Well after the winter haul out of the boat and some spring maintenance I got the Clare Dragoon back in the water last week. My first trip out was last Monday with a group of Pike fisherman from the Czech Republic.
As it was still early in the season here I was not sure what to expect but at least the weather was lovely. Travelling down the estuary we were met by a lot of very active dolphins and when we got to Loop Head we immediately notice the fins of some Basking Sharks. As we got closer I was amazed to see a pod of at least 50 of these large sea mammals. There were more in this group together than I have ever seen before!
So after that exciting start we settled down to the fishing. We tried for a while close in among the sharks to see if any Mackerel had turned up there but after 2 short blank drifts I moved about a mile and a half off the land to try a reef there. This immediately produced results and from then on for the rest of the day, as I tried all the “closer marks”, we had a very steady catch of fish.
There were plenty of Mackerel about mid water and plenty of Pollack in the 4 to 5lb range on the bottom. We also had Cod up to almost 10lb, Ling, Haddock, Coalfish and a few other odds and ends. All in all a very good day for so early in the year and I now look forward to lots of fine weather and a long fruitful season!
Luke Aston
Carrigaholt Sea Angling
087 6367544
