogfish.

The incoming tide then forced me to move further down the beach. I probably moved too far to my right as the bites stopped and I didn't catch another fish. As it seemed fairly dead I packed up about an hour earler than I intended.

21st February 2012

After the previous poor session I decided to try a different beach to fish the last three hours of the ebb and first couple of hours of the rising tide. A strong southwesterly wind had whipped up a big surf by the time I got to the shore. I normally fish this mark in March and April but was hopeful that the mild weather and big surf might induce a few early bass. Lug has always worked well for me here so I dug some big juicy ones at lunch time. Initially I baited two rods with lug, cast one out as far as I could and the other in shorter. I then moved my rod bag back up the beach and as I was walking back I spotted a few tugs on the distance rod. I grabbed it and struck, but after a few turns of the reel I became solidly snagged, presumably by the gripper weight. As the tide was dropping fast I decided to wait until I could wade out to free the snag. But after a few minutes I spotted the line had become slack, reeled in the slack and found the fish was still hooked. A few minutes later I landed a 43 cm bass.

That was a good start so I was hopeful of a few more but unfortunatly that was it. I had a few bites but nothing was hooked. I tried some fresh crab and razor but that made no difference.

23rd February 2012

Thursday was a nice mild day with a light southerly breeze. I had a bunch of lug left over from the previous session so headed to that same beach early in the evening, this time to fish a couple of hours either side of high tide. Although there was not much wind, there was still a good surf. I set up two rods again with 4/0 pennel pulleys baited with lug. First cast I had a subtle bite, struck and felt a small fish on the end which didn't put up much of a fight. It was a 32 cm flounder.

Shortly afterwards I had a slightly bigger flounder of 34 cm followed by a smaller fish of 28 cm at dusk.

As it got dark the flounder bites stopped and were replaced by coalfish. There was a steady stream of bites, some just whipped the worms off the hooks but I did catch a few small coalfish that managed to get their mouths around 4/0 hooks, although towards the end of the session I switched one rod to crab.

The crab proved harder for the coalfish strip off the hooks and I got another three up to high tide. As the tide began to drop the bites died off so I packed up about a hour after high tide with a total of three flounder and six coalfish.

Specimen Painted Ray - 11th February 2012

Saturday morning was very calm but a southerly wind gradually increased in strength through the day. I decided to fish and East Cork beack for a few hours up to high tide. I got to the beach just after 6.00 pm. There was a nice surf. It was a cloudy dark night with a fairly strong onshore breeze so I was hopefully of a good session.

I set up two rods both baited with crab on pennel pulleys. As I was targeting bass I lobbed both baits out a short distance into the breaking surf. About half an hour later I noticed a few small tugs on one of the rods. I picked it up, felt another tug and struck. I felt something heavy on the end, but it didn't feel like a bass. At first I thought I had just snagged a big clump of kelp but when I got it into the shallow surf I realized there was definitely a big fish on the end as it began to pull strongly. Then as I hauled it out of the foam I saw a good size Painted Ray flapping on the beach. However, it was only when I weighed it at 11.5 lb I realized I had a specimen fish.

I took a few photos and quickly released it.

About half an hour later I had a very sharp tug on the other rod. I grabbed the rod and felt a strong fighting fish on the end. There was no doubtling what it was this time and a few minutes later I slid a 4 lb, 54 cm bass on to the shingle.

High tide was at 8.00 pm, I fished on for another hour until the tide started to drop and then pack up. I was happy with that session, only two fish, but two quality fish!!!