Kincaslagh 4th June 2017

2nd club outing of the season, and 1st of 4 booked trips with Paul McGonnagle out of Kincasslagh. 8 members attended.

Mark Buchanan

Dan Boyle

Alan Buchanan

Gerard Girvan

Stephen Montgomery

Bill Bannon

John McCourt

Glen Murphy

The weather outlook looked pretty bad at the start of the week for this trip, but an improved forecast meant it was on. Skipper Paul reckoned we would find some decent fishing in the leeward side of one of the many islands around the venue. And so it initially proved.

We started trying for some Mackerel which were in rather short supply, but we managed maybe 20 or so between us, along with some Coalfish including a nice 4lb fish for Stephen Montgomery, then on to a sheltered mark to try our luck. Best fish here was a nice Pollock of 5lb 12oz for Bill Bannon, which would prove to be the biggest fish of the trip. Stephen Montgomery took a nice Pollock of 5lb 6oz from this mark also. Fishing here was pretty steady with numerous Pollock falling to a selection of rigs and spinning tactics. There were also a few small ling showing on this mark.

After 2 hours or so Skipper Paul suggested a move offshore as he reckoned the swell had died down a bit. We all agreed to head out to an offshore mark, which was a bit of a rollercoaster ride getting to. Here we took a much better class of ling, with the best being a nice fish of 5lb 9oz for Mark Buchanan. We took around 20-30 Ling off this mark. We also took some welcome codling to 5lb on this ground.

The swell proved too much for some however, and it was with some relief to us all when Skipper Paul called “lines up” and the end of the session.

1st place          Bill Bannon                       5lb 12oz Pollock             15 points

2nd place        Mark Buchanan               5lb 9oz Ling                     10 points

3rd place         Stephen Montgomery    5lb 6oz Pollock                  5 points