The best thing about sea  angling for me is that you’re never quite sure just what the day might bring.  Days you expect to be good often fall flat, while days you think are going to  be disappointing turn out to be red letter days. Just occasionally you get a  feeling everything is going your way.

I’m no psychic, but I woke  up in Castlegregory on the Dingle Peninsula in Kerry,   Ireland one  September morning and just knew before I threw the bed covers to one side that  this was going to be a special day. I don’t know how, I just did!

I’d Norman   Dunlop of the Central Fisheries Board and Mike Jnr with me,  and before breakfast I’d kept the feeling to myself. No point looking more of a  prat than usual if it all went pear shaped.

We were due out with Danny McCarthy  aboard his boat “Deep Cove” out from Scraggane Pier and scheduled to fish off Brandon  Head. The intention was to drift the varied ground looking for fish big enough  to qualify for Irish specimen fish awards, as well as add to our combined  species list which, boat and shore together, now totalling a cracking 33 over  10 days shore and boat fishing with just two days left of the trip.

I was on a personal mission  too, as I’d got 41 species in the bag for 2004 and was keen to get as many as  possible before leaving for home.

Parking up on the pier it  was obvious the wind strength had increased more than forecast and my first  instinct was that it would be difficult fishing with the drift being too fast  to fish effectively. It was that bad that it might even put the ground we  wanted to fish off Brandon Head out of bounds.

Skipper Danny wasn’t  impressed by the weather either, and figured we’d fish a rough ground hole out  off the Magharees Islands just to see what’s in it and let the wind hopefully  burn off, if it would, as the sun rose higher in the sky.

The hole was a slight mix of  sand but mainly rock and full of snags. There was a chance of common skate  here, so I heaved over a full mackerel and a fillet on heavy gear just in the  hope. The other lads had a mix of feathers on. Straight away they were in to  pollack, and good pollack running to 6lbs or more.

Watching this Mike Jnr and I  took the simultaneous decision to have some fun while waiting on the big reel  to click. We set up Fox 6lb class rods with a small multiplier loaded with just  10lb line. Choosing home made 1oz lead heads we added a small artificial worm  to the hook. I let this tap bottom then slowly retrieved. On the second drop  down the rod tip started to get heavier as a pollack ate the lure, felt the  hook, and the rod buckled over as the pollack bored for the seabed. It gave a spirited  scrap on the light tackle and I added three other smaller fish before deciding  to change tactics.

My lad and Norm, plus  Richard another lad with us, had already had fun with a pack of spurdog  including some nice double figure fish. I hadn’t caught a spur so far this  year, so changed over to a 12lb class outfit and baited up with some white tube  lures I used to use for codding years ago, baiting the hooks with strips of  mackerel. I used to do well on white baited feathers for spurs, but having none  of these the white tube lures would have to do.

You don’t wait long for a  spur bite when the packs are resident and within just a few seconds I was  setting the hook in to a small spur about 6lbs. My lad and Norm both decked  nice fish too that both looked close to 10lbs and possibly over. The spurs were  getting bigger and coming close to specimen weight. 

With all this going on I  just caught the audible “tick tick” of the reel on the big gear as line ran  off. Something had picked up the big bait. With anticipation of a big common skate  I held the rod waiting for the skate to shuffle off at its typically slow pace.  This fish took a few yards of line quickly and stopped, then went again. I knew  right there and then it was no common skate.

It was weighty but well out  gunned on the gear and having gone through two or three other possible species  in mind, I settled on a huss just as a black back and ugly big head came up  from the deep. A huss it was and a decent fish well over 12lbs and literally charcoal  black. It was another species for the team and Norm bagged another huss about  the same weight just shortly after. I’m sure a really concentrated effort  deliberately targeting big huss here would produce some absolute crackers,  especially around the Magharees   Islands which just  screams good huss ground.

All of us hit in to spurs  periodically as the pack passed by. I’d stuck with the tube lures adding strips  of mackerel and was eventually rewarded with a strong take. This fish felt  heavier, going round in circles then darting off again on short runs. It tried  to dive for the bottom right at the surface too. On deck this looked a much  bigger spurdog and Norman’s  experienced eye suggested it was close to Irish specimen weight and needed  weighing. We were just a tad disappointed when the scales settled on 11lb  11ozs, with the qualifying weight 12lbs.

By lunch the day was  completely different. The wind had eased a little, the sun was out and the sea  settling enough for us to head for the ground off Brandon.

We started a drift catching  haddock, pollack, whiting and the odd red gurnard, but even with braid on, the  drift in 200-feet of water was way too quick to make a good job of staying in touch  with the bottom with the baits. Danny elected to put a grapnel anchor in.

Once at anchor, the fish  started coming in to small Sabiki or Shrimp rigs baited with tiny strips of  mackerel. Thumping great pout close to 3lbs, cuckoo wrasse, haddock, small  ling, and poor cod. However both Norm and Mike Jnr lost good fish on the Shrimp  rigs which were tied on lighter 20lb lines, the line or knots just not up to  landing big fish. Some of these were obviously good pollack.

Whilst dinking species out  I’d been thinking. Having anchored that opened up a different option. I still  hadn’t caught tub gurnard this year and this ground does hold some good ones.  Tubs, far more so than reds and greys, are attracted to noise. Being anchored  meant I could “tap” the lead on the seabed and hopefully draw any nearby tubs  in towards the baits working on their curiosity. I’d need a stronger set of  lures so chose a rig with small 2-inch muppets on with silver flash in them  tied on 50lb line, then baited with 3-inch discs of mackerel belly which tend  to flutter as you work the lead and increases the visual attraction of the  lures as well as add scent.

It’s rhythmical fishing just  bouncing the lead on the seabed, but quickly a red gurnard found the baits  followed by a couple of haddock. The spurs were here too and these were coming  aboard again regularly too.

A triple tap type of bite saw  me strike in to a much better fish that banged the rod tip and took line. It  wasn’t a pollack and I couldn’t decide on a species. This fish fought hard all  the way to the boat and in the gin clear Atlantic seas the shape of a big  gurnard began to form. Danny was in with the net like a flash and when the tub  hit the deck Norman  said without hesitation, “That’s a specimen!”, and it was too. The scales  settled between 5lb 10ozs and 6lbs. qualifying weight is just 5lbs. We’d got  our specimen!

My lad switched to heavier  feathers too, and we fished side by side at the stern. He was unlucky to lose  what I’m sure was another good tub before he boated a cracking red gurnard and  spur on consecutive drops, followed by a pollack about 7lbs.

I stuck with the little  muppet rig bouncing on the seabed. I lost a couple of decent fish when the  hooks just pulled free, possibly pollack, then another triple tap bite got my  interest. This was a slower but more positive bite. I waited until the rod tip  pulled fully over before setting the hook and felt a real weight way down below.  This fish took line, came up, took line, dived and fought hard to mid water,  went passive for a few seconds then took off back for the bottom. Mike Jnr had  the net at the ready this time and my heart was in my mouth as a huge tub, fins  defiantly spread came up and thrashed on the surface. The net scooped it up and  the prize was ours.

This fish dwarfed the near  6lber. On the scales it hovered around 9lbs. We’d had two specimen tubs in less  than two hours. Fishing does not get any better and it’s indicative of the  quality of the ground fishing out off Brandon Head.

Later that day we officially  weighed the fish at the supermarket in Castlegregory. The big tub went 8lbs  13ozs and the smaller one 5lb 13ozs.

The story is not quite done  though. The following day the weather was again bad and the grounds outside  looked definitely out. We struggled for mackerel too, which were probably being  dispersed by the rougher seas and falling barometric pressure as a big blow  pushed its way in from the Atlantic.

We were fishing tight in  around the Magharees   Islands for bait but  bagging cracking looking pollack to 8lbs on Hokkai’s at the same time. Danny  had mentioned to me that the ground between the islands can produce John Dory.  I’d never caught a JD before, so when we opted to try some reef ground in  between the islands, I switched the Hokkai’s to a set of 5 much smaller red  feathers on size 2 hooks and baited each one with slivers of mackerel to better  simulate a small shoal of fish.

The drift was quick, so I  changed to a lead that was light enough to pull away from the boat a fair way  to lessen the angle the baits would work over the ground. Feeding line out  until I felt the lead tapped bottom, it was then a case of simply retrieving a  few feet to keep the baits just up off the bottom and pumping the rod tip to  induce movement.

We were all getting  mackerel, but infrequently, plus the odd pollack. I then hit something that  fought like nothing else I’ve ever hooked. It kicked, but went round in circles  thumping the rod tip as it did so. It was more like a small tuna…weird!

Unbeknown to me Danny and  Norm were watching my rod tip and I’ve a sneaking suspicion both knew what the  fish might be.  My face must have been a picture  of first bemusement, then sheer surprise when a John Dory surfaced and I swung  the beast over the gunnel. A totally new species for me, my 44th  species of 2004 and one heck of a way to cap an incredible few day’s of boat  fishing off the Dingle   Peninsula. It weighed  2lbs and I’m the first to acknowledge that Lady Luck was firmly sat on my  shoulder that day.

The ground off Brandon has left a major  impression on me. Ireland  has always been kind to my lad and myself and we’ve had some fabulous fishing  over the years and some incredible fish from all parts, but we both agreed on  the way home that Dingle ranks alongside Cork  and Donegal as something just that little bit special.

You’ll hear a lot about  Danny McCarthy and his boat “Deep Cove”. He might be a little embarrassed by  this but he’s a grafter, really knows his ground, isn’t afraid to experiment,  but more so he’s an obsessive angler. It’s a potent combination and with good  anglers aboard he’s going to make some headlines.

CONTACT
  Danny McCarthy or his wife  Bridgie on Tel: 00 353 66 7139003 or 00 353 86 8772746 or 00 353 86 3991468
  E-mail:  dubinkerry@eircom.net
Address: Danny McCarthy,  Keelballylahive, Castlegregory, Co Kerry.

Danny has a house for rent  too, but contact Danny directly for this.

ACCOMMODATION
We stayed in excellent  self-catering accommodation at Kerry Cottages, Castlegregory, Dingle, Co Kerry.  Tel: 00 353 66 7139163.

Crutches Hotel, Conor Pass Road,  Castlegregory, Dingle peninsula, Co Kerry. Tel: 00 353 66 713 8118 or Email: macshome@iol.ie is also very popular with  visiting sea anglers.

Alternatively check out… www.tourismireland.com or request  information from info@tourismireland.com

GENERAL INFORMATION
Castelgregory village has  several pubs, a Bistro and Take Away. All the pubs are good, but we often ate  at Ned’s known as Natterjack’s Bar on the road westwards out of Castelgregory.  The food’s good and there is a big telly if the football’s on.

There is also a well stocked  supermarket on the bottom road just before the turn off to Fahamore and the  road to Scraggane Pier.