Quick Evening Session

                    
On Tuesday evening the weather was so nice I decided to pop out for a few hours, everything was still in the van from the weekend attending the Irish Kayak Angling comp in Wexford.
All I had to do was go did some bait, I have mackerel in the freezer but obviously prepare fresh Rag worm as it out fishes all outer baits, so down I went to the shore and in one whole around five foot square I had enough for a few hours fishing.

Straight down to the local marina to launch at the (very slippy) slip where the kayak sort of launched its self down 15 foot into the water.

Kayak quickly rigged out I went to drift over a reef around a quarter of a mile from the harbor that always produces a nice variety of species. The sea was flat calm, it was the first chance I had to test the speed of the Kraken properly. At the minute I have no way of telling the exact speed but I was keeping up with a 17 foot boat with a 9.9hp four stroke, Pretty impressive until I nearly keeled over after a few hundred yards being exhausted, but hey I was on my mark.

Again I fished two rods, one set up with http://www.shamrocktackle.com/ (Bleeding glow worms) a personal favorite of mine as they will literally catch anything and never let me down, and off course baited with Rag, and the other rod set up with a running ledger rig and on the business end was a size 1/0 Uptide Extra hook from Cox and Rawle. 

 

I could not even get the Glow worms to the bottom for the first twenty minutes as I was pulling Mackerel up 3 and 4 at a time, but that soon passed and I got the bait to the bottom..............It hardly touched before I had a fish on and up came a Codling followed by another and another.

 

Then some double hook ups of Codling and poor Cod.

I was looking for a decent Ling as the light started fading so, I pulled the anchor up and decided to drift for an hour, as soon as I started moving of the reef Grey Gurnard made a very welcome appearance as iv never caught them before, nor have I ever herd of anyone catching them around the Co.Down coastline.

 

There a happy looking little species (and spiky)

After quite a few of these things went quite for ten minutes as I slowly drifted away from the productive reef so I decided to paddle to the far side of it to see if any of the Wrasse species where here yet, dodging incoming trawlers in the process. Baits down and it was on again Codling again coming up two at a time every drop before I had a different and better nibble on the line followed by a better fight.

 

Female Cuckoo Wrasse

I was right up came a beautiful little Cuckoo wrasse and they just kept coming!!!!!!

The great thing is that the reef is so shallow bringing the Wrasse up does not affect there swim bladder, allowing them to be released unharmed.

  

Male Cuckoo Wrasse

Just as I was starting to run out of Rag and call it a night I had this beauty, it has to be the coolest looking Wrasse iv caught yet as it was very well marked.

 

Class colours!!!!

As the sun started to fade away behind the Ardglass skyline, so did the fish and I started to paddle inn.;

 

It was well worth the effort heading out for a few hours as I clocked up five species in such a short time, and from now on in the fishing here will only improve for the next couple of months.

Untill my next adventure

Tight lines!!!!

Irish Kayak Angling East Coast Cahore Meet

Well as the title suggests the Irish kayak Angling meet (comp) was in Cahore (Wexford) on the east coast of Ireland. It was a two day meet with the main comp running on saturday, the comp was based on catching four species (Dog, Dab, Smooth hound and a Bass) with the addition of a joker fish which was a Tope, by catching this you could double your points but sadly the Tope never made an appearance.

I set of for Cahore on friday evening after finishing work and running around like a mad man getting organised, an hour and a half later I was in Dublin where I met up with David Smith and grabbed a quick bite to eat before heading on down to Wexford. On arrival we were greeted by a few lads already there but surly there was more vehicles and kayaks than there was people, it was not long before we had camp set up and the missing lads came staggering back from the local bar. It was great to get a catch up with some of the distant friends and also meet some new faces who I only no through social media and the club. It was great crack sitting around the camp fire sharing stories but when I realized it was after 2am I was straight to bed.

The following morning when I got up there was a few lads already out for a practice before the comp was due to kick off at 11am, it was a beautiful morning and the location was lovely as well.

As the morning went on most of us had the yaks set up ready to go, discussing tactics and rigs etc.

This was a new venue and location to me as well as targeting two species iv never fished for before, also the fact that I have no fish finder on my Jackson Kayak Kraken really did not help with the confidence as I was fishing blind, so to speak. But hopefully my new DragonFly 5Pro from Raymarine will be here shortly.

Anto and his brother

 The comp kicked off and we where all straight out targeting what ever we wanted to catch first, myself along with a few others were straight out into deeper water to catch Smooth hounds, at this point the weather was really starting to deteriorate quickly with strong winds and some mental guests, the sea state was going from flat calm to basically really choppy to the point a lot of us would not fish it on a normal day. 

The strangest thing about the location was that the difference between high and low tide was less than a meter, so it seamed like the tide dose not move at all. Then there was the tidal flow out at sea, I have never paddled out to sea before to experience a flow that you would expect to find at the mouth of a Lough or of a headland, it was really ripping past at time making fishing more challenging.

David Smith

Out on the Smooth hound grounds I fished two rods, one with a simple running ledger setup with a size 2/0 uptide extra hook from Cox and Rawle baited with peeler crab, again this was a first for me using this bait. On the other rod I fished a flowing rig from Shamrock Tackle (Animal Rig) baited with cocktails of Rag, Mackerel and Crab. Baits down and the fun, or should I say plague began straight away, Dog after dog for hours resulting in bait declining rapidly and my hands getting sanded to bits.

Then I had a hook up on the Animal rig that felt slightly different, after a decent little scrap on light gear I had a very welcome Bull Huss on my lap.

Another species and a first for me.

After another hour I retreated back into the bay for shelter and giving up on the Hounds, the strange thing was there was plenty caught by other lads at either side of me, (maybe I was doing something wrong) but once back in the bay I fished over a reef for an hour for bass before calling it a day. As the weather was so poor we decided to run the comp into the next day as no one had completed the four species challenge.

Once back in we all settled down to dinner and a few to many beers, a few of us jumped the gun and shot into town for a chippy, but once returning regretted it as Pat gill had his famous curry prepared for the lot of us.

There was a wide variety of kayaks with I believe over twenty attending.

That night we all went up to the local pub for a few pints before I slipped off early to bed as I was literally blocked after two pints from being so tired.

 The next morning I was awoken quite early (around 5am) by David shouting that it was a cracking morning, and as it was there was no time wasted by a few of us (that did not have hang overs) getting on the water. On my way out for one last try for a Hound I dropped a Bleeding Glow worm rig form shamrock for a Dab, it hardly touched the bottom and I had what I wanted.

On out to the deeper water and baited up with crab down the rigs went, again I was dosed by dogs and my crab supply soon run out without catching a smooth hound. I had no shortage of Rag so I paddled back into the bay to try for a Bass around the reef. On one rod I had Shamrocks bleeding glow worms on baited with Rag and tiny strips of Mackerel and on the other rod I had a very simple size 2/0  from Cox and Rawle tied directly to my 15lb main line to free float rag across the reef to see if anything would snap it up!!!!!!!!!!!

2/0 with snippet left on to help hold Rag 

As I flicked out my first free float of Rag my other rod twitched, then it twitched again..............I struck.......fish on happy days as things where slow. After a completely epic battle that I will never forget I landed my first Corkwing Wrasse.

  Beautiful little species....

I re baited and sent the rig back down, shortly later my free float took a thump and I lifted into it to find a fish on the end, it was small but what was it?????

A little Sea Scorpion, another welcome catch as it was another species for the comp. I was having no further interest on the Glow worms so I concentrated on free floating as it was a method I use regularly for Wrasse and Pollock and I new it was a tactic that had a fare chance of hooking a Bass.

A few casts later I had a thump and a run now this felt promising, I tightened down the drag and reeled in the decent fighting little fish..............To my disappointment it was a Pollock but another to add to the species capping me off with 6 in all over the two days.

I had a long journey home so I called it a day, headed in and packed up.

I hung around for an hour for a chat with some of the lads before leaving, it was a cracking weekend with plenty of crack, one that I will surely be attending again next year.

 

ooo nearly forgot if you ever lock your keys in the car David and Anto equipped with a transit van and a strap will soon get them back lol. This is definitely a story for the next meet!!!!!!!

Id also like to say congrats to Ian Burton for winning the competition by being the first to complete the challenge and also a big thank you to all the lads that where involved in organizing it.

Until my next adventure 

Tight lines....

 


 

Third Time Lucky!!!!

Well now where do I start with this one?

Last year on two adventures to Donegal I aimed at targeting Tope!!!

The first attempt I did not feel confident anchoring up in very strong tidal flow, and the fact that I had a migraine headache did not help the situation so I retired just before the Tope came on the feed......Very disappointing as there was no shortage of fish caught that day.

 A month or so later I was back up there for my second attempt!!

"Up there being Graham Smiths back yard", accompanied by some of Ireland's finest kayak anglers we set off on our days fishing. There was a good variety of fish caught through out the day but the only Tope hooked and landed was by Mike Henry as far as I can remember.

   On Saturday night I received a message from Graham at around 11pm, the message was that he was heading out at 9am on Sunday morning with Mike Sherwood to target Tope and that I should take a run up!!!!! I hesitated for a minute or two, then the boss said if you want to go tear away.

PANIC stations as you can imagine I was running around like a mad man getting organised, last minute packing and preparing rigs, tackle and bait etc.

Home and into bed around 1am it felt like I just dosed off as my alarm sounded at 5.30 awaking me, dressed and into the van I was not long getting to Donegal, stopping along the way for a bit of breakfast. 

I arrived at the launch point to meet Mike preparing to head out and shortly after Graham and his son Craig arrived. A quick chat while getting organised and we where on the water on a pleasant paddle out to the mark. Anchors down, chum deployed and rigs baited the waiting game began.............................................................................................

It wasn't long before I had some interest a few bumps on the end of the rod so a struck........... nothing there........checked bait and sent it back down. A few minutes later I had a few more bumps then the clicker on my reel started screaming at me, my heart nearly jumped out of my chest lol. I struck...............again nothing there, this happened to us a few times as the Tope were being funny picking the bait up running then dropping it. Then all hell broke loose behind me I heard Graham shout something on the VHF so I looked over my shoulder to find Craig had a Tope on and it was going nuts beside his yak. Happy days I thought at least the fish where there, soon after that Craig had another tope landed!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I up anchored and changed location, I also put fresh baits on and sent them down.....

    

As soon as the bait hit the bottom I had a small, and I mean SMALL nibble on the rod. I lifted it and there was a second bump just before the excitement of a good solid run, we had hook up and what a run it was, after a cracking scrap I had the Tope at the side of the kayak, for a second I though about about throwing my rod at it and paddling for my life lol.

I grabbed the wire trace started lifting the fish onto my knee when the bloody thing went stone mental and jumped right across my lap landing it the water at the other side of my kayak and swam away.............I was so gutted I never noticed that the trace cut into my finger for some time afterwards as my other rods reel took off screaming that very second. This was a much better fish as it turned my kayak 180 degrees and towed me back up tide past my anchor buoy( quite a strange feeling) but shows you the power of these fish is overwhelming.

 First Tope FIRMLY landed on my knee this time :)

Unhooked quickly and returned to the water my mission was complete, the 230 mile and four hour round trip was all worth it. I also said third time lucky and it happened, the new Jackson kayak gave me a lot more confidence on the water as well which really helped me in the tricky tides plus not to mention the wind on the way in, but thats a story to tell in the pub some night!!!!!!

Until next time!!!!!

Tight lines.

Jackson Kayak Fishing Team

Its been an exciting few weeks.........

From joining the Jackson Kayak fishing team, to collecting my new Kraken then getting it wet for its first time. I choose the Kraken from a wide variety of options as I personally felt that it would suit my needs in offshore trips. It is a beast of a kayak at 15.7 feet long and 30 inches wide and weighing in at 36kgs. I originally thought it would have been a struggle to manage it by myself as I regularly venture out on adventures by alone..........my opinion soon changed.

                                           Click here for more info

It all started with a trip down to Dublin to the Jackson kayak dealers I-Canoe once I was informed of the delivery landing on Friday I was straight down the following morning like a child at christmas.
After a nice chat with the owners I went out to load up and leave as I had work to get home to, my father was with me so he gave me a hand on to the roof of the van and off we went.

I had been kayak-less for a few weeks waiting on the new one arriving so as you can imagine I was busting to get out, the weather for the following week was, well very Irish!!!!!!!
There was a boat angling Ireland meet in Carlingford lough on the North east coast the following weekend that was postponed due to poor weather and high winds. I was hoping to attend this meet in the new Yak with a few other kayaking friends, the location would not be my first choice as the lough is very tidal and was not ideal for a first paddle in a new kayak.

Entrance to carlingford lough and the point is where we camped at Greenore

There was talk of heading up anyway for the weekend but as the winds on Saturday where in access of 40mph I went to work instead. That afternoon the weather was to break over night and with a quick couple of phone calls David Smith, Tony Powell and myself were on our way to meet for an overnight stay at a camping site at the location. When we arrived we where greeted by Andy and Paula from http://www.chasingsilverflies.com/ who where there from the night before.

We set up camp and had a great nights crack around the camp fires sharing stories of the ones we lost.

The following morning I dont think any one was mentally our physically fit to venture out on the lough as there was some pretty sore heads :)
After a fine breakfast from our cook David the weather really started to pick up with winds dropping by the minute we started to arrange the kayaks to get them on the water.

 
I must say, I was very anxious about the Kraken as it was the first of its kind to land in Ireland,
Size, weight, length, higher seating position etc. The strong tides and wind was not helping the situation!!!!!

First thing I noticed followed by David was actually how easy it was to car top on your own. We could lift it above our heads with No issues, The two grab handles at each side of the seating position are very well positioned as the kayak is very well balance once picked up.Also a citroen berlingo van is higher than your average car.

Into the water she went, again anxious as every one was intrigued with it and watching closely I really did not want to have a wet mishap!!!!!!!!

                                                                         WOW!!!!!
Shocked would not be the word to describe my first impression with stability, by far the most stable kayak I have paddled and soon to learn also the fastest.
It was unbelievable, once on the water it really comes to life, all my worries left me and I was really enjoying it. That much in fact I headed straight out into the middle of the lough in 20mph winds to test it in the 5/6 Knot tidal flow. Again no issues here what so ever.

                                     David tying of a buoy in mental current
As we where actually out to target Tope but could not get to the marks with the weather ( I no it looks nice in the pics) we decided to try for anything, and we did with several different rigs from http://www.shamrocktackle.com/ and http://www.coxandrawle.com/ and a wide variety of baits but not a nibble between the three of us.

                   Tony couldnt keep his eyes of me..... I mean the Kraken

With very poor fishing it was time to call it a day, so back to dry land we went where the lads had a paddle in the Kraken.

Tony

David

The lay out on the yak is really well though of with yakattack geartracs all over it there is no where you cant mount something with a mount from Ram Mounts.

8 yea you herd that right 8 rod holders, 2 flush mounts, two ram tubes three uprite tubes on the Jkrate and one rod holder positioned, well where you want it on the supplied ram ball with geartrac adapter all supplied with the kayak.

The seat well you would have to try it yourself to see how comfortable it is. Under the seat there is two pockets to put the again supplied plano lure boxes.

Seat with thermarest back support

Jkrate and large Plano tackle box

Lure boxes and water bottle

 Built in light and rod holder on geartrac

Rear hatch(space normally wasted on other kayaks as they dont have access)

Im 6.3 foot and I have loads of room as the seat is adjustable and so are the foot pegs

Hull with large transducer scupper hole

Iv yet to find a fault with this kayak apart from the minor problem that the rudder will solve, and as a lot of you no me if there was something I was not happy about I would be the first to tell yas.

I will do another review in a few months to see if  and problems arise which I dont think will to be honest!!!!

Its the best suited kayak iv paddled to date, all I need to do now is catch some fish on it.

Until my next adventure guys

Tight lines...