Sharks and Squid!!!

I was suppose to head as far south as possible last weekend to one of our Irish Kayak Angling meets….. tho the boss is expecting soon and I did not feel comfortable being around an 8+ hour drive away…

A 2.5 hour drive up north sounded better lol……

Van packed and away I went, back up to Donegal off course, tho this time I had something bigger planned…. arrival on Saturday afternoon with a friend Gary we hooked up with the the famous Graham Smyth aka (the shark whisperer)..
Quick chat while setting up the gear I headed out, the weather was pretty poor and big tides kept me inside the bay for a few hours before retirement around 10pm.

A bit of banter around the campfire and a Chinese before bed for an early start as myself and Gary where on a mission for something with teeth.

Morning came and we where greated to bacon buddies curtesy of Graham before heading out.
I fishied on the way out to the offshore mark here and there stopping for a while picking up the odd fish. Once at the chosen location anchored up and baits down the waiting game started, the tides where ripping past making it hard to get baits down and when you finally got one down with 10oz of lead you got a dog fish…… then another…….then another….. so don’t mention them!

Once the tides went slack Gary and myself caught plenty of Mackerel and scad with the odd bonus Gurnard popping up. The fishing was none stop to the point my arms where burning, a short while later the tides turned and the tidal flow started ripping again. I had a strange knock on my rod and as I struck into it there was a strange sensation, I thought it was a crab as there was no fight just a dead weight. Once reeled to the surface I was squirted with ink and water and too my surprise it was my first squid…… for about 2 hours Gary and myself consistently caught squid along with Mackerel and other bits and bobs.

Around 4-5 hours later while sitting on anchor the wind and swell started really picking up not to mention the tide really ripping past us, it was starting to become dangerous and we called it a day. Before packing up and making our way back too shore I put a fresh big bit of bait down…… a few minutes later while putting rods away I had a decent run…. surely not another bloody dogfish…… zzzzzzzzzzzzz….. I have the fish a second before striking…… fish on…… it felt decent and what I came for. With the tide it put up a great fight and a short time later I had a Shark on my lad (Tope).

Mission accomplished….. until next time!