Mary Gavin Hughes has made quite a name for herself in this wonderful world of angling. Mary is the only lady skipper I've ever come across in Ireland, the UK and even Europe. Unique enough on its own, but she's also one of the best all round boat anglers too, having represented Ireland on numerous occasions and with a string of major wins on her CV.
These include winner of the Connaught Championship gold in 1993 and 1994, captain of the trophy winning Connaught Inter-provincial Sea Angling Team in 1993, the Skippers Cup in 1999 and again in 2000, and All Ireland Team Manager 1995 and 1996. Just the day before we got out fishing together Mary had returned from Stavengar, Norway where she'd added another gold medal to a growing list of angling achievements.
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Mary is not the only famous lady seafarer from these parts. The famous Grace O�Malley, a notorious pirate queen, who raided ships working the Irish west coast during 1600�s sailed from one of the local piers here.
DAY 1: THE DYSAGHY�S
Mary works her boat, Shamrock 1, a 33-foot Aquastar, from both Roigh Pier and Corraun Pier near Newport. We were to meet at Corraun and head out towards a rock called The Dysaghy's off the west side of Clare Island on a species hunt. I'd got two days aboard Shamrock 1, but though the first days weather looked okay, it was due to deteriorate quickly come evening and gales were forecast the next day.
The Dysaghy's rock is a famous mark in Clew Bay. It's a popular mark for boats during species competitions and is well capable of producing 15 plus species in a day and more. The rock itself maybe breaks surface by only 15 feet or so in a series of small humps, but the white water swells boil around it hiding it from view occasionally even on a calm day, and the water is gin clear. You can see fish coming up from close on 30-feet down.
Mary elected to try a drift or two away from the main rock looking for a mix of ground just to get us started on the species. This was gurnard territory and my lad was first in with a nice tub gurnard he picked up on baited feathers. One of the Irish lads aboard was working rag baited shrimp rigs and found a cracking near 2lb pouting. Other species on the first drift included poor cod, pollack and ballan wrasse.
Looking to increase the species count we pushed in nearer the rock. Like all good skippers Mary had waited and just watched how the sea was working around the rock before edging in. Down went the gear and we were quickly in to wrasse, dark green and brown ballans, but backed up with some cracking clown coloured cuckoo wrasse that were suckers for shrimp rigs tipped with either a sliver of mackerel or a section of ragworm.
Having been behind the camera most of the time so far, I figured it was time to try and get a little action myself. Now trust me, pink ain't my colour, but Mary said pink was the killer for pollack on the Dysaghy's, so on went a pink jellyworm. Second drop down and wallop, something with a bit of sting in its tail grabbed the jellyworm and took off for the seabed. A lively scrap with a near 5lber ended successfully. I managed two more about the same size on consequent drifts, as did visiting US angler Mike Lavanti from Chicago.
It was interesting to compare how Mary works on the boat compared to many other skippers. She leaves nothing to chance, preferring to net any even half sizeable fish instead of letting the anglers lift them by the trace. I also noticed she keeps an eye on every angler, and if someone with less experience has the wrong trace or rig on, a quick and quiet hint of advice gets them back on track and catching again. She also keeps the boat tidy and constantly re stowing gear as it gets moved and used.
More drifts around the rock produced cod, more ballan's and cuckoo's, small ling, pollack, codling, coalfish, pout, launce, and I managed a red gurnard, though red was not quite the right description as this red happened to be the most beautiful dappled orange colour.
Moving off the rock and on to sand we tried a few drifts. This was interesting. My lad was fishing his socks off and got a double header of plaice on an attractor bead rig, and then added lesser weever and a dragonet for good measure. My claim here is that I taught him well. I pitched in with a dab, and there were a couple grey gurnards caught too. At the end of the first day we'd tallied 18 species.
DAY 2: CLEW BAY
The forecast, for once, was about right. Force 6 to 8 southerly, maybe with a hint of west about it too, and set to strengthen as the day progressed.
No bother, plenty of shelter inside Clew Bay. With 365 islands in the bay, you can always find somewhere to hide and a big advantage for Mary as she rarely loses a day's fishing. We'd stick our neck out and chance a crack at a big common skate, but also fish the bottom for whatever was around.
Mary has an interesting way of advertising your baits to waiting skate and general bottom fish. She chunks up mackerel, puts it in a plastic bag, ties up the bag, attaches it to a line on a spare rod, drops the whole lot to the seabed, then yanks hard on the rod to split the bag and you have instant ground bait. Neat, clean and quick, putting the smelly stuff right where you want it by the baits!
Two lads were keen to take a few mackerel home for the barbie and kept us going all day with a stream of quality baits, plus bagged another species in the shape of scad. The feathers when baited also find tub, red and grey gurnards over what is mostly a mud and sand bottom.
I've fished this same ground before and figured a thornback or a huss was on the cards, so set up a basic boom and flowing trace adding a decent sized fillet of mackerel. It was a good guess as another angler up by the cabin bent in to a nice fish that fought in typical ray fashion hugging the seabed before kiting up in the tide. A superbly marked female thornback around 5lbs tagged and released. Mary was telling me these thornbacks, though normally fairly localised in their habitat, have been found to roam as far from Clew Bay as the Kerry coast after tagging.
It was a good force 8 now, raining at times, and we were beam on to the sea, but it was safe fishing and there are few places you'd get out to sea in weather like this. Not ideal conditions for common skate though.
My hunch on the huss also came true. I was watching the rod tip and saw a steady pull down and drop back bite. Lifting up the rod I felt the fish drag the bait and come back at me uptide. Winding in to tighten the line then striking met a solid head shaking resistance and I knew I'd found my huss. It fought well and eventually broke surface 20-yards out before finding the net. Not a huge fish, maybe 8 or 9lbs, but it's always gratifying when you target something and catch it. Fishing buddy Norman Dunlop of the Central Fisheries Board followed suit with another huss shortly after.
We totalled 22 species in two days fishing. The variety over this ground is incredible and gives you so many options to try if you've a week fishing these waters.
FISHING FACTS
Chatting to Mary about her fishing year she figures to get at least 20 to 30 skate a season and catches around a half dozen that have been tagged before. This means that there is a healthy change over of new fish and this is one fishery that is getting stronger year on year thanks to sensible conservation by the Central Fisheries Board and the skippers and anglers. July through October is a good time for the big skate. There are plenty of thornbacks too, inside Clew Bay all year round.
From late June on there are blue sharks around the Dysaghy's but generally more westward towards Achill Island. Porbeagles still roam these waters, and there are megrim close in to the sheer cliffs, plus rare torsk.
I've heard stories from anglers and skippers about big fish that swallow hooked up double figure cod close to the seabed. These monsters have so far been slow, but unstoppable persistent takers of line. I figure they might be halibut. There are also trigger fish and john dory taken in late summer.
If you were giving bronze, silver and gold stars out for the quality of fishing, then Clew Bay and west to Achill Island must be classed as some of Ireland's gold star marks. Just after I left a huge 88lb electric ray was caught from these waters setting a new Irish record.
The fishing here is consistent for much of the year, but Mary rates September and October as the peak months, but wants to start working through the winter a she feels there is equally good fishing then for cod, hake, haddock and who knows what else. I've fished here in May, August and September now and done well each time, so can verify the consistency of the area.
TACKLE TO TAKE
Carry a lighter 15lb class rod to tackle the smaller species such as the wrasse, gurnards, flatfish, and even the pollack, though you'll find 10lb plus pollack on the marks that will fight hard on this gear.
If you're looking for the ling, bigger cod, rays and tope, then a 20/30 class rod is a good all rounder, though I'd personally choose a uptider and match it to a 7000 sized multiplier with 20 to 25lb line.
To take on the common skate, if you're inexperienced with big fish use a 50lb class outfit. If you fancy your chances and have caught a few big fish before you'll be fine with a 30lb rod and good quality 30lb mono.
If you're missing anything Mary has hire tackle available aboard.
Carry leads from 1oz up to 12ozs and you won't go far wrong. A few 16oz leads might be handy if you work big tides out by the rocks on a windy day when the drift is fast.
For the species hunting it's hard to beat the Mustad luminous shrimp rigs or good old fashioned baited feathers. For drift fishing with baits try a one up one down attractor rig with a spoon on the bottom trace and coloured beads. This rig takes just about everything.
Pollack and coalfish take a flying collar rig and those hot pink jellyworms especially well. Also try a flowing trace off a boom for the ling, skate and huss.
CONTACTS
Mary Gavin Hughes, Clynish View, Derrada, Newport, Co Mayo, Ireland. Tel: 00 353 98 41562 Mobile: 086 8062282
Shamrock 1 is a 33-foot Aquastar fully licensed and equipped for up to 12 anglers.
TACKLE SHOP
Hewetson Bros, Westport. Co Mayo. Tel: 00 353 98 26018.