South West Ireland from a Sea Fisherman’s Point of View.

Earlier this year, Jenny and I planned a holiday around the South West corner of Ireland and although we had both been to various parts of the country before we met, it was a very attractive prospect to explore a new area together. When packing for the trip, top of my list of items was, guess what, a set of sea angling rods, reels and a variety of tackle!
I knew from my previous experience that sea and freshwater angling was excellent. Although it was early in the season and that following the hard winter, it meant that water temperatures were still very low and that sea fishing could be challenging from beaches and on rocks.
We caught the overnight ferry from Swansea to Cork which was quite rough in the middle of the night. We drove over to our first cottage on the Dingle Peninsula not far from a famous seaside area called Inch Beach with a great sandy expanse, where surfing, kite boarding and sea angling were the main activities. At the time we arrived I spotted a notice on Inch Beach (see photo) stating that there was a bass ban from the middle of May to mid June. Also outside of these dates a fisherman could only take home two bass. No fishing permits are needed because like here sea angling is free.
The wind was so strong that at times blinding sand blew across a two-mile wide inlet over the sea to us as we walked the four miles to the point! Often it was a very difficult walk, passing a dead deer on the beach, also spotting other animals and birds that had perished in these challenging conditions. To cast a line with a force seven to eight was impossible but there was evidence of much fishing activity as my feet became caught up in a lost trace out on a sandbank.
The next day, we drove out to the point where the great Blasket Islands could be seen in the distance and round a little sandy cove we parked and had a picnic overlooking wonderful blue-green waves, crashing to the base of some quite steep cliffs. I had my binoculars out searching the sea for signs of any mackerel when I couldn’t believe my eyes because not more that five meters from the base of a nearby cliff was a Killer Whale! It was just like in the Jaws Film with a huge black triangle pointing out of the foaming waves. It was patrolling close to the edge. We later discovered that this really wonderful and powerful sea creature was actually feeding off the masses of whitebait shoals. After about five minutes we saw what looked like a mother and young whales also swimming in the little bay about one hundred metres offshore. Soon a crowd of people gathered to also witness such a wonderful site. I didn’t really feel the need to fish off the rocks nearby although my rods were in the car!
The next day we drove south round to the start of the next peninsula towards Killorglin and had my first real attempt to catch some fish using a wedge type spinner with a medium size treble hook. We discovered a recently renovated square fishing dock for locals to use either to launch a boat from or simply to cast from. I noticed straight away, that the concrete structure I was standing on, was surrounded on three sides by a massive shoal of whitebait. At this point you need to picture the scene with Jen sitting on a small low wall reading a book, the sun was out, all was peaceful and I continued to cast my trusty spinner in search of a fish.
I was fishing with no luck for about forty minutes and unbeknown to me, Jen had spotted something really large in the water swimming only an arm’s length from the side very near me! Jen came running down to me shouting something loudly and due to a strong breeze I couldn’t quite make out what she was saying. It was yet another killer whale and although the whale was probably after all that whitebait nearby it did cross my mind that just maybe I was the bait!!
At the end of that week we drove down to the next peninsula to a little place called Lauragh, to a cottage where sea otters were seen every day from the kitchen. This peninsula has many famous areas including Castletownbere, Allihies with old copper mines and wonderfully painted little cottages and beaches of fine crushed sparkling quartz. At the end is the fascinating Dursey Island with its linking shaky cable car, which is licensed to carry six people or two adults and four cows! It also has a bottle of holy water in the corner held up by string. B&Q have better catches for sheds to keep doors closed than this had. Having walked to the end of peaceful Dursey Island and braved the rusty the rusty cable car, which had only recently opened having failed the safety test by Cork County Council, I fished the deep channel between the island and the main land. The water was rough and white as Atlantic seas rushed though the narrow gap. I found a flat rock from which to cast and threw out a set of feathers. Immediately I was into something and it was very big! Waves were crashing around me and it rained twice with heavy showers but I didn’t really notice it. The fish on my twenty four pound line swam to my right and then to the left five or six times against a fourteen knot Atlantic tide. The channel was very deep with long kelp seaweed that had to be avoided. I had at least ninety metres of line out and the drag of the reel kept me in touch with the fish on about an eighty degree swing first against and then with the tide. It never crossed my mind how on earth the fish could be landed in such a difficult position.In the end it didn’t matter because on a very violent turn, at about one hundred metres out, the inevitable happened and the line parted! I was completely drained of energy and wondered what type of fish it was.
A few days later we found the beach formed of crushed quartz near the copper mines. The sea was rough but I decided to cast out a new set of feathers and almost immediately caught a pollock about three pounds. After a little while I caught four more which we had for tea and breakfast the next day. Whilst on that beach, a fishing float washed up and currently it is on my mooring at Dell Quay. We drove round to Castletownbere and whilst Jen looked round some local shops, I walked round the quay and all the mackerel boats were not going to sea because of a ban which finished two weeks later. A group of very cheerful fishermen from Poland were making a huge net tied between two lamp posts.
The holiday had been really interesting with very friendly people and stunning scenery. The Queen was also in Ireland for some of the time we were there and the people in South West Ireland were really delighted about the visit. However, I don’t think I saw her fishing but maybe it was the presence of the Killer Whales that deterred her!?

Allan Blamire

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