Kieran Hanrahan

Hi Just to let you know that John Brittain has a tiddler of a mere 397 lb on his boat out of Clifden on the 16th, which proves that a route directly south along the coast from Donegal does exist... much as was predicted. It will be interesting to see if Derek Noble and co down in Kerry pick up some "stragglers" later in the season. World record is around 1430 lbs, and fish of 2200 lbs have been recorded (in the past) by commercial fishermen in the Bahamas FWIW... according to a marine biologist working for the Marine Institute here, catch and release is important on the "smaller fish", i.e. those under 1000 lbs as these are the fish that need to reach maturity in order to ensure a fishery into the future. Taking the big record breaking fish should not prove to be a problem - disgusted to hear that Adrian's fish was not recognised - if you caught a 1000 lbs fish on the end of a rope it still deserves to be recognised!!! :-)

Hi all Getting very frustrated with my not knot tying abilities. I want to connect 12 main line to 50 lb shock leader and my usual knot (double lopped bloody knot) is not working as invariably as I apply pressure to close the knot the lighter line slides neatly into place, but the main line does not knot properly, and has even slid completely out of its knot; so the question is how do I connect a heavy (50 lb) shock leader to a light mon main line (12 lb). Autumn surf fishing... Thanks

Guess I should always forewarn about any guff I come out with being from personal experience and thus being limited to local conditions here... and I would never intentionally fish for whiting so that's not a problem for me! :-) Rachet (apologies for my spelling, never a strong point at school) sounding is tied to the tension on the line/reel and the alarm is a bog standard one bought in Argos! Works well though and even detects small flatfish bites albeit so far in calm conditions. Let you know how I get on in the winter when the surf is pounding about...

Hi Amazed people are spending money on lights and such like - what is the audible racket alarm on the reel for! Throw in standard coarse fisherman's electronic bite detector (working off AA batteries) that slips around (rather than hooks onto) the main line and you have a perfect system that does not give weedy / tidal false alarms especially when you are tired at 3 am and such like... saves a pain in the neck from looking up too! FWIW...

Many thanks lads kind of knew it was the cheap end of the market and was not keen on the 3 piece construction... probably end up buying better by mail order from the UK and damn the sterling exchange (extortion!) rate :-) Thanks

Hi Anyone have experience of Jarvis Walker rods - they are owned by Penn. I have a 3 pce 13 foot rod available in the local shop for around 60 EURO / 40 Sterling and was wondering if it is as good a bargain as it seems ... Thanks

Hi Mnay thanks with the posts to date - excellent stuff. Here is my final question for a while! I will be fishing a favourite mark on Sunday and it offers flounder, plaice, the odd bass over sand, with big pollack and wrasse close in... but I have been broken by big fish a couple of times and I am pretty certain that they are tope. So, leaving aside the option of fishing two rods - and I might do that anyway - have you any tips on landing a tope off a beachcaster? I was thinking of using a wire trace and 6/0 hook with a mackerel cone on the final snood off a standard trace - two lugworm baited hooks further up for the flatfish, but can you recommend alternatives? Thanks

Hi All Thanks for the info - extremeley useful. Will be using mono on the final boat competition of the season on Sunday so we'll live with it for the moment but I might try braid surfcasting during the winter... one final query - why are there often two numbers listed for breaking strains... or are those just typos... I have often seen a listing like 6 lbs / 50 lbs for braids, mainly on US sites - don't want to buy the wrong strength! Thank again Kieran

Websites that list boats for sale... http://www.boatsales.ie http://www.eirport.com sterling is worth lots here! http://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk http://www.boats-for-sale.com

HI I was out sea fishing with some Austrians (!) and they were all using braid as the main line. They said it gives them better bite detection at depth and also works well from the shore in casting... I have heard that it is expensive and hard to tie knots in (!) but apart from that, what have other anglers got to say about it. Would it be worth my while investing in it for a boat or surf rod? Any help appreciated... thanks Kieran

It depends on the type of reel, FS or M but you could try somomething like "OptiMax" for multipliers with "OptiFix" for a Fixed Spool. When I saw !Quickwind! I read it the 'wind' part as wind as in gale as opposed to retrieve, which leaves you fartin' about with your new reel ! Sorry mate, just kiddding!

Hi I have been using fixed spool for fishing for the last 20 years and having just bought a SL30SH was amazed at how far it can cast for me today, but my trouble is that I have forgotten all the "lore" around avoiding birdnests / casting for distance... anyone know some tips that can get me back in the groove asap. I will be putting onto a Penn 12ft beachcaster for some fishing Friday! Thanks

Just bought a Daiwa SH30SL and it goes like a rocket as the man says - 75 sterling from www.aaangling.co.uk excluding P&P. Took it out for a test run and birdnested on the 2nd cast ! FWIW...

Hi Drifting techniques and rigs depends on the marks involved so I am assuming that you are over sand or mixed ground at worst... try using a watch (circular with studs)lead to help stir up the bottom, and a flasher spoon on the final hook snood to get curious fish interested... http://www.sea-angling-ireland.org has a lot of information on baits and techniques available under the bait section and also under each of the individual fish species listings - it might give you some ideas. Size 4/0 might be a bit on the big side for flatfish especially sole although it will hold any decent bass. In fihsing a new mark, we would use 2/0s unless we know there are bigger fish about... Don't recommend any live baiting as it gets anglers into bother with the anti-everything-that's-fun lobby but you could add mackerel strip and pilchard oil to your rigs to give you a scent trail. Remember that Ragworm work as a bait based on their wriggling movement i.e. work best in clearer waters, which is not the kind of water you are likely to find over sand or mud in a strong current... I am assuming you are drifting at a reasonable slow pace - if you are fairly skimming along, try using a drogue anchor to slow the pace of the drift. As for the lower to the bottom and retrieve, excellent advice from the wreck fisherman above me, but it depends on the depth of water under the boat... there is little point in retrieving and dropping off if you are in only 12 feet of water... I live in the west of Ireland and here the drifting is usually done over reefs for pollack, haddock, cod etc. and that is very foul ground indeed. FWIW...

If you gets tuck around Clew Bay in really bad weather, as can happen, try fishing from the deep water pier in Cloghmore Harbour in Achill Sound. We found loads of sandell milling around the pier and took loads of big shore pollack to 7 lbs (none of the buggers would oblige for a specimen medal!) on big 6/0 hookai red lures. We even had doubles - 14 lbs of pollack on a beachcaster is a bit of fun! The mark has enormous currents, really fast, and the best spot is just short of the whirlpools ... on an ebbing tide! The pollack stay put all day regardless of the tide but for some reason, an ebbing tide seems to work best - we tried worms on the incoming tide - nothing! FWIW...