Luke Aston, charter skipper from Carrigaholt reports:
Fishing over the last two weeks since my last report has been very busy and mostly with groups that are out for a day charter or in for a short package. So this has meant that I have been doing much the same type of fishing each day which amounts to getting fresh bait in first and then heading off to fish on the drift.
The weather is still very changeable and not at all reliable but on the whole not too bad. We have had some flat calm days and I do take advantage of this to do some deep water fishing at anchor. This has turned up the odd good Conger session and we even got hooked up to what can only have been another Six Gill but unfortunately we did not manage to get this one to the surface. And this was in spite of hooking up on 80lb gear and having it on at one stage for 50 mins. Each time it broke off we set up another trace and we hooked up 4 times during the day but it smashed whatever we used including one trace with over 350lb wire on it. It was one of the biggest and most active fish we have hooked so far.
Out to the west of Loop Head the fishing is more mixed with a good range of fish including Pollack, Saith, Haddock, Ling, Codling, Gurnard and Whiting among others.
With most of the stronger winds over the last while from the south or south east we have also taken advantage of the shelter on the north side of the peninsular. Here the fishing is not so mixed but we have been getting plenty fine Pollack on the drift along with the odd very fine Ling. If possible we also get in close enough to have a crack at the Wrasse. Anchor fishing here is also turning up congers over 20lbs which are always a challenge. Also some good Scad have turned up on the ground, which have been missing in numbers for a couple of years. Some of the ones we have caught have been very close to specimen size.
Luke Aston
Carrigaholt Sea Angling
Tel: 087 6367544
