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Clare Dragoon winds up for 2008 Season as the days shorten

Fishing Report for October

As the days get shorter and the holiday season is over the number of trips I do in October drop off and it is mostly day trips at the weekend. Lucky the fish don’t know that the season is over and still oblige!! Indeed catches have been good on the days I have been out.

The biggest change in the fishing is that the Mackerel shoals that were so steady at Loop Head over the summer are now no longer there and the Mackerel are now in smaller tight shoals that take a bit of looking for. Also there have been some shoals of small joey Mackerel close to the surface further off and these make great bait as a whole fish. Pollock have been obliging and there have also been some good sized Coalfish that have been ambushing baits in mid water. Tighter to the bottom there are some nice Ling about with the chance of a Cod or Gurnard to add variety. On the stonier ground there are still lots of very good sized Whiting with a good chance of getting a specimen. We had one of 3lb 10oz on a recent trip. There are also some Haddock on this ground.

Higher in mid water some big shoals of Scad have been showing up. Maybe this extra feed is why, despite the drop in water temperature, that there is still a good sign of Shark about and it is not uncommon to have your fish attacked by one as you reel it to the boat.

That’s about it for this year, but if we get a spell of weather and I get a group that want to go fishing I will post another report. So if the weather is good and you are interested give me a call, if not have a happy and peaceful Christmas and see you in the new year!

Shark fishing going well with steady catches reported

Report dated September 24th, 2008.

the last eight days I have had 2 groups of fisherman in for 3 days fishing each. And as the week went on the weather that has been so broken this summer, finally settled down and we have had some perfect conditions for fishing.
As for the fishing, well the first thing is that the Mackerel have gone from around loop head for the time being. In order to get a box for rubby dubby for shark fishing we had to fish east of the bridges of Ross. Here we came on some good shoals of Mackerel.

I should say that while fishing here on Sunday week last, I could see some shore fisherman taking some crazy risks. The tide was just starting to fill and there was a very big sea swell on the shore. I could see two fisherman on a sloping rock ledge just above the waves. Now I know that some fisherman go to great lengths to catch a fish but this was just plain crazy and I was glad to see them move back after a while.

Back to my report! Later in the week there were some good shoals of Mackerel wide off Kilbaha Bay. The shark fishing is going well with steady catches on the 2 drifts I did last week. Indeed by the time I did my second drift late in the week the wind had gone so calm, that the drift was very slow and the best shark was caught deep directly under the boat. While on these shark drifts we always have a couple of rods fishing on the bottom and one area that I drift has been producing some very good whiting, with fisherman often getting 3 2lb plus fish at a time. This was topped however last week when one fellow hauled in 2 fish of specimen weight in one go! By the time we got ashore and weighed these fish one was just 0.01kg under specimen and the other weighed in at 3 and a half pounds.

The general reef fishing is resulting in a steady run of mixed fish with some nice catches of cod in the 5 to 7 lb range. Pollock are not dominating as they sometimes can but there are plenty about.

Over the last 2 days I have fished with day charters and the fishing has got slower. Whether this was down to tactics or easterly wind, who knows! All I do know is that this weather is Just Lovely!!

Some lively action reported on the Clare Dragoon

Report dated September 17th, 2008.

I had a group of fisherman from Holland in last week for 6 days fishing. The week started well with a light northerly breeze and we spent the day fishing on the drift about 6 miles west of Loop Head. The fishing was steady with a good amount of whitefish coming to the boat. It was noticeable how many Ling was in the catch, with one to 20lbs. As the day went on some of the whitefish were getting attacked by a shark and so I put out a shark trace. This resulted in a shark of 119lbs, which is over the specimen weight. This was tagged and returned.

The next day we decided to do a shark drift proper. This was the first chance I had to go at the shark in a few weeks. We boated 2 shark from 5 runs, with the best of the shark lost to a poor trace. The bottom fishing started very busy with a good mix. This did peter off to a steady trickle of Whiting, but they were of a good size, with yet another specimen of 3.5lbs.

After this the week went down hill as the weather got steadily worse and we were confined to the inner estuary. The next day we got on some steady Ray fishing east of Scattery island. Over the following two days we had to work very hard to even get enough Mackerel for the bait box and the fishing was slow at anchor. None of the marks fished well and even the Ray mark that had done well produced an almost blank just two days after fishing well.

Then on Friday we got back to sea although it was hard to fish as, although the wind had calmed, there was still a big swell running. However the Pollock did not let us down.

Over the last weekend the biggest change is the lack of Mackerel about. The shoals have started to break up and we are having to work harder to find them. However we are and it is noticeable how many small Pollock of 1 to 2lbs are in the lower estuary and around Loop head. Also a short spell at anchor in Collage Bay produced Ray to 10lbs.
 

Sea Fishing good with good variety of fish we head into autumn

Report dated September 10th, 2008.

I was out every day again last week and even though it is still a struggle with the weather we have had some great days. This unsettled summer that we have had, does make you appreciate the days when the wind is more normal and the sun is out.
On days like that, 10 miles west of Loop Head, the views a fantastic and because of all the rain the visibility is very good. From our vantage you can see, away to the south west, the top of the Blasket islands poking out of the sea. Then the Dingle peninsula rises up into the mighty mount Brandon. This in turn gives way to the hills over Tralee with Kerry head in the foreground marking the start of the Shannon estuary. On the other side of the estuary Loop Head points out, like a lonely finger, on the west a most tip of County Clare. The rest of the coast of Clare goes away to the North east until it rises up into the famous Cliffs of Moher. Away to the north you can see the Aran Islands and if you are lucky and fishing a bit more to the north you can even see the twelve pins of Connemara. To top that you are surrounded by lots of different sea birds all waiting to see if they can get a handy meal or just passing as they go about their business. And now and again big pods of dolphins happen along. AND there is good fishing!!

And the fishing is good out there at the moment with a good selection of fish coming to the boat. As normal Pollock make up the biggest part of the catch, but we are catching a lot of Ling to a decent size, some fine Cod, lots of big Whiting with 2lb+ quite common and over the last few days some nice Haddock.

Mackerel showing well around Loop Head but fishing curtailed by the weather

Report dated September 3rd, 2008.

Fishing here is still very curtailed by the weather. It is proving very hard to plan ahead as no 2 days are the same and fishing time out of the estuary is limited. This has meant that I have not done a Shark trip in over 2 weeks. We have however had fish attacked when fishing for whitefish so there is a sign of shark about.

Given any break in the weather the fishing in the estuary is going well, with good showing of Ray, Dogfish, Bullhuss and Conger on their marks. However it is also true to say that sometimes it is even hard to get shelter on these marks!

Mackerel are still showing well around Loop head and further out to sea. It is also noticeable how scarce they are up the estuary. This may be because of the amount of fresh water coming down the Shannon. One thing I did notice, that on the ebb tide, it is now normal to see the coloured water from the estuary up to 8 miles out to sea. This would normally be at the most 3 to 4 miles out. This may also be the reason that the bottom fishing close in has gone quiet. However if you get the chance to get further off the general fishing is very good with a good mix of whitefish about. A nice bonus is the number of ling in the 5 to 15lbs range coming to the boat.

The Clare Dragoon is back to earth after the big news story of last week

Report dated August 18th, 2008.

Hard to put a gloss on last week, put simply the weather was BAD!!!! Some groups were happy to put off their trips till late September or early October which were the next dates I had available. The weather cannot be any worse and indeed the way the last few years have gone September/October could be the best weather we get this year!

What fishing I did do was in the estuary except for one and a half a days a few miles off Loop Head. The half day was still quite choppy and the drift was very fast, still there was a steady catch rate mostly of Pollock. On the one reasonable day we had, last Friday, I had a group who were having a friendly competition between themselves. This went well with about 11 or 12 species recorded.

The estuary fishing is hit and miss with some marks fishing well at some states of the tide. The amount of fresh water coming into it has turned the water very brown in places, and this cannot be helping. However we did have some good fishing with steady catches of Ray and dogfish and a few handy Congers.
 

A huge Six Gilled Shark the largest fish ever caught on the  Clare Dragoon was caught last week

Report dated August 11th, 2008.

A new group came in last Sunday and we started with a day in the estuary as there was a fresh southerly wind blowing. This produced quite a few dogfish and Rays and we were even lucky enough to get a Tope into the boat. This started a changeable week weather wise that ended in a complete blow-out over the last weekend.

After our day in the river the next day, Monday, was a fine day and we got onto the reefs west of Loop Head. The mixed fishing here was good and there seemed to be  steady fishing all over the ground.

Tuesday we spent at anchor north of the Loop. We had a good day here with lots of fish to the boat, we also had an encounter with a big fish on some skate gear which was to lead, later in the week, to the catching of the biggest fish that has been caught from my boat, so far!

Wednesday was forecast with a light southerly breeze so we tried for a shark drift. However such is the weather at the moment, it turned into a flat calm day with no drift at all. The shark traces got wrapped around the boat and we did not get a run. However the bottom fishing was interesting and a specimen whiting of 3lb 9oz was caught by Marco Lagas.

Thursday started with a strong north wind blowing and we spent the day in the shelter of the estuary, fishing mostly at anchor to the south of the Loop head. This fishing was steady but not as good as it can be.

Friday was the last day for this group and we headed back to our mark, north of the Loop. The fishing was noticeably quieter than 3 days earlier and with only a few fish in after a couple of hours fishing. We were sitting around having a cup of coffee when one of the fisherman called Jack Van Rooyen, got a screamer of a run. This first run was a lot more violent than anything I had seen before. I got Jack rigged up with a shoulder harness and a butt pad and slowly he was gaining line when the fish went on another screamer of a run. With the leaver drag set in the fully locked position the fish took at least 40 to 50 meters of line. Jack settled down to getting the line back and about 40 minutes after the first take we saw the fish for the first time. It was huge!! I was fairly sure it was a Six Gilled shark but got a book out just to be sure; with a quick check in the specimen list I could see that not only was this well above the specimen weight of 100lbs but also well above the current Irish record of 154lbs! This fish was huge, it’s hard to do it justice with photos, but remember that is a 12/0 hook in its mouth and the mouth is small compared to the rest of its body. It measured about 3.5mtrs long and 2.2meters in girth and I reckon it was over 300lbs. We did not want to kill it so after lots of photos and some film was shot, the shark was released to go its merry way.

Scottish group enjoy some fishing on the  Clare Dragoon

Report dated August 6th, 2008.

This last week was taken up with a group of Scottish fisherman and a couple of day charters. We are not loosing any fishing due to weather but it is making it more difficult than it could be.

The past week did remind me again why I am so happy with my boat, the “Clare Dragoon”. On a couple of days the weather changed very quickly and it was still no problem for me to get to some shelter in comfort and safety. On another couple of days the sea was very mixed in the estuary and around Loop Head and in a lesser boat I would have had to stay inside the estuary. As it was I was able to push on out to 4 or 5 miles off the land where the waves were not affected so much by the tide and fishing conditions were quite pleasant.

As for the fishing I did try for a Tope but did not have any luck. If other years are anything to go by it will just be the odd one from now on. This may be partly due to the fact that I will be concentrating more on the shark fishing. This is now going well and if the conditions are right I can get fish on the boat. Mackerel are about, but not as plentiful up the estuary as last year. They can also be quite spotty at sea, but good marks can be found with a little searching. The whitefish is good, with some nice sized fish up to 7lbs along the coast and great mixed fishing further off. Lots of Pollock to10lbs with catches of Cod, Ling, Haddock and Whiting through them. Indeed we had a Cod of 17lbs this week.

A great weeks fishing with lots of variety

Report dated July 28th , 2008.

Fishing has been at its best here for the last week. Some real summer weather arrived at the same time as a group of seasoned fisherman from Belgium and Netherlands.

The week with this group started last Monday with a day on the reefs west of Loop Head. We moved about a bit and ended up about 10 miles off and fishing with shads, had some great Pollock action for the afternoon. This session had about 350kgs of fish to the boat with quite a few double figure fish landed.

The next day Tuesday started with a Tope session and the turn of high tide saw 10 fish take baits in about 2 hours. That most of these were landed, photographed, tagged and returned to the water unharmed is a testament to the fisherman. By the time the last fish was on, the tide was running so strongly I had to pull the anchor and drop down the tide to get the fish to the boat. The day was completed with an afternoon session for Bullhuss and Congers. After such good sport at the Tope, we decided to give it another try the next day on the same tide. This proved to be a lesson in angling! Conditions were much the same except for a slight change in the direction of what was a light wind. The Tope were conspicuous by their absence!! If it was a different group and I said you should have been here yesterday you could imagine their looks!!!!

The next couple of days rocked along, with a lot of anchor fishing with an eye on a Skate or Conger. We did have a couple of heavy lifts that looked like a Skate but no success. Then one of the lads got hooked into a fair Skate and had a good fight for a while. All the lines were in on his side of the boat. He was gaining and getting the fish to about mid water when the fish decided to take off and cross under the boat. This resulted in crossed lines and in the rush to get the lines cleared on that side, the line with the fish (braid!) got rubbed by a spoon and that was that!! Still some good Congers were landed with the best about 2 metres and 34lbs.

The water temp had improved as the week went on and by Friday we decided to try a Shark trip. I was hopeful because of the weather but had a mind to the trip the previous Sunday that had produced only one fish. I needn’t have worried, the first Shark was on while we were still getting the lines into the water. The day produced 5 Shark in the boat, the best 2.29meters and going by the tables about 95lbs. I should say here that going by some reports I have heard and read this week, this fish would be more like 150lbs!!!! but with fishing like this there is no need to exaggerate.

Saturday was back to bottom fishing and a hectic day produced over 500kgs of fish.
Much credit must go to the group I had on board with me last week, but I enjoyed what was a great weeks fishing.