Ashley Hayden fished at Kinsale last week in hopes of hooking into some good haddock that had been caught in recent weeks.  Fishing aboard Butch Roberts 38 foot Aquastar named Sundance Kid with a goup of anglers he had not met before  he set a south easterly course out into the open ocean to a mark where hopefully the haddock would still be present.

Six miles south east of the Old Head of Kinsale charter boat Sundance Kid pitched and rolled under a dirty grey sky.  Every so often the boat would dip into a trough and land would disappear, that’s the kind of day it was. Baiting up with frozen razor clam and slivers of mackerel the anglers lowered our rigs 100 feet towards a clean bottom of shale. Instantly John Dennehy’s rod signalled bites which resulted in a brace of plump whiting.

Nick Ward displays a nice haddock.
Nick Ward displays a nice haddock.

For an hour as the tidal flow increased bites came slowly but steadily, haddock made an appearance with Nick landing a grand four pound fish while John Young boated a brace of nice codling. Top rod for the day was Rob Porter, employing a two up one down rig laced with beads he regularly contacted haddock and large whiting, with his fish of the day being a ling in the eight to ten pound bracket. Best fish of the trip turned out to be a specimen red gurnard of 2.2 lbs caught by a rightly chuffed John Young.

Butch Roberts, skipper of Sundance Kid, displays a specimen red gurnard.
Butch Roberts, skipper of Sundance Kid, displays a specimen red gurnard caught by John Young. John wins Catch of the Week for this lovely fish.

Not a lot of fish were boated, that most definitely being down to the conditions, however codling to four pounds, whiting close to if not over two pounds, haddock averaging a pound and a half, a couple of good ling and a specimen gurnard in this day and age represents quality fishing. What might be achieved in the high season with good weather? Roll on summer.

Read Ashley’s full report and see all the photos at http://www.anirishanglersworld.com – Deep Sea Fishing off Kinsale, Cod and Bonny Haddock from a Rolling Sea