Super Pollack!!!

Skipper Gerry Keohane, of the Naomh Cartha, availed of the good weather of late and reports on some cracking pollack fishing. Biggest pollack of the day was this fine specimen of 15lbs. Fish like that are few and far between and even to get a specimen pollack these days is a rarity. Well done Gerry!!!

If you'd like to book the Naomh Cartha for a day's fishing you can contact Gerry at 00-353-87-2589448.

Mullet on the fly......

Fly fishing for mullet can be a frustrating and infuriating experience says saltwater guide Richie Ryan. 'Its hard enough to catch the Grey Ghost using traditional methods but is much more challenging on the fly. The mullet were late in to our estuaries again this year. Some fly anglers look forward to catching their fish in the first few weeks of the year as the mullet appear much earlier on the South coast.'

Richie introduced his good friend Kevin McLoughlin to the vagaries of saltwater fly fishing a few years ago. Having been a superb fresh water angler, he made the switch easily. Kevin was keen to master the art of catching a mullet on the fly. It looked easy, there were plenty of fish, what could go wrong. It was a difficult journey, but catch he did. Kevin researched the internet and has become our resident expert on fly fishing for mullet. So much so that he predicts mullet on the fly will be huge in the future. Richie agrees wholeheartedly with Kevin. Watch this space.

Kevin is seen here with a mullet in superb condition hooked on the Myles Kelly Fly. If you'd like a day out fly-fishing with Eire Bass guide, Richie Ryan, then give him a buzz on 00-353-86-1940744. Alternatively, check out his website on http://www.corkbass.com/

Big Bass show early.....

Well its been an amazing week on the bass fishing front on the outer harbour marks. Not only have the bigger girls arrived, with plenty of fish in excess of 60cm, but there have been reports of three doubles in the space of a few days.
Gavin O'Connor took a break from his exploits in the Light Lines competition and went back to his first love, lure fishing for bass. On Monday he availed of the good weather and targeted the silvers from a favourite mark of his. Although, the fishing was slow he did capture a fine bass of 75cm on a Feed Shallow lure. Later in the week he returned to the same spot and went one better with this fine 79cm fish which came in at 11.5lbs. The plug that did the damage was once more the Feed Shallow.

Not to be outdone, local lure hotshot, Clinton Rachman, targeted some bass on a night fishing sortie. Clinton has been picking up a few of late, all falling to his favourite South African lure, the 'bass bomb.' However, he really nailed it with this fine 79cm fish caught at a low-water mark. The fish is estimated at 11lbs. Clinton didn't weigh it as he had no scales with him and was anxious to get the fish back as soon as possible. These lures are really deadly, have a look here for further details https://www.facebook.com/BassBombs

Pat O'Shea is also reporting some great sport and he has many fish over the 60cm mark this week. Pat reports that he's had one or two fish over the 60cm mark in every session so far with the best going 67cm (below)

Light Lines 2014...the conclusion.

The Light Line series for 2014 concluded last Sunday, 13th April and what a tight finish it turned out to be. Paddy Swan from Wicklow Bay SAC had been leading from the first competition way back in November. However, he was shadowed all the way and on the last day the champion could have come from anyone of three. Aswell as Paddy, Davy McCormick, Millisle SAC, and Pat Condon, Carrigaline SAC, were also in contention.

The It all started last November. On what was a great day's fishing Paddy Swan triumphed. A total of 2,965 fish were caught between 30 anglers. The vast majority of fish were whiting and they were of good stamp too! Many were around the 1.5lb mark, with quite a few over 2lbs, and one or two touching 3lbs. Paddy had a total of 186 fish and was followed in second place by Pat Condon with 160 fish and Michael Barry in third with 141 fish. Michael Barry had a stonker of a plaice that was the highlight of the day!

The December competition, unfortunately, was cancelled. By the second week in December the start of a severe run of storms had begun, a run that we won't forget Winter 2013 for in a hurry! Luckily, there was a break in the weather for the Irish Boat Teams fundraiser over the Xmas holidays. Over 60 anglers fished the event. One of the boats fished offshore on the Smiths but the majority fished in Deep Hole within the harbour. They were rewarded. The harbour mark yielded plenty of fish with many dabs upto 36cm (almost specimen size), whiting to 46cm, coalfish to 46cm, along with codling, flounder, plaice and an assortment of others.

On the Cuan Bawn angler John Angles from Castletownbere thought he was into a big ray when he played out a fish for 15 minutes. Indeed, the area of 'Deep Hole' that they were fishing was a ray mark of old. Unfortunately, for John the line parted. John was using 15lb breaking strain. Shortly, after Pat O'Shea, Cobh SAC, was into another large fish. This time the fish was brought to the surface and the culprit was revealed. It was a large conger. While it thrashed on the surface the skipper tried to net it, but, unfortunately, it broke the hook - a size 6!!! However, after that several anglers hooked into congers and in all 6 were landed upto 25lbs in weight; all on small hooks and slivers of mackeral intended for dabs and whiting.

It is indeed known for conger eels to venture off the Harbour Rock and venture into the Turbot Bank after storms but for them to come so far in over clean ground is unusual.

The light lines got back on track in January and luckily there was another break in the horrendous weather. In fact it hadn't rained for a number of days before the comp and that did help. The numbers of fish were down, though, with 705 fish caught in total. The size of fish was also down and the whiting and dabs were much smaller than previous comps. Paddy Swan kept up his winning ways coming out on top, followed closely by Pat Condon, Davy McCormick and Pat Wright.

The less said about the February comp the better. The fishing was the toughest in the history of the series. No doubt the mid-week storm before hand and the days of rain leading upto the day had a significant bearing. The fishing was appalling. Nevertheless, Paddy Swan won out again with 19 fish. Closely, followed by Davy McCormick and Danny Cannon. A total of 158 fish were caught between the 3 boats. In some of the previous comps that number wouldn't even be enough to win it. One boat had only a total of 19 fish. Pat O'Shea, the 2013 champion, had no fish at all!!!

Things came back to normal, somewhat, for the March comp. A total of 1,946 fish were caught between the 31 anglers giving an average of 63 fish per angler. This time Davy McCormick won out, with the other boat winners being Pat Condon, Roy Kearney, and Pat O'Shea. This set things up nicely for the last competition in the series. With Paddy Swan leading the field he could only be caught by two others; Davy McCormick and Pat Condon. It was down to the wire on the last day!

....and so the pressure was on. A hearty group of anglers from Wicklow and Dublin travelled to lend their support to Paddy's cause. The three leading anglers were placed in Lagosta II to slug it out. With them were some able local anglers who'd give them some stiff competition. As it turned out the fishing was good on a glorious day that was more reminiscent of summer rather than winter. A total of 1,986 fish were caught between the 27 anglers giving an average of 64 fish per angler. These were mainly whiting and dabs but there were a few plaice and flounder scattered in amongst them. Winner on the day was Terry Boyle of Dublin, followed by Martin Kennedy, Danny Kane, and Dave Jolly. Indeed, both Danny Kane and Pat O'Shea had up-scuttled things slightly on the Lagosta by scoring so highly. However, Paddy Swan had come in at 5th place which was enough to secure him the overall winner's spot. Well done Paddy Swan - Cork Harbour Light Lines Champion 2014!!!


Many thanks to Ger Keohane, skipper of the Naomh Cartha, who sponsors the overall Light Lines Trophy. Thanks must also go to the other skippers who also sponsored prizes; Donie Geary of the John Boy, Alan Kennedy of the Lagosta II, and Joe Lynch of the Wreck Hunter II. In fairness these skippers have always put us on the fish and we would recommend them to any angler or group who would like to fish the grounds in Cork Harbour and off shore.

Bass....they're back!!!

Local die-hard lure anglers Ray Horgan and Pat O'Shea struck silver at last! The lads have stuck to lure fishing all through the winter and have persevered despite countless blanks. At last their efforts have been rewarded. Over the last few days the bass have re-appeared again on the outer Harbour marks and the two hardy anglers were in the right place at the right time.

Ray reports that he had this fine 60cm fish on a Tackle House Feed Shallow on an early morning session. The water was still coloured but despite that the fish had no problem targeting the lures. Ray lost another fish almost at his feet which he reckons was the same size and he had numerous other fish bump the lures.

Pat O'Shea availed of the fine weather and headed out at mid-day. In a short two hour session he had a 53cm bass to a Feed Shallow and a 50cm fish to a Savage Gear Sandeel. It just goes to show its not all about being there at dusk or dawn!

Pollack on the Fly

Richie Ryan of Eire Bass, one of Cork Harbour's top bass guides, reports of his plans for catching pollack on the fly this year. Richie and his clients have had fabulous sport chucking fluff for this very sporting fish over the last few seasons. He reports that he has had great success in water 40 foot deep with HD lines and heavy flies.

Having completed a video editing course, run by soft plastic fishing supremo Jim Clohessy, for the Cork Harbour Angling Hub, Richie dipped his toes in the water and produced some videos. His latest is 'Pollack on the Fly Part 2' filmed in the outer reaches of Cork Harbour. The video was chosen by the site 'Total Fishing.nl'l for their Friday film slot.

Many thanks to Myles Kelly of IFI for this report.

If you'd like to book Richie for a day's angling then check out his website on http://www.corkbass.com/. You can also contact him by email on info@corkbass.com or by phone on +353 (0)86 1940744.

Soft Plastics Fishing Cork - Early Season Pollack

Soft plastic supremo, Jim Clohessy, has been out recently getting in some early season soft plastic fishing. Jim reports on his early season foray....

'Kevin M & myself hit some reefs the other day. Incredibly this was our first trip of 2014! Fishing was steady but the average size was small. We did get a few decent fish. Pollack were the mainstay with plenty of small coalies and a few ling making up the rest. Kevin had most success on metal while I did most damage with a Yokouna Sentail on an articulated head.'

Given the long run of winter storms we had this year Jim and Kevin were indeed lucky to get out. Hopefully, the weather will settle down from here on in and we should see more angling reports coming in all round.

Jim is now doing some fine articles on www.topfisher.eu. Check it out!

Once again the lads were fishing onboard one of Kevin's boats from the Bellavista self-drive fleet. If you'd like further details check out www.bellavistahotel.ie or give Kevin a bell on 00-353-21-4812450.