David Edwards, skipper of charter boat Tigger, reports from Courtmacsherry…
In October I moved Tigger from her mooring in Ring to her new home in Courtmacsherry as the Public Pier has now become dangerous and inaccessible for much of the tide due to Cork County Council’s failure to carry out basic harbour repairs for several years.
Courtmacsherry is only a few miles east of Clonakilty and allows me to access much of the same fishing grounds whilst allowing me far greater tidal access meaning more flexible times for trips. Existing operators in Courtmacherry were aware of the problems in Ring Harbour and have been very supportive of my move.
I have also now changed the business trading name from Clonakilty Charters to West Cork Charters to reflect the move.
Much of October and early November was spent taking advantage of the flat sea and exploring some new marks. Plenty of small to medium cod have been coming aboard with the occasional double shots of 3-5lb fish showing as well as occasional fish to 9lb. Pollack are still around in numbers and size with double figure fish not unusual. Ling are also being caught along with many other smaller species.
Offshore sharking has been excellent with between 8 and 14 Blues coming to the boat on all of our October trips and with 6 decent Blues being caught on our first November trip it means that we have caught shark on every charter from late May to November with a average of 9 Blues per trip. To catch them every month from May has been great with the only disappointment being the lower than expected number of Porbeagles this year.
Hopefully they will increase in numbers next season. I plan to remain fishing until mid December depending on weather conditions so hopefully there are a few more good fish to come aboard by then.
David Edwards
Tigger
West Cork Charters
Go fishing…
Tigger is a purpose built Procharter 31 angling boat, powered by a 330HP diesel engine and equipped with all necessary safety equipment. Reef and ground drift fishing is generally the most productive method with the potential to catch in excess of 20 species if you adapt your lures and baits accordingly. From mid June through to October it’s usually possible to target the blue shark fishing that is predominatly between 10-15 miles off the estuary. All sharks are released and recent seasons have seen larger species such as mako and threshers being sighted more frequently.
Web: www.irelandseaangling.com
