what brings or sends coalfish inshore?

[Kieran Hanrahan]

Hi

 

Had an amazing session on Achill Island last Saturday. Landed 64 coalfish in 4 hours on a single hook flapper rig, on baits ranging from lugworm to beads to the bare hook itself! all in the 1-2.5 lb range, could not tempt bigger fish out even with half a joey mackerel on a 6/0... damn big gape on a small coalfish!

 

Apparently the fish have been inshore for the last month or more, any ideas about this? Is it a common occurrence or are they being herded inshore by predators? Reason I suggest this is that the CFB site said several tope were taken some years back late in the year and that they had been persuaded to stick around by large shoals of coalfish. Anyone know anything about coalfish's habits?

 

Thanks

[Cranfield]

Kieran, I don,t profess to be an expert on the habits of coalfish.

I have fished Clew Bay and the surrounding area, every month of the year. except December and January.

We have always found coalfish, on the rough ground and reefs (in and out of the Bay), so I suspect they are there all year round.

 

A good blow would bring them nearer the shoreline, but you have "good blows", all the time.

I wouldn,t think its predator activity, as it would need a lot of predators, to affect so large an area.

 

We have noticed in the last five years, that the variety, size and numbers of the fish we catch, has increased dramatically.

Also the "seasons" seem to last longer.

Is it Global Warming, reduction in Commercial fishing activty, who knows ?

But, we are enjoying the benefits.

[Ed Matysiak]

Any fish will tend to stay near the shore when it is small. There is often a good supply of small food sources and less large predators. Chances are the small coalfish are there all year, only leaving shallow water when they get bigger.

[Kieran Hanrahan]

Hi guys,

 

thanks for the info. Agree about the seasons btw. Down in Cork there have been blue sharks caught in December, whatever next! Whilst I appreciate that young fish will stick closer in, for the listed reasons, I have never encountered the coalfish in such large numbers before, summer or winter. Still a bit of a mystery...

[Vagabond]

Most autumns I visit relatives in the IOM, and fishing is part of the package. I try to spend at least one day after the big wrasse at Port St Mary (4 to 5 pounds apiece)#

 

The attraction there is the dumping of scallop and crab trimmings off the end of the jetty by a local shellfish-processing unit. Not only wrasse, but hordes of saithe (coley, although the locals call them "callig")

 

The saithe are usually of pretty consisent size, of about a pound and a half - except in 1999, when there was a huge run of 3 and 4 pounders. Presumably something to do with variations in "recruitment" - something that is difficult to predict, but easily explained with hindsight