Articles
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12
Dec
2014Cork Harbour Codling
Monkstown Codling I recently had the opportunity of three days’ work down in County Cork, and of course, couldn’t leave home without the rods! With the work soon behind me, it was time to have a look along the coast to see what was about. I say “have a look” but in reality, I rang my good friend Sid Kennedy and asked him what was happening locally. Sid has his finger on the angling pulse, and usually when I give him a call, the current angling i...
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8
Dec
2014West Cork Mullet-Good Medicine
West Cork Mullet Good Medicine During the summer I paid my old angling buddy Sidney Kennedy a visit on his home turf down in Cork City. He had a potentially serious upcoming operation to deal with and I wanted to get out fishing with him to take his mind off of it. Hopefully some friendly banter, good fishing, and I like to think decent companionship would be just the medicine required for a little respite. Commitments were such that Sid would not be able to join me ...
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18
Oct
2014Roach-Rudd Hybrids, the trials and tribulations of specimen hunting.
Roach-Rudd Hybrids. The trials and tribulations of specimen hunting. As a dedicated specimen hunter, every season of angling offers the realistic opportunity to increase knowledge on venues, species, temperature and weather conditions, and also moon phases in relation to targeting large, feeding fish. This can be said of all angling disciplines. Even when a venue containing large fish has been discovered, to be consistent, the specimen hunter cannot rest on his laurels...
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28
Sep
2014Tench, and the hand of fate
Tench and the hand of fate. I have mentioned this before in several previous articles, about how the hand of fate often intervenes when it comes to angling, and no more so than when targeting individual larger species. In many cases, fate will deal the cards against your desired plan or outcome, but on the odd occasion, it can also throw you a winning combination. One such combination came my way on a recent adventure in search of specimen Rudd. I spent several...
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13
Sep
2014An old mate and a big Skate
An old mate and a large Skate A few weeks ago, an old angling friend, Ryan Jones contacted me. Ryan fished quite a lot with me in the old days, both in fresh water and salt, and although it only seemed like a few years since we had a trip together, it turns out closer to ten years since our last adventure! I couldn’t believe how quickly time has passed, it’s actually quite worrying! Although a golf fanatic these days, Ryan had been reading my exploits regularl...
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30
Aug
2014Rudd-Bream Hybrids
Irish Rudd-Bream Hybrids Targeting specimens On a recent work trip down in Cork City, I managed to cram in quite a bit of specimen hunting for several species, and thanks to my angling mate Sid Kennedy, I also squeezed in a very enjoyable Rudd-Bream Hybrid session. Sid had kindly pre-baited a secret location on the local dam, one that could only be accessed by boat in order to make sure the spot would be vacant. With a little bit of lady luck, there should be a few lar...
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3
Aug
2014Shad Fishing in Ireland
Twaite Shad on the River Barrow County Carlow I was un-able to make it to the Shad fest last year, and I really found myself missing those few days spent casting a lure across the Barrow River, down in County Carlow. The stunning scenery, like-minded anglers and of course, the adrenaline rush when a hard-fighting Shad succumbs to the lure of a lure, it’s an extremely addictive date on the specimen hunter’s calendar. With the offer of a week’s work down in Co...
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6
Dec
2014Species hunt part 12 Blue Shark
Blue shark Fact file Name Blue Shark Latin name Prionace glauca Irish record 206 lbs Specimen weight 100 lbs The Trip As a fitting end to this year’s series, I decided on a Donegal Blue Shark adventure. This would give me the opportunity not only to target one of our most stunning, visiting predators, but also to get friend and game angler, Mark Patterson out for some real angling! Mark is an excellent game angler, but served his angling apprenticeship some tim...
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4
Dec
2014Species hunt part 11 Conger Eel
Conger Eel Fact file Name Conger eel Latin name Conger conger Irish record 72 lbs taken in June 1914 at Valentia by J.Green Specimen weight 40 lbs or18.144 kilos The trip One species I haven’t covered in a while is the Conger Eel, and it was high time, I thought, to rectify this! I have caught quite a few on my local marks, but they have always been bonus fish rather than something deliberately targeted. Unfortunately, I don’t know of any particular w...
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25
Nov
2014Species hunt part 10 Homelyn Ray
Homelyn Ray also known as Spotted Ray Fact file Name Homelyn Ray Latin name Raja montagui Irish record 8.28 lbs taken on 28.09.1983 at Cork Harbour by Edmund Cull Specimen weight 5 lbs The trip After last months adventure in pursuit of Cuckoo Ray, I decided this month, to remain on the ray theme. To explain, whilst searching out Cuckoos on my last trip, I discovered some extremely interesting underwater features that simply had to ho...
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