Newcastle 25th August 2013
This was our 2nd trip of the season aboard Wayne Mulligans boat, Keltic Lady. 9 members attended the trip.
Alan Campbell
Jimmy Silcock
Alan Buchanan
Roy McCoy
Gerard Girvan
Frankie Montgomery
Glen Murphy
Paul Campbell
Stephen Montgomery.
Our last trip on Wayne’s boat was a bit disappointing, with very few fish being taken due to adverse weather condition, and so it was with some relief when we were greeted at the pier by calm seas and warm sunshine. Wayne had been out the previous day and had done quite well, and so we knew the fishing had improved from our previous visit. We loaded our gear onto the boat and headed out into the bay straight away. As soon as we stopped and dropped our rigs into the water, we were into fish. Mackerel hammered our lures, and our fish box soon contained an ample amount for bait purposes.
Baiting with mackerel strips on a variety of rigs produced a steady stream of codling to most of our rods, with the best being around the 3lb mark. This was the pattern for the rest of the day. When the fishing slowed in one spot, a quick move by Wayne would soon get us back onto the fish again.
As the day progressed, Frankie Montgomery took a nicer looking codling, which later pulled the scales to a more respectable 5lb 6oz, which would prove to be the biggest fish of the day. Glen Murphy also took 2 nice Pollock of 4lb 8oz and 3lb 14oz, which took 2nd and 3rd places in the day’s club competition scores.
A couple of firsts for the club were seen on the trip, Roy McCoy took a short spined sea scorpion, and Paul Campbell hooked a tiny dragonet. Interestingly, we never saw any coalfish or dogfish on the trip, both species would normally show as a part of any day’s sea fishing.
An estimated 30 to 40 codling and 1 small ling were caught on the trip, which kept our rod tips nodding for most of the day.
1st place Frankie Montgomery 5lb 6oz codling 15 points
2nd place Glen Murphy 4lb 8oz Pollock 10 points
3rd place Glen Murphy 3lb 140z Pollock 5 points