October Report

After a quick stop back home for lunch, I headed to a different rock mark on Bantry Bay where I'd lost a very decent eel in August. I lobbed out a mackerel head bait, waited what seemed ages for it to sink to the bottom, then tightened down very gingerly so as not to pull into a snag.

Half an hour later, a very slow burn take. The rod tip pulled down slowly, only half an inch or so. Nodded a while. A click of the ratchet. And finally line streaming off.

I lifted into the fish and met a solid resistance, with typical conger bangs as the eel thrashed side to side. I soon had it on the surface - a good chunk - and worked it along to a lower ledge to my left. One of the French guys spinning over there came to help brandishing a roach size landing net! Merci mais non - I slid the eel up onto the ledge by the leader. I gave it 18 - 20lbs, very similar size to the one I lost but who knows if the same eel? A quick photo and she was back swimming.

The edge was slightly taken off the day by the appearence of these guys, the usual suspects towing between Bere Island and Shot Head. 1st  October and they're already emptying the Bay of sprat and anything else that gets in the way. Maybe this will be their last winter - let's hope the government gets it right this time following the public consultation earlier this year and bans them from the 6 mile zone.

Probably coincidentally - no bird activity today and no mackerel to show for an hour with the sabikis. The French guys didn't get mackerel either, just a few smallish pollack up to about 2lbs.

On Friday 4th I headed down to Rosscarbery to fish with my old friend Pete Bluett who was over from Cornwall for a short break with his partner Jenny. Most of the larger fish on the recent Mullet Club week had come from the wall, so naturally I started there. There was a light SE breeze and it was drizzling heavily ahead of a major rain event forecast to arrive overnight.

I'd had the two leger rods out for maybe thirty minutes without a bite when Pete arrived. He was soon set up and into a three pounder on his very first cast. A few minutes later he was in again, a better fish, and I'd just netted it for him when one of my rods pulled over. I played the fish while Pete held his one in the net ... a few minutes later we weighed them both at 5lbs exactly.

I was back on Sunday. It was always going to be a difficult day after the deluge on Saturday that brought flooding to West Cork. The water was brown-tinged when I arrived just after high water and coloured up worse as the day progressed and the lagoon emptied out.

We started well down the west side where I've done okay before in coloured water but there was no sign of mullet moving and we were soon getting hassled by the swans.

We made a move, Pete to the bridge swim and I fished from the grass to his right.

Pete had just come over for a chat when one of his rods pulled over ... a quick dash back and he was into a good fish which ran a long way out then kited left. Pete did well to keep it out of the worst of the torrent of water pouring out of the lagoon. It was a cracking thicklip of 5:13, equalling his Irish PB...

It was a slow afternoon. Much later, I hooked a fish about 3lbs that gave a drop back bite, but I lost it at the edge when my hooklength snapped. That's fortunately a rare occurrence - the line seemed to have been crimped where it broke so probably it was crab damaged. I should have spotted it really unless it was newly inflicted.

Pete was struggling more than me with weed, leaves and other debris in the faster water close to the bridge. He decided to make another move to fish the lagoon. He'd not been gone five minutes when (a) my right hand rod pulled over, and (b) it started raining, soon pouring.

By the time I landed the fish - a very chunky thicklip of 4lbs exactly - I was decidedly damp from the waist down. By the time I'd packed up and got back to the car, I was soaked.

I knew the garage shop along the road has a section of workwear clothing but I baulked at paying €85 for a pair of tough builders' trousers with loads of pockets. Instead I sat in my damp jeans and quietly steamed during a lovely meal in the Abbey Bar with Pete and Jenny.

On the 8th I dropped Sylvi off at the Airport for a UK trip about 10.30am and carried on east. The tides worked for a low water session on one of the beaches where my friend Stephen had been catching painted/small-eyed rays.

I thought there'd be enough colour in the water after the weekend to make a go of a daylight session. It did seem quite coloured but I drew a blank.

It was worth the trip for a look at the venue and to see the wonderful 9.5lb bass caught by an angler just along the beach to my left. I saw him struggling to land it and went over to help. He'd got it beached on the sand by the time I arrived but I was able to take a photo for him and run back to get my scales as he didn't have any.

I was just starting to pack up when Stephen arrived for a session into darkness over high water. I was sure he'd bag up but in the event he just had one tiny ray and a few scraps. Other anglers there  did no better, so maybe the rays just weren't about on that tide.

On the 11th I headed up to Kerry to fish a rock mark on a stunning weather day. There was a line of pots that started right in front just about in casting range, but I was okay fishing big baits inside them to the left and smaller baits at distance to the right.

On the making tide the dogfish were a nuisance, I caught several on the smaller baits and they were worrying the soft parts off the mackerel head baits I was fishing close in. Then as high water approached they turned off.

First decent fish was a huss about 8lbs on a mackerel head, followed rapidly by a thornback about 6lbs on half a sardine...

Thus far I'd been using frozen baits but I'd brought some mackerel gear and between the doggie bites I'd been having a few chucks with sabikis without any luck. Right on the top of the tide I finally had a couple of joeys hang on for a welcome supplement to the bait supply.

A screaming run on the first joey head ... a good bit of weight to the fish and I realised it was zipping around side to side in a very not-a-huss like way. To my delight a spurdog broke surface, not a monster one but a nice female maybe 6lbs.

Next chuck with the other joey head, and a repeat performance with another spur just a shade smaller.

In complete contrast on the 13th, a session in Bantry Bay on a very dull morning.

I had a staccato sort of take on a mackerel head first cast, and wound a conger in to the edge. It was only 4 or 5lbs so it was probably the best possible outcome when it shook out the hook, so much better than wrestling with it on the rocks.

After that, a few knocks and sharp pulls but nothing hung on and I packed up blank after four hours.

That day Dave and Jane Matthews were travelling over from England to Rosscarbery. I had to collect Sylvi from a late flight into the airport, and I'd be joining them the next morning for another six day mullethon with Dave.

Day 1: Monday 14th October

It was lunchtime by the time I arrived at Ross after getting home in the early hours. Dave had already texted to say there were plenty of fish showing and when I got there mullet were topping all over the pool. Dave was fishing over by the bridge so I joined him just to his right.

Inexplicably for the almost perfect conditions, the mullet didn't seem to want to feed. I had a good take on my very first cast and landed a 2:10 thicklip. After that ... nothing. Dave didn't have a proper bite all day. Earlier on he'd played in a mullet about 3lbs when his line tangled in some jagging tackle the fish was carrying ...

Today was forecast wet and breezy, and the forecast was uncannily accurate.

We found some good numbers of mullet moving in the shelter of the trees well down the west bank, but same as yesterday they didn't seem to want to feed. With the rain getting heavier and the swans arriving to make life difficult, we soon relocated to the lagoon. We fished the spot where I'd had a few mullet when the Mullet Club guys were over last month, and where we could get our brollies up.

We had bites on and off all day and finished with three fish each. Dave had the biggest at 3:14, the others were all lovely clean fish just either side of 3lbs that put up a great scrap. They came in fits and starts as small shoals moved through our swim - often we'd get bites close together and once were playing fish at the same time.

The weather was much more pleasant today, the water carrying colour from all the rain yesterday but not too bad. We set up with Dave in the bridge swim while I fished a few yards to his right.

Dave usually gets the better numbers of fish in the slightly deeper, flowing water but he fished hard all day for no credible bites.

I had a 2:12 early on then a long wait for any further action. Late afternoon, just as the new tide started to push through the pool I had a take from a 3:00. Recently the fishing had been dying as the sea water floods in, so I thought that would probably be it for the day. Instead, on the very next cast my left hand rod folded over.

A powerful fish ran ... stopped ... and ran some more. It went a long way out and I was worried it might be among the snags across the pool. Happily the mullet stayed on the move and eventually weakened. It kited left but stayed away from the water now pouring through the bridge arch into the lagoon and came in relatively easily for Dave to net. It was my biggest mullet of the year so far, a lovely thicklip of 6lb 3oz.

As it was, Dave managed to snatch a modest size mullet out from between them.

I gave up after a few minutes and moved further down where I found a few mullet grubbing in the margins but couldn't manage a bite in the blissful half hour before the white menace found me.

It was already blowing up so we decided on an early move to the lagoon, same swim as Tuesday. We managed to get the brollies up against the wind, not without difficulty and not a moment to soon as the rain was lashing within minutes.

It was silly rough really and I wasn't sure at all there'd be any mullet in the shallows there, but we actually had a decent afternoon. Dave landed four mullet of the same stamp as earlier in the week. I had a couple of those but in the worst of the weather I hooked into a massive slack-line bite from a bigger fish. Unfortunately it ran parallel to the shore to my left, upwind of the brolly, so I had to get out and face into the wind and rain to play it. The fight seemed to go on for ever! We weighed the fish in the shelter of the brolly so its 5lb 1oz wasn't wind-assisted.

Day 7: Sunday 20th October

A bonus day for Dave as the ferries across the Irish Sea were cancelled!

We'd had heavy rain overnight and by daybreak the wind was already howling as Storm Ashley approached. Dave fished down the west bank, in the reasonable comfort of the shelter of the trees behind.

I decided to stick with my original plan and head home today. I had a leisurely breakfast, packed my stuff, said goodbye to Jane then drove down to say goodbye to Dave.

Interestingly though the swans were hanging around, they weren't causing Dave grief. The water was carrying a little colour from the rain; presumably they couldn't see his groundbait on the bottom.

Dave caught this 3lber and a smaller one before packing up mid-afternoon. The wind was wild by then back in Kilcrohane; he did well to last that long.

The final tally for the week was Matthews 16, Rigden 12. Dave's best was 5:10 and mine 6:03, we both had one other 5lb+. I'd say that's about par for the course this year at Ross ... odd big mullet, a higher proportion of smaller ones than has been the case in recent years and plenty of challenges, especially the up and down weather. Swan trouble is always on the cards at Ross but the little group there at the moment seems particularly bothersome ... I hope they don't mess up the winter fishing but time will tell.

On the 29th I was due for a break after a week of exam work and as ESB had notified they were turning our power off for the day for maintenance on the line, today seemed as good a good choice as any! Fortunately, after an unsettled spell, high pressure was building in and the weather obliged. Sylvi and I spent a magnificent day up in Kerry.

The dogfish were rampant, apart from maybe an hour over the high water slack. I gave up counting at seven and probably caught about a dozen. No rays, surprisingly, and no huss either though I did drop off a couple of heavy fish half way in which I'd suspect were huss.

What I did get were four more spurs, although this time male fish a size smaller even than the smallish females I had earlier in the month. They are nice to catch as they still have novelty value for me, but I do hope some bigger ones turn up as this winter season progresses. Two came on sardine fished at range, and two on mackerel heads fished closer in. The frozen sardines that Lidl were selling briefly in the summer are rapidly becoming a favourite bait, but I'm onto the last bag now.