Willie Roche was out with Wicklow Boat Charters last week when he caught the fish of a lifetime – a 22lb smooth hound.
Fishing with crab baits in relatively slack tides, Willie felt the slow pull of a good smoothie mouthing the bait and tightened into a powerful fish. Once attached, Willie was thankful for the slack tides as the fish took line off the reel with a series of strong runs.
When the fight was over, skipper Anthony expertly boated the smoothie, a female fish which measured 122cm on the IFI brag mat. Realising that she was exceptionally large and with a possible record for the Irish Specimen Fish Committee, Willie brought her ashore in a livewell in order to weigh her on dry land.
Rob McLean and Gavin Moran, who were fishing nearby, did the honours and collected both Willie and smooth hound for the journey back to Wicklow harbour. There she tipped the scales to 22lbs – a couple of pounds short of the Irish record (a 24.86lbs/11.27kgs fish caught by Dean Quigley from south Wexford in 2016) but a serious fish to land nonetheless and a specimen for the ISFC Annual Report for 2019 – congrats to Willie.
Once weighed she was released safely back to the waters of Wicklow bay from where she came. #CPRSavesFish
This was just one of over a dozen smooth hounds caught on the day, if you’d like to go fishing with Wicklow Boat Charters for specimen smoothies, spurs, tope or any other east coast fish, details follow………
Go fishing…
Angling Charters are offered on a full-day, half-day and evening trip basis and can be tailored to suit your needs. Two boats available – Lisin and Castle Maiden. All levels of anglers are catered for. Anglers will benefit from your skipper’s angling experience and local knowledge with advice and guidance on-hand at all times.
SPECIALIST ANGLING CHARTERS
Specialist Angling Charters are offered for those who wish to target specific species, specimen fish or try new methods of angling.
ANGLING COACHING
Whether you’re a Club, Individual, School or Junior you can have an angling coaching session or programme tailored to suit your needs.
Kit Dunne
Wicklow Boat Charters
Telephone: +353 (0)87 6832179 +353 (0)404 67031
Email: [email protected] Website: www.wicklowboatcharters.ie
