Terry’s Travels

Paying back the debt

I promised an I.O.U to find a Skate for Aaron, and it was  time to pay up!

A couple of years ago, on a local venue one evening whilst chasing specimen Tench or two, a young lad approached me for a chat. From by-gone days of writing for Irish Angler magazine, and my current website and blogs, he was well versed with my past exploits in the match scene and my continuing specimen hunting adventures since.

Out on another adventure

His name is Aaron Hutchman, primarily a match angler, but also does a fair bit of pleasure fishing, and by all accounts, not half bad at it. Having a lot in common, we chatted away, covering many angling topics. At this time, coincidentally, The Irish Specimen Fish Committee had introduced a couple of new targetable mini-species, Gudgeon being one of them.

Fresh Coalfish is definitely a bonus

I said "being a Roach basher, do you ever run into any sizeable Gudgeon on your travels?". I am always on the look for a lead to something new, never expectant, but half-hopeful for fresh information. He looked through his phone gallery and showed me a photograph of a fish easily over specimen size (14cm). It was taken in a match on the Lower Bann system. This piqued my interest straight away!

I asked if it was alright to give it a bash, and immediately had his blessing. To cut to the chase, in time, I found what I was looking for, and as a thank you, I promised to give him a sea angling trip he would never forget. (See previous Gudgeon articles at www.angling-ireland.com) Deep sea angling was something Aaron had little experience of, but I am always happy to introduce anglers to new fishing disciplines, and I'm a man of my word.

My standard Skate rig for this particular mark

And a typical Skate bait, 2lb Coalie "flapper"

The usual work commitments and bad weather scenarios made windows of opportunity scarce, but we managed to squeeze a day in last weekend, with a plan hastily hatched. "What do I need, can't wait" was the reply to my invite, "just your good self, and a packed lunch" says I. Finally, a day on the water, and a small bit of pressure now to produce the goods, and seek out some deep-water leviathans to show this Roach basher what a large species is capable of, and how absolutely awesome they can be.

Traps set, waiting game now

Safely afloat and on our way, first stop as always, fresh bait, and in this case, with a cooler box of frozen Mackerel aboard, a dozen Coalfish should suffice. Already Aaron was having a whale of a time, wishing he had brought the LRF gear for these hard hitting 2lb Coalies. I had to remind him this was "bait", and drag him away from this type of fun and on to the next stage. Bigger Kippers to play with.

Lesser Spotted Dogfish or "LSD's"...never far away

Thanks to Ronald Surgenor for this shot, taken from about a quarter mile away!

Soon at anchor out in the deeps, and traps set. This is now a waiting game, although my hyper boat buddy for the day wanted to play with the light gear in between times to see if anything weird or wonderful was about. In his words, "I'm looking for something trippy TJ"! He promptly landed a Lesser Spotted dogfish. Nothing more "trippy" than an LSD!....Apologies.

Black-Mouth Dogfish, a new species for Aaron

A couple of  standard "doggies" and then a Black-Mouthed Dogfish showed, a new species for Aaron, and he was clearly delighted. These are a deep-water Cat-Shark, an interesting small shark species and a welcome interlude from the common Dogfish that seem to pave the sea bed. A small Spurdog next, another new species, as we were racking up his species tick list.

And another, a juvenile Spurdog this time

As the flood tide drew near to full high tide, one of the big guns showed some interest. My pair of Penn Ally Rods and fifty-class Internationals are probably the best Skate-targeting combos created. I've yet to find a set-up that comes close to this quality kit for hauling lumps" to the surface. Penn Ally's are now out of production of course, but the upgraded "Carnage" series looks even better! Dear Santa, I've been a good boy all year............

Penn Ally, Penn International, un-beatable kit

The rod arched under extreme pressure, line peeling off the reel against a heavy set drag system, but a dropped run! What's going on? This rarely happens when I'm Skate fishing. Five minutes later, same thing occurs on the second rod. Two fish missed is rarely a coincidence, something is wrong. The only thing different is my hook pattern. Running low on hooks at the start of the day, I had no option but to try some 12/0 heavy gauge hooks I used for Shark fishing, that also had poor results on the Sharks. Scrap them! Hunting the cabin, I found an old Skate rig with 12/0 semi-circles, and a quick change ensued.

Job done, a new experience for the Roach-basher

195cms x 147cms puts this female in the 150-160lb bracket

Hopefully this particular missed fish or any others were still in the vicinity and we hadn't spooked them. Fifteen minutes passed, and a rod tip nodded and buckled over, another chance! The fish gods were watching over me once again. Some quick advice, and Aaron was soon engaged in a tug of war, man against fish and tide. The harness combined with twin speed reel makes the battle a pleasure rather than an endurance test, and I left him to it. It is always advisable to have a bit of a tidy up at this time, make some space, put rods to one side, remove spare rod holders, have tagging kit, measure mat and camera at the ready etc. Emphasis is always on the health and safety of the fish, so speed and efficiency once aboard is of the essence.

Some baby Spurs left behind after their parents were longlined, but great to see new stock

Very entertaining watching Aaron go through the throws of pleasure and pain, gaining inches, then losing yards of line in the battle to the surface. The super wide grin looking back at me leaving no doubt this was definitely an experience of a lifetime. With the slackening tide, we were able to boat the fish in 20 minutes or so, and my debt now paid in full I am delighted to say. One happy chappy, but no time to dawdle. As I barked instructions, we had the fish slid over the measure mat, with length and breadth measurements putting this female in the 150-160lb bracket. A yellow floy tag in its wing, a couple of trophy shots then slipped over the makeshift sling and back over the gunnels. I think I'm getting too old for this!

Some decent Whiting by modern day standards

Slack water, then shortly after, tide on the ebb, and decision time. We can head out "reef hopping" and look for some new species with light gear, or stay put incase any more "lumps" were nearby. In fairness to Aaron, he insisted we stay, as he wanted me to hook into a big fish too. No further action until the boat settled into the flow of the ebb, which then produced more Dogs and Whiting. Bigger leads were required on the stronger ebb, and we were now up to 4lbs just to stay in contact with the sea bed.

Another Skate on, but its getting late, and up against a fast ebb tide

As we thought about packing up, with sun sliding behind the landscape and temperature falling rapidly, my rod buckled over....of course it did, doesn't it always! Fast tides, sun setting, and it soon become apparent my fish had tangled itself around the leader. This one would be a struggle!

Time during the haul to give a thumbs up, and take a breather

About thirty minutes of constant pressure, he kindly decided to lift off the sea bed, and another thirty or so to get him to the surface. During this tug of war, Aaron hooked in to a feisty Tope around 25-30lbs, another new species for him. Unfortunately I had my hands full and had to leave him to it, but still able to take a trophy shot or two despite all the activity. I reiterate, I am DEFINITELY getting too old for this! Unfortunately I wasn't in a position to put a tag in this fellow, pity, and so, quickly back over the gunnels to freedom.

Thirty pound Tope to add to the bedlam, but all good fun

As suspected, as the Skate broke the surface, the leader line had wrapped around one of the wings, so basically it felt like I had been pulling a boat drogue up from the sea bed. But we got there eventually, and a Male this time, in and around 130-140lbs. Me? Knackered but absolutely delighted.

Skipper's turn to play

Seas calming, but with sun-set upon us, light fading rapidly. We could have stayed on into dark, but sensible to pack and run for harbour, more than satisfied with our day on the water. A quick rundown on the species tally, Tope, Whiting, Mackerel, Coalfish, Pollock, Dogfish, Black mouths, Spurs and a couple of "barn doors" and a hand full of new species for Aaron. I think you will agree, he got a fair trade for his Gudgeon mark!

Thanks for reading

Tight Lines

Terry