People:me and Big Mick
Duration:4-30pm-9pm
Tide:dropping
Weather:foggy,murky,damp,wet,miserable,cold,you get the picture??
Bait:Beautifully formed lugworms, whole ragworms lightly salted, fresh fillet of mackeral and squid
Rigs:2 and 3 hook flappers
Results:1 flounder for me and 1 rockling for Mick.
The short version is that we went to Greystones North Beach , lug ,rag,mack and squid ,,,,,,,,,,tide was out,,,,,,,,,,,rain, fog,cold,,,,,,,1 flounder 32cms for Dave an hour in ,then 1 x 5 beard rockling for Mick 3 hours in,thats it
longer version below;
Report:I'm writing this report as I sit in the back room of my house with the sun beaming down outside and the tide rising in Greystones. Last night was a different story and when myself and Mick arrived on Greystones North beach you could hardly see 20 yards in front of you with the fog and the tide was dropping fast
We set up , got our baits into the water and sat down to watch for the inevitable torrent of bites which would surely come,,,,,but we were soon disappointed and started reeling in perfectly formed untouched baits
.To me theres nothing worse than peeling off good looking baits that havent been touched,,,,,,,even though i know the scent is gone and all that
.Then the fog started to clear away a bit and we could see Bray Head (??) in the distance,,,,,"things will pick up now Mick, once the fog has cleared", i told him and i nearly believed it myself
.I was fishing with 2 rods, a 3 hook flapper out about 80 yds and a 2 hook flapper out at around 30 yds(i go by yards
). I tried lug on its own ,lug tipped with squid,lug tipped with mack,mack tipped with squid, squid tipped with mack, lug mack and squid,mack on its own and squid on its own,,,,,,,,I was even tempted to rob some of Micks rag when he went back to his jeep for his wetgear but I swear I didnt
.I would be glad to hear if I left out any combination of lug mack and squid?? Then it happened,,,the shot of adrenaline we all strive for,,,,,,,,,,,I saw the rod tip tapping away,put the line under my finger and felt a beautiful little tug on the line. A little fishy was interested in my bait, it had all been worthwhile,freezing, soaked etc.I gently lifted into the fish, not wanting to end up with a pair of fish lips on the hook, and pulled him towards the shore,it can be tricky here with snags ,and Fishface has givin out(is that right?) to me many times for not reeling in fast enough and getting snagged, but i eventually landed a flounder 32 cms,,,,,,,,,what joy!!!
.Big Mick tried to look pleased for me but his face ,like mine, is an open book, so I decided not to rub it in too much
.I just asked him to hand me over my measure so that he would have to ask me how big was he,,,,,,,"32 cms Mick,i said, yes 32,,,,,not a bad size 32cms, decent enough at 32cms". The flounder had damage to his fins which had healed over. Well that was the highlight of the first few hours apart from Micks chair sinking down into the sand to the point where he couldnt get out of it and I had to use my super strength to get him up,the trolly jack was back in the jeep
.A small dog arrived next with no owner in sight
,,,,a nice dog but I didnt want to give him that little signal that would make him think we were friends and that it was okay to rifle through my bait,,,,,,,,he kept looking at me pleadingly looking for that signal,,,,,,,,,,,,but all he got was the Eyesreilly stare
.He wasnt giving up though and I realised it was going to be a battle of wills,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and the f&c*ing mutt won
,in a moment of weakness I dropped an eyebrow and that was all he needed,,,,,,he raced in and took a whole squid and a a large piece of mack just as his owner arrived
. I had to admire the dogs determination,,,in fairness
. It started raining a little heavier now and Mick started to mention going to that fishing Land of Plenty that is Bray Harbour to beat his blank,,,,,,,,,but God is good and when he went quiet, got up from his chair, held his rod, put his head sideways in the "I've got a fish on " position ,,,and reeled in ,,,he landed a 5 bearded rockling that felt just as good as a 10lb Bass,,,you can see his happiness in the photo below, which i'm sure would tug at even even Ahabs heartstrings
,,,,,, brings a tear to my eye everytime i look at it
. Surely this is what fishing about ,,,,,,,,,man out in the elements,,,,,,,conditions against us,,,,beating the odds,then legging it home for a curry
.We stayed another hour till 9pm and we were actually surprised at how heavy the rain was when we got back to the cars,,didnt seen as heavy on the beach
.
Just picked up my engine from Derek & Dave from DDM Marine in Coolock.
Can't praise and say enough about these guys. Based in Limeric, the trip up is well worth it for the time and effort they put into everything they do.
They are only 15mins off the M50 motorway and only 10 from Marine Parts Direct for anything else thats needed.
Thanks again lads and well worth travelling the distance
. 
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