Alan O’Shea, the Kerry inventor of Rodfendr, reports on his trip to Fenit at the weekend…
16 December: It was a typical December evening on the South West coast of Ireland. Dark – even though there was a bright half moon clearly visible in the chill 4 degree night. Windy with the strong possibility of rain. I headed to my favourite fishing spot, Fenit Pier just outside Tralee and luckily for me about 10 minutes from my front door. I am armed with my beachcaster which I will rest against the Pier or rocks using my Rodfendr to protect the line and blank, I have mackerel and frozen black lug as bait, my rig which I made myself is a modified double flapper with glow lights attached as attractors.
I arrive just after low tide and I plan on fishing until either the weather or the bait run out. It’s windy and cold as I set up and I can see that the water is coloured. I head towards the end of the pier near the Marina and cast out towards the Atlantic. I have had some decent dab from this spot and who knows what else might be swimming around.
It wasn’t long before the first telltale signs appeared; the rod tip was dancing in the dark. It was going to be a whiting session. There was quite a school of them in small whiting taking the bait greedily catch and release was the order of the night. But every now and then there was a much stronger tug on the rod it seemed to me that there might be a young conger about. The wind got stronger and the tide rushed but the rod held steady with Rodfendr holding and protecting it on the concrete pier.
Eventually the whiting gave way and I increased the bait size. An old favourite of mine and a constant resident of fishing from Fenit arrived – the lesser spotted dogfish. They were hungry and made short work of my dwindling bait supply.
This was a nice evening fishing at a beautiful place. I didn’t break any records and the action was simple and predictable after the first few whiting came up but I enjoyed it. I had a great time at a local amenity which didn’t cost much except for a little bait.
For me fishing is not always about catching but more about being out in nature, well protected of course, and relaxing allowing my head to clear of all the daily clutter.
Alan O’Shea
www.Rodfendr.com
About Rodfendr
Rodfendr is a highly mobile fishing rod rest. It gives you complete freedom to move from place to place and rest your fishing rod on any object available. With Rodfendr, you won’t need to carry a bulky tripod around – an added benefit when fishing in areas that are hard to access!
