Kincasslagh 29th May 2016

First trip of 3 scheduled trips this year for the club on board Caitlin Marie with Skipper Paul McGonnagle.  8 members attended,

Mark Buchanan

Dan Boyle

Bill Bannon

Gerard Girvan

Frank Montgomery

Stephen Montgomery

Paddy Trainor

Alan Buchanan

The weather Gods were kind to us again for this trip, with very little wind and a perfect blue sky greeting us when we arrived at the pier. Kincasslagh had been fishing very well according to recent reports, and our hopes were high for this trip. We were not to be disappointed, and had a fantastic days sport ahead of us. Skipper Paul suggested we try first for mackerel bait, and then head out to some offshore pinnacles where he had experienced some good fishing on previous seasons. A target species were a new fish to us, Blue-mouthed Rockfish, which according to Paul were only found on this particular reef.

We stopped off at a few spots on the way out to try for bait. Unluckily for us the mackerel were scarce on the day, with only 6 or 8 taken by the whole crew. We did take a dozen or so big Launce however, supplementing our bait supply, along with a host of 2-3 pound Coalfish, and after an hour or so we decided to head on out to our chosen marks.

First drop on the reefs and we were straight into fish. Pollock were there in considerable numbers and it didn’t seem to matter what rig you had on, you couldn’t miss. No big fish showing, but plenty of 2 to 3lb fish, which gave a great account on our light outfits. We soon had plenty for the table, and most of our fish were returned for another day. As the day progressed, other species started to appear, with Ballan Wrasse, Dab, Codling, Ling, and Whiting on our species total. We also took some of our targeted species, Blue-mouthed Rockfish, the best of which was an Irish specimen fish of 1lb 11oz for Dan Boyle. Dan also had a smaller Blue-mouth, as did Alan Buchanan. Stephen Montgomery actually had a good fish early on, which may have been heavier than Dans, but being conservation minded, he had returned it before it was weighed! Stevie did however take a decent Ling of 4lb 13oz, which tied for heaviest fish with a 4lb 13oz Pollock caught by Alan Buchanan. Alan also took another Pollock of 4lb 11oz for 3rd place in the clubs competition scores.

The bigger fish on the day fell to baited pirks or spinning tactics, but to be honest it was one of those days where luck played its part as any method employed caught fish. We did put a speculative Shark rod out for an hour or so to no effect, a bit early probably, and our lack of fresh bait and rubby-dubby didn’t help.

Overall a great day out and we can’t wait to go back later in the season.

Joint 1st place                   Stephen Montgomery                    12.5 points

Joint 1st place                   Alan Buchanan                                 12.5 points

3rd place                            Alan Buchanan                                  5 points

New Club Record Blue-mouthed Rockfish  Dan Boyle         10 points