Well as the title suggests the Irish kayak Angling meet (comp) was in Cahore (Wexford) on the east coast of Ireland. It was a two day meet with the main comp running on saturday, the comp was based on catching four species (Dog, Dab, Smooth hound and a Bass) with the addition of a joker fish which was a Tope, by catching this you could double your points but sadly the Tope never made an appearance.
I set of for Cahore on friday evening after finishing work and running around like a mad man getting organised, an hour and a half later I was in Dublin where I met up with David Smith and grabbed a quick bite to eat before heading on down to Wexford. On arrival we were greeted by a few lads already there but surly there was more vehicles and kayaks than there was people, it was not long before we had camp set up and the missing lads came staggering back from the local bar. It was great to get a catch up with some of the distant friends and also meet some new faces who I only no through social media and the club. It was great crack sitting around the camp fire sharing stories but when I realized it was after 2am I was straight to bed.
The following morning when I got up there was a few lads already out for a practice before the comp was due to kick off at 11am, it was a beautiful morning and the location was lovely as well.
As the morning went on most of us had the yaks set up ready to go, discussing tactics and rigs etc.
This was a new venue and location to me as well as targeting two species iv never fished for before, also the fact that I have no fish finder on my
Jackson Kayak Kraken really did not help with the confidence as I was fishing blind, so to speak. But hopefully my new DragonFly 5Pro from
Raymarine will be here shortly.
Anto and his brother
The comp kicked off and we where all straight out targeting what ever we wanted to catch first, myself along with a few others were straight out into deeper water to catch Smooth hounds, at this point the weather was really starting to deteriorate quickly with strong winds and some mental guests, the sea state was going from flat calm to basically really choppy to the point a lot of us would not fish it on a normal day.
The strangest thing about the location was that the difference between high and low tide was less than a meter, so it seamed like the tide dose not move at all. Then there was the tidal flow out at sea, I have never paddled out to sea before to experience a flow that you would expect to find at the mouth of a Lough or of a headland, it was really ripping past at time making fishing more challenging.
David Smith
Out on the Smooth hound grounds I fished two rods, one with a simple running ledger setup with a size 2/0 uptide extra hook from
Cox and Rawle baited with peeler crab, again this was a first for me using this bait. On the other rod I fished a flowing rig from
Shamrock Tackle (Animal Rig) baited with cocktails of Rag, Mackerel and Crab. Baits down and the fun, or should I say plague began straight away, Dog after dog for hours resulting in bait declining rapidly and my hands getting sanded to bits.
Then I had a hook up on the Animal rig that felt slightly different, after a decent little scrap on light gear I had a very welcome Bull Huss on my lap.
Another species and a first for me.
After another hour I retreated back into the bay for shelter and giving up on the Hounds, the strange thing was there was plenty caught by other lads at either side of me, (maybe I was doing something wrong) but once back in the bay I fished over a reef for an hour for bass before calling it a day. As the weather was so poor we decided to run the comp into the next day as no one had completed the four species challenge.
Once back in we all settled down to dinner and a few to many beers, a few of us jumped the gun and shot into town for a chippy, but once returning regretted it as Pat gill had his famous curry prepared for the lot of us.
There was a wide variety of kayaks with I believe over twenty attending.
That night we all went up to the local pub for a few pints before I slipped off early to bed as I was literally blocked after two pints from being so tired.
The next morning I was awoken quite early (around 5am) by David shouting that it was a cracking morning, and as it was there was no time wasted by a few of us (that did not have hang overs) getting on the water. On my way out for one last try for a Hound I dropped a Bleeding Glow worm rig form shamrock for a Dab, it hardly touched the bottom and I had what I wanted.
On out to the deeper water and baited up with crab down the rigs went, again I was dosed by dogs and my crab supply soon run out without catching a smooth hound. I had no shortage of Rag so I paddled back into the bay to try for a Bass around the reef. On one rod I had
Shamrocks bleeding glow worms on baited with Rag and tiny strips of Mackerel and on the other rod I had a very simple size 2/0 from
Cox and Rawle tied directly to my 15lb main line to free float rag across the reef to see if anything would snap it up!!!!!!!!!!!
2/0 with snippet left on to help hold Rag
As I flicked out my first free float of Rag my other rod twitched, then it twitched again..............I struck.......fish on happy days as things where slow. After a completely epic battle that I will never forget I landed my first Corkwing Wrasse.
Beautiful little species....
I re baited and sent the rig back down, shortly later my free float took a thump and I lifted into it to find a fish on the end, it was small but what was it?????
A little Sea Scorpion, another welcome catch as it was another species for the comp. I was having no further interest on the Glow worms so I concentrated on free floating as it was a method I use regularly for Wrasse and Pollock and I new it was a tactic that had a fare chance of hooking a Bass.
A few casts later I had a thump and a run now this felt promising, I tightened down the drag and reeled in the decent fighting little fish..............To my disappointment it was a Pollock but another to add to the species capping me off with 6 in all over the two days.
I had a long journey home so I called it a day, headed in and packed up.
I hung around for an hour for a chat with some of the lads before leaving, it was a cracking weekend with plenty of crack, one that I will surely be attending again next year.
ooo nearly forgot if you ever lock your keys in the car David and Anto equipped with a transit van and a strap will soon get them back lol. This is definitely a story for the next meet!!!!!!!
Id also like to say congrats to Ian Burton for winning the competition by being the first to complete the challenge and also a big thank you to all the lads that where involved in organizing it.
Until my next adventure
Tight lines....
