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blowin

It still seems a bit early and cold but an angling site reports that small macks are already being taken from the shore in some parts of the country . Does anyone know whether they are up here yet ?

patsonline · Joined: 23 Apr 2009 Posts: 39 Location: North Mayo

I think it is a tad early, too cold as well, nothing usually till late May early June.

wayland · Joined: 14 Dec 2006 Posts: 1171 Location: Campile. Wexford

Large shoals are reported by local fishermen off the south coast. Have not heard of any off the beaches as yet.
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blowin · Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2009 1:17 am Post subject:

Had a good catch from a boat within about 500 yards of the shore but no luck from the rocks or pier as yet . Can't be long now tho' Wink

Guest · Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 2:02 am Post subject:

Still haven't had another try from the rocks due to the constant wind . The Northerly makes it difficult to cast any distance and the Westerly kicks up a huge amount of debris like seaweed soup which the mackerel prefer to avoid . It may be different on other parts of the coast , of course .
Went out on mate's boat about 10 days after the first very productive session and struggled to catch enough mackerel to use as bait for other things . The few we did land were stuffed full of sandeel which would explain why they weren't feeding with the usual frenzy .
Out again yesterday and consistently found that you'd get a lot of gentle knocks without hooking fish . The trick turned out to be dropping the feathers a few feet below where you got the knocks , then you would catch -- but even then only one or two at a time . Very unusual for macks . Sounds far fetched but concluded that the knocks weren't missed bites but were the result of the weight bouncing off fish which were in very dense shoals . The fish-finder showed these as tight columns going down to as far as 50 ft . That is pretty unusual as macks normally seem to swim in horizontal shoals about 10 ft from top to bottom . Again , they were full of sandeel .
So , Phil and Camile , I haven't forgotten my promise to take you to the pier but don't think we have missed much yet . Does anyone know any different ( Innischrone > Ballysadare Bay ) ?

dara · Joined: 01 Aug 2007 Posts: 186 Location: Mayo

Went shore fishing today - off the pier at Augris Head, Sligo and the rocks a little west of it. Didn't have any takers (apart from thieving crabs) but saw salmon rolling and splashing about near the pier and a few big mullet that weren't interested in the bread flake that we floated almost onto their noses. Was talking to a fellow who was spinning and had caught macs and pollock the previous evening. Also saw what looked like bait fish scattering from something on the surface but not within casting range - not for float fishing anyway.
Nice thing happened - got talking to an old fellow (a lobster man) as he was going out to check his business and when he came back he let me have two good sized lobsters - when I asked him how much I owed him he said give me the price of a pint and wouldn't take more than a fiver!
I'm just waiting for them to cool down...

blowin · Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 4:34 pm Post subject:

blowin · Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 2:00 am Post subject:

For the uninitiated a 22 lb conger is about the size and shape of a 5 ft long 4" round fence pole but with a very bad attitude and much stronger jaws . They can take off your fingers or toes some hours after you think you have managed to kill them . This is a bit grim to describe but the "common-sense" method of killing by beating them over the head simply doesn't work --- or at least doesn't stop them from wriggling and biting up to three or 4 hours after they have been immobile . Roll them over and give one hard whack on the stomach just above the anus . That kills and stops any reflex action .
Not bad eating but by no means my favourite .
One recipe ( which I am afraid I might have put on here before ) :-
Cut conger into 2" steaks .
Put steaks onto a sheet of chip-board and place into a moderate oven ( 180 deg ) for 20 mins .
Remove from oven .
Dispose of conger .
Eat the chip board .

dara · Joined: 01 Aug 2007 Posts: 186 Location: Mayo

I didn't get his name but he's a very tall thin gent, thin on top in his early seventies. Look out for him if you're down there, his boat has a red hull, moored just off the pier. I went to Inniscrone yesterday and caught a bucket of macs off the pier - what surprised me most was the ammount of eastern europeans fishing. I waited until late evening because during the day there wasn't room to get your rod in.
Conger eh? I'd like to have a go at that. I'm off for the next couple of weeks so give me a ring if you fancy giving it a try...maybe one or two of the others will come out...

phil · Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 11:01 am Post subject:

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