Deep water mark, Co. Limerick, 16th-September-2012

People: Me
Duration: 11.30am until 3.20pm
Tide: 12:31 0.40m 18:48 5.20m
Weather: NW Moderate gale to calm with heavy showers to gale
Bait: Mack, Eel, squid
Rigs: Running ledgers with 4/0 hook and pulleys with penel  with 4/0 2/0 hook
Results:
 9 ray. A few smallers one but the biggest was around 9lb
Report:

I went out with the intention of fishing a sheltered mark, as the wind was blowing, 2 hours either side of low water with the intention of getting ray and a decent chance of a good huss or conger. I was going to mix up pulleys and ledgers to see which worked best. I find a one up one down the ray always take the top hook but the big congers take the hook below the lead here.

 I arrived down to good conditions with only a wave the other at distance. First three cast produced three ray to mackerel squid on ledger and pulleys.

First fish

Most of the fish were this size

 After that the wind and wave picked up and the bites went dead. I cast farther out with one rod searching for more fish while with the second rod I searched closer. At low water the fishing picked up again with most of the fish coming close in to ledgers. This may of been just due to casting my ledgers close in only as some fish did come to pulleys but I concentrated on the ledgers. This produced fish on the shortest of casts with false casts producing. At the end I had one last fish with a lob when normally the fishing would of been dead due to the tide run. No conger or huss but I can't complain about the fishing especially when I get a fish like the one below that bent my rod over with it's dives.

Currachs, Co. Clare, 9th september 2012

People:9 anglers
Duration: 12.00pm until 4.00pm
Tide: 12:21 3.7m 18:35 2.0m
Weather: Mainly pleasant with squals
Bait: Fresh Mack, Eel, squid
Rigs: Running ledgers with 4/0 hook and running paternosters, pulleys
Results:
I had one 6lb bull huss. Winner had 19 fish at the steps mainly dogs but a large gunard was also caught, at the currach 6 larger fish came second
Report:

First cast of a pulley penel locked up in the kelp so I switched to 30 lb line and single hook ledgers. The best of the bites I had were at the start with missed doggy bites including a fish that spat the bait at the shore line. I also had  a conger run that locked up but I managed to get my gear back with no fish. I put the lost fish down to in part putting to much bait on as I'm used to baiting penels.

Others around me faired better so copying tactics I tried a 2 hook flapper but my hooks were too small to hold enough bait against the crabs and switched from a ledger to a paternoster ledger. A doggy caught by one angler had a mackerel head stuck in it's gob that it had pulled from another competitor's hook. I lobbed out half a head and caught this fella but no more bites for the last hour.