Thursday, the 11th of February. Temperature as low as 2 degrees Celsius, strong south easterly winds and reaching speed up to 40mph
We have arrived at the spot after a smooth 1,5-hour journey, only to see huge surf on the ocean, which looked quite promising and "bassy". After a quick chat with the guys, we have quickly set up our rods and tripods and a short while after, our lines were in the water. Despite the strong winds and massive tide surges, surprisingly, we were able to hold the bottom using 6 and 7 ounce gripper weights.
For the first 2 hours, we did not see a single bite, which was kind of off-putting, but being dedicated anglers that we are, we've braced the bad conditions until late, and it paid off for our mate Adam! 30 minutes later he managed to land a nice sea trout kelt, which shortly after getting unhooked and a quick photo session, was released to fight another day! The fish fell for a size 6 chinu hook baited with two pieces of squid tentacles, and even though it was just a small, freshly spawned female kelt, it still gave Adam a good fight on his rod.
After losing our hopes of catching any fish, this sea trout gave us all more motivation to stay until late hours and wait for the big bar of silver.
The tide started picking up quite fast, and the wind began to calm down a little bit, yet Adam's trout was the only fish landed for another few hours.
5pm. Still no more fish to be seen. Full tide is due at around 6:50pm and our hopes are rising along with the water.
A few short moments later, the tip of my Akios Fury 420 began to "dance", and it wasn't wind!!! After striking the rod, I knew that there's a fish on the hook, however it felt completely different than sea bass or even sea trout, that are great fighting species. I could feel the fish running very fast, doing big circles under water. Unfortunately, 15 seconds later, the creature was gone.
6pm. Another bite on my rod, and exactly the same scenario! A few crazy circles and it unhooked itself again! I could only suspect one species that would behave in this manner but it seemed almost unrealistic to me...I whispered to myself - "Sea bream??? No, it couldn't be right! It definitely wasn't a bream, they're almost non-existent over here!"
10 minutes later - another bite, another dance - off and it was gone!!!
This was rather frustrating, as I couldn't even see what fish it was!
Things went quiet for all of us for another hour. The tide was full and the water went almost slack. Time to re-bait...
After reeling in my up and down two hook flapper rig, a little flounder, smaller than the palm of my hand, appeared before my eyes. "Guys, at least I didn't blank today!!" I laughed out loud, showing off my catch to my comrades.
Quickly after, my line was back in the water, with hopes for another fish.
Just as the tide started to turn back - another good bite on my FX420! And the very same crazy pulls and circles as an hour earlier, but this time... I managed to hook it correctly! I could not believe my eyes, when two minutes later, I saw.....
A GILTHEAD BREAM!!!!
"Adrian, you'll not believe what I just landed!" - I shouted to my best friend, who was standing 20 metres away from me.
This was first gilthead bream I've ever caught in my life! And it wouldn't be a big surprise, if not the fact that these are extremely rare in our waters, as they do prefer warmer climate. I have heard stories from other anglers about these beautiful fish being caught in different parts of the North of Ireland, yet, I still took it with a pinch of salt.
My bream weighed just over 620 grams, it took a small mackerel /squid wrap on a 1/0 Varivas Super Match hook, and it gave a short but truly awesome fight on my Fury 420 rod, coupled with Akios Utopia CX8 reel.
A lot of people would say we aren't right in the head going fishing in such conditions, but believe me, it can be worth it... And in my case, it paid off very well!
Even though, I caught only two fish, it was a fantastic first-time experience with new species.
In the meantime,
Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed my first blog.
Until next time....
Words by our member Jack of Ni Fishing Adventures.
Gear Used:
Rod- Akios Fury 420
Reel- Akios Utopia CX8
Hook Length- Tronix Pro Blackout, Sunset Amnesia
Tripod- Ian Golds Super Match 6ft
Hooks- Varivas Super Match 1/0
Clothing- Master Baits Cuffed Beanie, Akios Inova Snood
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