Portrush 17th July 2016
2nd trip of the season on Richard Connors boat “Causeway Lass” out of Portrush, and with the fishing being first class previously, we had pretty high expectations for this trip, targeting hopefully Tope, Spurdogs and Huss. 8 members and 2 guest anglers took part.
Glen Murphy
Gerard Girvan
Dan Boyle
Mark Buchanan
Alan Buchanan
Paddy Trainor
Stephen Burns
John McCourt
Al Marsden (guest)
Jordan Marsden (Guest)
The weather was a bit of a letdown for us initially on the trip, with a stiff Westerly breeze kicking up quite a chop, but our intended fishing spot would be sheltered, we would only have to endure a rough journey across to the Foyle Estuary and we would be comfortable enough.
First things first as we stuck on our Mackerel rigs to fill the bait boxes. They had apparently been plentiful on the days prior to our trip, but initially they proved elusive for us, with only a couple of dozen to show for an hour’s work. We decided to head closer to our chosen marks and try again, and after a rough crossing to the Foyle we had another go. This time however Mackerel were thick under the boat, and in 10 minutes we had more than enough for both bait and rubby dubby.
Connor, our Skipper for the day, took us into the Foyle Estuary for what we hoped would be a day’s Tope Fishing, a previous group of anglers having had a great day on this mark. As is sometimes the case, the best plans don’t work, and after 2 biteless hours, we decided to up-anchor and make a move. Connor set the pick onto the same ground where we had had 38 Bull-Huss a few weeks before in the hope we would improve our luck.
Initially the first fish to show here were a couple of Haddock for Al Marsden and his son Jordan, a rare but encouraging sight as Haddock used to very prolific on this coast. Dogfish were next to show, with maybe 6 or 7 being taken; best a 2lb 8oz fish for Alan Buchanan. We also took a few Whiting, Gurnards and Coalfish. Alan Buchanan then connected with something a little bigger, and a Bull-Huss of 6lb 8oz was soon weighed and returned.
Not much else happened for the remainder of the session, and at 16.00 skipper Connor called lines up for the day. Dan Boyle said nothing as he wound his gear up, but when he called for the net, another Huss was on his line, 9lb this time, and he had snatched the best fish of the day, and the day’s biggest fish pool.
Overall then a disappointing day, but that’s fishing, if it was predictable it would be easy.
Ist place Dan Boyle 9lb Bull-Huss 15 points
2nd place Alan Buchanan 6lb 8oz Bull-Huss 10 points
3rd place Alan Buchanan 2lb 8oz Dogfish 5 points