Once again I shall continue to look back at some of our holidays to Ireland. This week I have reached 2016. We had 11 days booked at Bella vista Cobh again although this time it was a week or so earlier and we were joined by uncle Steve again.
Once again we arrived via ferry on the Monday morning and spent the day ashore getting settled in for our holiday. We had a nice drive around and found a suitably windswept beach to try and catch some fish from. We had a few flounders and uncle Steve managed a potential record turbot (foul hooked) however it was only likely to claim the record for smallest turbot as it was so small he thought he had a leaf at first.
Our first day on the boat was fairly calm and so we headed off for sharks. We had to get enough mackerel together for hook bait and chum so this consumed some valuable time in the morning. Luckily there were plenty of mackerel about and with three of us fishing we soon had enough for the day. we set up our drift for the day and there were soon some blues starting to show. To be honest we had a busy afternoons fishing. there were plenty of small sharks showing and some seemed to hold back from the boat but we still managed 16 for the day which we were very pleased with.
The next day was just about good enough to go sharking so we headed off again. We had used much of our bait yesterday so had to spent precious time stocking up on mackerel again in the morning. It was a bit too calm for sharking first thing in the morning however the wind built throughout the day and we finished with a drift over one of the reefs for mixed fish. we had 9 blue shark, mackerel, scad, whiting, dogfish, cod, ling, pollock, red gurnard, grey gurnard and an octopus for the day. the highlight of the day was seeing a shoal of stone bass (wreckfish) hiding under the boat. They chased our baits a few times and Stacey even hooked one for a short time. She didn’t understand why I was so excited until I explained they are very different to the normal bass we catch and would have been a great fish to catch.
We were confined to the harbour over the next few days while a storm passed through. we had some nice fish still with blonde rays over 21lbs, sprat, herring and smelt to add to our species as well as a few chunky bull huss and strap conger. One day Steve and I headed out for a couple of hours in the morning and had some thorn-backs, dogfish and a bull huss. As the worst of the storm passed through we came ashore and collected Stacey had a drive out to Baltimore. Our friends Charlie and Sue were staying there for the week so we thought we would pop and say hello. We timed our journey well as the sun had long gone and a heavy band of rain came through as we drove a few hours west to Baltimore. After a quick catch up in a nice pub and a round of drinks at Charlies expense he pointed us in the direction of a local land mark called the needles. As we left the pub the rain stopped and the sun broke through just in time for the walk. It was certainly bracing in a stiff breeze along the cliff tops. however we were rewarded with a view of some porpoises feeding in the harbour entrance. The evening continued to improve and turned out quite pleasant. We called into a couple of other ports on the way home, stopping at union hall for dinner before returning to cobh and our apartment ready for the next day.
Even once the storm had passed there was still plenty of wind about for the next few days. We pushed off a bit for sharks one day when conditions were as much as I would wish to fish for them in. the drift was a little fast but just about manageable. The day started well with a small porbeagle soon after starting the drift. It was great being able to sight fish for it with a light boat rod as it circled the boat. Other then that it was a pretty slow day for sharks. We had some ling and pollock when we drifted a reef and unfortunately lost 2 blue sharks. They are still the biggest I have seen so far so god knows what they weighed. We had them alongside the boat briefly but not long enough to measure them sadly.
The last two days were spent between mixed fishing in the harbour and some shark fishing. we had a nice variety in the harbour and saw a few sharks further off. We lost quite a few on the last day, there seemed to be plenty about however this proved to be a problem for us. several times we hooked a shark but as we played it the bait would slide up the line. another shark then came along and grabbed the bait, biting through the mainline and resulting in the original fish being lost. I have since heard of people using a muppet on the trace to try and stop this from happening. I lost a nice porbeagle after having it alongside the boat. It took a second dive and the line was done by another fish before my very eyes.
Once again we had a great time in Ireland and I would recommend a trip like this to anybody. Even without the fishing a trip around the coast would be enjoyable. The scenery is great and the people are lovely.
Only a couple more weeks of these articles and hopefully I can bring you some more relevant posts regarding local fishing.
COVID-19 UPDATE
We have now had confirmation that the large deck area on Galloper we have some good news. we are able to accommodate up to 6 anglers plus the skipper as of 29/03/21. I will honour existing bookings as they are unless you wish to change them. If you are booked as an individual and would rather book on a trip with 6 @ £70pp then please get in touch.
I understand this could be due to change after 17th of May but I am not willing to take bookings for larger groups until the rules have actually been relaxed on this.
That means that until further notice I will taking bookings on the basis of groups of up to 6 people.
NEXT SPACES
I have plenty of midweek availability from 29/03 onwards. Please contact me to discuss midweek dates. Weekend spaces as follows
17/04/21-possible offshore trip 2 space @ £90pp max 6 anglers
24/04/21-3 spaces @ £70pp max 6 anglers
25/04/21-6 spaces @ £70pp or boat £400 max 6 anglers
03/05/21-6 spaces @ £70pp or boat £400 max 6 anglers
08/05-21-3 spaces @ £80pp max 5 anglers
22/05/21-poss offshore trip please call for info otherwise 6 spaces @ £70pp or boat £400 max 6 anglers
23-05/21-6 spaces @ £70pp or boat £400 max 6 anglers
30/05/21-6 spaces @ £70pp or boat £400 max 6 anglers
31/05/21-6 spaces @ £70pp or boat £400 max 6 anglers
Please call me for more information on 07956411528
Stacey is still operating the ‘lady grace’ on a bookings only basis both mid-week and weekends at the
Moment but and is likely to fall under the same restrictions as me. so please call her on 07791859624
Dad (Stuart) has availability on the ‘Razorbill 3’ please call him on 07850234077
