Deep Sea Dingle

Out winter is coming fast leaves are falling but I’m not finishing up yet.
Last week Tony and his son Ivan were out with me. At first we had rain so Ivan stayed in the wheelhouse. After midday he was out watching his Dad catching and wanted to have a go, here is his 1st fish.

As you can see the fog and mist are in the background. The day cleared and the the dry weather lifted our spirits but it also brought seals to visit us. We had to move away from them and the fishing returned with Michael’s Pollack.

We ended our day with a nice selection of fish for the Freezers and returned to Dingle about 6pm.
I’m out again Saturday 27th as this is Halloween we catch something strange ??  Who knows !!
Report next week, don’t for get we’re still going fishing every week.
Rory.

It’s been a while since I posted news in this log, this is completely my fault.
The Autumn has been OK weatherwise and fishing was generally good. Mackarel were very patchy some very small during the year but we always caught a few for bait. Speaking of which Des with his boys Conor & David were out with me in September they had purchased plastic Sand Eels from Savage Gear, these were worked on a short boom with great effect for great Pollack

This was not a one off as you can see from the back ground the day was sunny & calm and we were near the shore, time after time they were hooked up. I borrowed one of the lures from des and fished for 3/5 minutes and I was hooked up with a fine pollack, this works !
The guys from Teddy’s Pub in Killarney were out recently. Led by the boss JP, the start of the day was poor with persistand rail and easterly wind up to F5. After the tide turned the day and the fishing improved and it turned out to be great. We had a few encounters wjth seals and had to move a few times but that’s part of the fishing.
The guys from the Lake Hotel are avid fishermen and also had a great dat and good fishing with Cod, Pollack & Ling.
We had great Family days out during the summer with the young boys, girls and the Mammies catching fish.
The Holiday weekend is upon us and I hope the weather will be kind to us.
I will have more news and photos after the Halloween W’end.
Pollack was on the Kerry menue this year, I still have some in the freezer.
That’s it for this post. Round up of the year coming. If you have interesting photos send them to me at deepseadingle@gmail.com
Rory.

The weather was as bad as it can get for the early part of July, cancelllations were the norm, poor for Summer so far.
We did get out on the rare fine days and had a god time. I had cousins home from USA and we spent a fine afternoon fishing and picknicking aboard.

Being from Chicago this was his first sea angling experience and we had a few laughs as he landed this one and a few Mackarel.

This was the first few casts for Ollie on a short trip last Saturday morning a fine Cod. Mackarel were few so were Pollack, but as the weather was closing in we headed for the port. The lads had a few hours fishing while the ‘ladies’ did some shopping !
Next month shoul be better weatherwise !
Rory.

Sunday started July in a nice way but by change of tide after noon the weather deteriorated blowing F5/6 from the Southwest. We eventually decided to head for the harbour and fortunate we did as the wing gusted to F8. Fishing was OK with some good Pollack & Mackarel. But as the seas got bigger some of the guys felt a little bad and were glad to get to shore !

Danny is the 5th guy, back row with my son Ruairi and I at the right sides front & back. Perry’s Ling caused a few laughs and sniggers.

This week looks to be a little better weatherwise and hopfully the fishing too.

Reporting again next week, good fishing to all.
Rory.

It’s been a while since I wrote a few lines due to busy days and boat painting & maintainance.
We had great and bad days during June. It turned out to be the wettest June for many years but during the good days we had a couple of curise ships in to the bay.

The National Geographic ship

Danny led the Dutch Fishers this year on their return to Dingle. We had on the first day an exciting time with high winds from the SE fishing was abandoned as the wind got up to F8.
The next few days were surprisingly calm but the fishing was not.

Check out my trousers !

I’m waiting for the Dutch photos to post them, the tee shirts are great.
Our last day was very slow as we travelled and tried all the spots as far as Slea Head. We had by noon the great catch of 3 Mackarel and 2 small Polack. We tried West of Slea Head in the wind from the NW and suddelly the fish were coming in fast and furious.
For a last few hours we travelled south to the Wild Bank, on the 1st drift we were in to large Cod, Ling & Pollack, what a finish to a great few days. That night the chef at John Benny’s Pub cooked the fish for Dinner.
Martin and the guys from Wales had a great trip also. These guys have been coming to Dingle for many years and know the area well. I’m wiating for photos from Wales to post also.
Next week 1st July I’ll report on the weeks fishing but the forecast is for a lot of wind !
Rory.

Martyn called me a few times but our Kerry weather was poor eventually we got out last Sunday. The weather was great, light NE wind but with a threat of strong SWesterlies for the evening.
Some of the guys hadn’t fished from a boat before, some hadn’r been on the Atlantic & some were good fishermen so we had a mixed crew. Started off as usual with a chat about safety the use of multiplier reels (Penn)          I dropped my line to show the guys how to prevent a ‘birds nest’ and I felt a bite and another, wow, I hauled up 3 Coley of about 2kg’s each.               We gad a laugh about how easy it is to fish.
They all started to fish and hook Coley and in no time we had about 20 kgs.
We moved to another spot and after a short time we started to hook Pollack. The only Irishman in the group was Shane from Tralee ha had a fine fish.

Shane’s Pollack

We stayed on this mark catching more Pollack when from the bow there was a shout of ‘big fish’ as soon as I reached the bow I could see a fine Cod drifting and then swimming back to the bottom, this is the one that got away, but the next time we had a good fish shout I brought the net and gaff the make sure we landed the fish.
A Cockoo Wrasse caused some amusement as some of the guys never saw one before, this one had very vivid colours, and went back to the deep.

The Cockoo Wrasse

The next move proved to be poor in fish but the scenery and a sudden school of Common Dolphins, up to 20, gathered around us and bumped each other for the best place to ride the bow wave, the stayed for about 20 minutes and were a great treat.
When we went back to the mark things were very slow for a while then again there was a shout from the bow, Mariusz had something ‘big’ on the line.
This 6 footer was struggling we thought he had foul hooked a Cod but no, it was much better a large Ling.
The fish weighed just under 6 KG’s and was the best of the day.
As forecast the winds started to pick up around 3 pm and by 4pm it looked like it was going to get bad but for a change it didn’t. We made our last move closer to the harbour but about 2 miles off. With the flood tide and the SW wind we were drifting pretty fast over our mark when Martyn had a surprise he had never seen before.

The fine Red Gurnard caused a bit if a stir and before I could say ‘mind the spikes’ there was a cry ouch !
Our day was a another good outing with a great bunch of guy’s.
Rory.

Sunday was the best day of the year so far. The morning frost soon burned off and with a hot coffee we headed out on to Dingle Bay. As we travelled west we tried a little area of rough ground where we caught Cod a few days before. We set up and with almost no wind we drifted slowly over the mark. Lo and behold in a short time we had 2 fine Cod caught by Martin from Germany. This was his first time fishing the Atlantic, his girlfriend was also an experienced fisher. The North Sea is where they fished on a regular basis.

Pollock were plentiful but not large, 2 & 3 on the trace was a regular event.
We moved further west and came across Mackarel. In short bursts we were hauling one on every feather, up to 6 per haul. A few Pouting were caught and a Ling by Coleman and more Pollack. At this stage we had a box full 40kgs when Davey started filletting.

While we watched Davey there was a shout of Whale !, we all scanned the horizon to the south, yes, the whale appeared again, we waited for another sighting a Minkie Whale was feeding along with Gannets and Gulls 200 metres away from us. There was great excitement but it dissapeared again so we continued fishing. As we were about to steam home again we saw the whale surfacing we moved in to get a closer view but after one more appearance it dissapeared. On the way home we stopped at the original spot and Mackarel and a few mid size Pollack was the result here. All had slight sunburn and big smiles after the day out.

The forecast for the early part of this week is bad so we will have to wait for the next outing at the weekend.
Rory.

What a great spell of weather ! Hope this will not be the end of the fine weather but we took the moment and again the weather, wind, tide and fish were all in our favour.
It’s great to see good size Cod again and Mackarel were plentiful also.
Pollock were small with a few large, 4kg fish showing.

What a fine Cod

Look at the sea behing the fisher who was part of Stephen Keane’s Stag Day Out. We filletted the fish for them and they took it to The Marina Bar on the Quay. The chef there cooked the fish for the groups dinner. Best soakage for the night ahead.
This deal is available at the Marina & John Benny’s Bars cost €10 per person.
Great idea for people who can’t eat fish from the boat to the plate. I had Cod for my dinner that evening, nothing better than cook it in the oven with a Mackarel fillet. I’m not a chef but that’s a tip I got recently.
Easter looks to be fine let’s see ?
Rory.

Plenty fish on the Double !

The weather for the past week has been exceptional and we took advantage of  it, last Sunday. Conditions were perfect with light winds and a slight swell.
We started about 30 minutes from Dingle and after waiting a  few minutes we were in a shoal of Mackarel. Everyone aboard was hooking 3 & 4 fish at a time. It didn’t take us long to fill a box 40 kgs. We moved west to Slea Head and fished here for about an hour, more Mackarel and some Pollack. After lunch we moved south a few miles to the Wild Bank and started to drift with the tide northwards, the fishing was hectic with good Cod and large Pollack.

Hectic fishing

For 2/3 hours we worked this area and the fishing remained good. We finished up with about 200 kgs of fish for the day, not bad, everyone aboard were getting aching arms from hauling fish so we decided to steam home to Dingle. The weather a good crew and good fishing made this a memorable day out for the lads.

Dinner tonight ??

Looking foreward to next weekend. Rory.

At last we got going this year with last weekend’s nice weather. The catch rate was not as high as high season but good fishing with a variety of fish. Pollack were mid size 2 kg, Mackarel scarce a few Ling & Cod.
The guys from Dublin had a great day one or two of them never caught a fish before their trip on dingle Bay.

The next few weeks will give us a chance to do a little painting, maintainance a get ready for the coming season.
Hope to see you back again this year.
Rory.