Well the 2016 trip to Ireland is now done and dusted and once again it has been a hugely enjoyable experience both from a fishing perspective and the general craic of it all! Conditions were tough at times particularly on the Copper Coast where we were coming off the back of a run of easterly winds and we had to work hard for our fish.
On the Copper Coast Andy and myself based ourselves in Tramore and spent four days fishing both over clear sandy ground and rock marks. The first day was particularly hard going as the wind continued to blow in from the east and we couldn’t find a fish between us despite our best efforts. Day two started in much the same vein but we kept moving and eventually we started picking up a few fish with the best being Andy’s below taken on the IMA Hound Glide…
Day three we toiled hard once again for a few smaller fish but then bumped into one of the Irish lads James whom we had met last year and he promptly pulled in a fish of around 6lb first cast just to show us up! Just typical but in fairness James is a very good lure angler so we tipped our lids to him for sure!
The weather forecast for day four was looking a bit of a stinker and unfortunately it didn’t disappointed. Rock marks were just too dangerous to fish and even the surf beaches were looking challenging…
James joined us again and we all tried a back channel to no avail but by now the weather had eased slightly allowing us to get into the surf….
Both picture’s above just don’t do any justice to the conditions but suffice to say there were some serious waves coming in at times! Fishing was tough and we only picked up a single bass between us in amongst a raft of surface feeding mullet which in the surf, in that quantity, was something I’ve never seen before…. there were obviously bass there too so it was frustrating. The swell then picked up again and it was just too dangerous to be out there so we retired for a Guinness or two in the evening before our trip west to Kerry the following day.
Here are a few more shots from the Copper Coast…
So, the Copper Coast was done, no big fish like last year but still hell of place to fish and we will be back. Our thanks to James and Cian again for their company and advice respectively.
Next stop the beautiful Kerry coast….. via Cork airport to pick up our mate Paul!
Until next time….
Hooks, Lines & Sinkers 