Moving Around

I started today at the wonderful Lough Hyne near Skibbereen. I arrived on the morning high tide and could immediately see lots of mullet finning on the surface on either side of my chosen spot. I floatfished over the drop off from the shallow nearside shelf into the depths of the Lough. Considering how many mullet were around, bites were relatively few and far between, but when they came they were quite positive and over about 90 minutes I had four mullet out. Slightly disappointingly they were all less than 2lbs, although there were clearly some bigger fish around. 

As the tide began to drop, bites more or less dried up. Then as I was on the verge of knocking off, I had one last good bite and I was into a better fish, only 3lb 5oz but they always fight above their weight in the clear, deep water.

It's a pity the fantastic scenery was lost in the West Cork weather! By the time I'd returned the fish the first of the day's kayakers and swimmers had appeared. It seemed a good time to move on.

Next spot was further east, a new mark I'd found on Google Earth in the Castletownshend creek. The fog had really closed in by the time I got there, but I could see some fish moving over shallow mudflats beyond the fringe of bladderwrack. I set up my leger rods and fished for about 90 minutes till the fog turned to steady rain. I'd had a few knocks and little drop-backs on the tips but nothing had held on, I thought maybe they were only line bites. To be honest I hadn't had the best of the tide, just the tail end of the ebb. Overall I thought it looked a promising spot for the future and I could see a lot of other fishing potential nearby.

I decided to head east again to Rosscarbery planning to fish out of the back of the car given the weather, but by the time I got there the rain had eased off to an intermittent drizzle so I set up on the grass area close to the bridge arch. It was a relatively quiet session by recent standards, with just two good takes on the leger rods. First off was a 4:09 on my right-hand rod ...

That was a good scrap but no match for the fish that pulled my left-hand rod over about an hour later, just as I was contemplating packing up. The mullet streamed line off as it ran straight out, coming worringly close to a pole sticking out of the mud across the far side of the pool. Then it kited left, from where I was gradually able to work it nearer through the flow out of the lagoon. The fish got its head down into the deeper water in front of the bridge arch, and spent five minutes or more boring down towards the rocks beneath. And then the hook came out ... I'd not seen the fish at all, just a couple of massive whelms on the surface. It felt far stronger than any of the fives I had in August and I was left feeling I'd lost a real beast.

Eddie Baker, who is staying at Rosscarbery on holiday, arrived in time to see the second half of the fight and share my disappointment. Eddie's only been over a few days but has already enjoyed some great fishing including a 6:02 PB and several other 5lb+ thicklips ... looking forward to heading back with another friend, Steve Smith, who is arriving tomorrow to stay with us.