This great report came from Simon McLarnon on a recent trip out of Mulroy Bay:
It is amazing what lives in the waters around this island!
Twelve-year-old Darragh Wilson was fishing with his dad and brother on their boat, the Miss Daisy, for thornback rays off Kerrykeel, Mulroy Bay, when he hooked an impressive fish.
He was using a long flowing trace baited with mackerel for thornback rays, which we were hoping to tag as part of the Marine Sportfish Tagging Programme run by Inland Fisheries Ireland. He is involved in this programme as a ‘citizen scientist’ along with his dad, Chris, and brother, Ronan. He thought he had finally hooked a fine thornback on his light spinning gear, as they have proved elusive of late, and the fish fought hard before coming to the surface…which was when he realised it was not a thornback at all! Something even rarer and more impressive had come up from the depths of Mulroy Bay – a huge lobster!
This royal blue crustacean was far larger than any that dad Chris, a lifelong fisherman and diver, had ever encountered and would have been a shame to put into the pot! The lobster measured 72cm long and weighed in at 8 lb 6 oz. This impressive creature was around 80 years of age and was returned to roam around the seabed once more and hopefully preserve its species for future generations…and possibly grow larger for a future capture!
The largest lobsters ever caught in Ireland were around 11 lbs, with “Big Dessie”, an approx. 5 kg / 11 lb, 70-year-old+ lobster caught off Portrush, County Antrim, in 2011 that now lives in Galway Atlantaquaria. Another massive lobster, weighing 5.3kg (11.6lbs), was caught in 2010 off the Blasket Islands. Preserving such large lobsters is vital to maintain their population.
While Darragh didn’t manage to land the thornback ray he was hoping to tag on this trip, he did manage to get one or two last year, as the photo below can prove!
