Westport, Clew Bay, County Mayo. To anglers everywhere it conjures up visions of huge common skate. A reputation built up from the late 50's through to the mid 70's. Testimony to those great days, and even greater fish, still hang on the walls of the Helm pub and guest house in Westport as black and white photographs.

Skate numbers declined thereafter and by the start of the 90's a full two seasons went by without a common being recorded in Clew Bay. For anglers keen to try for the not so common common, things looked bleak.

But the big skate are back with a vengeance and no small part of that is down to the Irish Central Fisheries Board who suspended the fish from the rod and line records, and got underway a long term tagging programme to help gain some understanding of the life and habits of the monster skate.

I remember as a spotty 12yr old reading about the Westport skate and held an ambition to catch one since then. That opportunity came on the first day of October '94 when I was part of a group of anglers, put together by Gerry Flynn owner of the Irish holiday company Enjoy Ireland and by Norman Dunlop, Sea Angling Advisor to the Central Fisheries Board, to take a look at the boat fishing potential offered by the Mayo coast at Killala Bay and Westport, and also the shore fishing on remote Achill Island.

DAWNS THE DAY
The days forecast was for a force 6 southwest to west wind with intermittent showers. The weather though, didn't really matter for the Clew Bay marks are pretty sheltered and very few days are lost, besides, the forecast was wrong again and by lunch time the sun was out and the wind no more than a 4.

We were aboard the 33� "Corulan" owned by famed skate man Francis Clarke and skippered by Tommy Moran. The skate grounds are just 30 minutes from the quay and we anchored in about 70 feet of water within Half-a-mile from shore and close to the Lighthouse that guards the entrance to Westport Bay.

Mackerel were a problem being scarce, so a mixture of a single fresh fish feathered straight away and some frozen ones were the only immediate bait. I need to be confident in my baits or I fish badly, so I chose two blast frozen  mackerel brought over with us and used them in tandem to make a big bait.

ACTION STATIONS
We'd read and been warned about the dogfish packs that range across the skate marks and these were soon giving false bites on the rods. But this was a good sign for the commons feed on the dogs and the activity would also produce vibration in the water that would induce any close by commons towards the boat. Illustrating this point further was the fact that Norman caught a dogfish and promptly sent it back to the bottom as skate bait. A good tip, this!

You guessed it, it was Norman's rod that started the ball rolling. It started as a few gentle nods on the rod tip as the skate settled over the bait and the wing edges clattered the line. Then the rod pulled over a little and the ratchet gave line as the skate moved away. Norman tensed, braced himself as the reel went into gear, and rod buckled over into a full arc as the weight of the fish came to bear.

The skate immediately went to ground and used it's own weight and that of the passing tide to pull tight into the seabed. Norman was, by now, fitted with a harness and butt pad and started the agony (and that's what it is, agony) of keeping the rod fully bent to the fish. This is the only way to get a skate free of the bottom.

Twenty minutes later and the fish was hurting. It came free of the bottom and kited around in small circles. Still very heavy and working the 50lb class rod right through to the butt. Pumping the rod tip slowly allowed the reel to fill, then somebody shouted, "I can see it", and deep down a faint white shape started to emerge.

You can't describe just how big these commons are when they break surface and you have to admire the slick way in which Francis and Tom sank the gaffs into the wing edges where no permanent damage is done and heaved the giant onto the gunnel and then into the boat. It filled the rear deck space and taking photographs proved a nightmare.

This fish had been previously caught only a couple of weeks before on 5th September aboard the same boat and yet again proves that careful handling, tagging and then release does fish no harm at all. It measured 62" across the wings and had a total length nose to tail of 83.5".

The next action saw a common grab a small bait on standard 20lb class gear and line being fished by Brian Fawcett for other species. This fish took the bait and just kept on swimming dragging Brian forwards with the rod at arms length and him saying "It had to happen to meeee.......!", then the line parted.

Almost straight away the rod tips fishing next to me nodded a couple of times as a common literally winged in between the lines. I felt a pluck, and then a shiver down the line as the skate flopped over my bait. Line gently crept from the spool as the fish cruised slowly off downtide. Was it the same fish that had just broken off Brian's gear?

I waited until 10 yards of line had left the spool, then put the reel in gear and let the weight of the fish pull the hook in. Over went the 50lb class rod and I was pulled up on tiptoes as the skate bored away, then abruptly stopped and dug in.

The best way to fight any big fish that sits tight near the boat is to lean backwards with your knees bent and let the harness pass the strain of the rod to your back. This keeps inevitable lower back pain to a minimum and keeps full rod pressure on the fish. Even being used to shark fishing on a very regular basis such is the power of the common that being new to these fish it entered my mind that an hour of this and if you hadn't got the fish moving by then, you'd be in bad physical shape.

This fish came off the bottom quicker, but was still lively and cruised off in short widening circles, though short pumps got line back quite quickly. She came up on the starboard quarter and Tom and Francis heaved her aboard. She measured 82" nose to tail and 61.5" over the wings. This fish was a new one to the area and carried no tag from a previous release, which adds credence to the improving skate prospects here at Westport. Neither did she carry any other hooks, so the fish that Brian lost was still down there.

Whilst optimism was still high on board, none of us really expected to see another fish hooked that day. Two was far more than any one could ask, but Neptune, or maybe the Leprechauns were definitely on our side.

Liverpudlian Russ Scott was next away with fish that took slowly underneath the port side stern, moved uptide a short way, then doubled back downtide a few yards before settling on the seabed in roughly the same spot where it had picked up the bait. Russ piled on the pressure and as an abject observer I could see that Russ's 50lb rod was bent fully to the butt and even the butt was bending. Also, this picks up the point that most rod manufacturers are not putting enough rings on rods which, when working to the full curve, have the line between the intermediate rings below the blank and touching it and in serious danger of heating up and parting.

Russ's fish took 20 minutes to lift but another 15 minutes before it could be boated. The wing span measured 59" and the length 78". Another fish previously caught from the same area some two years before.

No sooner had the fish been photographed and released than Phil's rod kicked a couple of times, stopped, dipped again, then line peeled from the reel as the fish moved off downtide. Phil's face was full of excitement, but this drained quickly away as the hook bit, the fish slammed the rod over and settled on the seabed. The sheer weight of something trying to drag you over the side takes you by surprise. Remember that these fish don't run like a shark, but sit almost under the boat, which is the worst position for an angler to fight any fish.

Phil gritted his teeth as I clipped the harness to him and his reel and the butt pad was passed around his waist. I stayed by his right shoulder and he said, no whispered to me, "I don't know as I can handle this for too long", but he did and took only 15 minutes to work the fish off the seabed and into mid water. Another 10 minutes and she was over the gunnel and being measured, photographed and admired. Overall length was 83.5" and the wing span 61". This fish carried a previous tag and had been captured an amazing 10 years before from exactly the same spot by Francis Clarke himself.

We continued to fish for another hour, but the tide was well on the flood and the feeding spell ceased. Only the odd dogfish showed interest now. Time to go!

TACKLE TALK
Although all the books suggest a few feet of 100lb wire, our fish were caught on heavy mono of 250lb strain. This held up very well inside the rough mouth of the skate, but did show slight signs of abrasion. A bigger fish and longer fight would have me worried, so, in future, I would choose 300 to 350lb mono straight through. A length about 6" being ideal keeping the wings of the skate away from the main line as the fish picks up the bait.

Choose a Mustad O/Shaughnessy 3406 bronzed hook between size 8/0 and 10/0, depending on bait size. If the fish is lost the hook will soon rot away and do little damage.

Reels need to be workhorses. A Penn 4/0 to 6/0 loaded with 50lb line would be my first choice. But whichever rod you choose, make sure that you test it before use and check that the rings keep the line up above the blank when the rod is fully worked to maximum curve.

A harness with metal reel clips, not the easily broken plastic type, is essential and a butt pad that is wide enough to span across both upper thighs helps spread the load.

DOES IT HURT?
Yes! If you try to stand upright, as most anglers do, all the forward pulling weight of the fish is taken up by the muscles in the lower back which quickly hurt like hell. Also, the forearm muscles will tighten as the permanent strain takes its toll. As mentioned, ease this by leaning back with the knees bent and find the balance point between you and the fish. The continually bent rod will eventually force the fish off the seabed.

Then, and only then, start to use short upward pumps of the rod gaining a couple of feet of line each time. Taking the rod from horizontal to vertical each time and then recovering line will tire you too quickly.

LOOKING BACK
Only on the way back to Westport did we learn from Francis and Norman that we'd just had the best numbers and overall size of common skate into a boat during a single day for over 25 years.

The fish were estimated to weigh on average between 160 and 170lbs, though a couple looked mighty heavy behind the eyes and may have gone bigger.

It's obvious that the fish move away from their grounds only when forced to by maybe a lack of food supply or the breeding urge. Phil's fish, taken 10 years after initial capture, proves the point that the protection offered to the skate will be an on going thing, not only by capture and release, but also by protecting their environment.

My fresh fish also points the way to a healthy future with a high possibility of new fish adding to an already increasing stock of quality localised fish.

CATCH A COMMON
If you're eager to take a crack at a common, and I strongly recommend the experience, then you'll enjoy a stay in Westport where the evening night life at the Helm said to be the best drinking pub in Ireland) is amazing and there where a few thick heads amongst our party to vouch for that) is excellent, and the sheltered waters of Clew Bay means that somewhere will be fishable. More is the point, you've an excellent chance of getting your target fish.