​While SHAG operate mainly on the South Coast of the UK, their spiritual home (if anglers have such a thing) is the south West coast of Ireland. Indeed it was  a chance meeting with 2 Top Irish Specimen anglers, Noel and Christie Lane, that inspired the formation of SHAG. 

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Consequently the annual tour(s)  to the Beara peninsula represent the opportunity to both increase the UK specimen count while allowing the possibility of the capture of Irish Specimens and an invite to the prestigious Irish Specimen Fish Committee's annual award ceremony in Dublin.

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Previous tours had targeted the waters around Valentia on the Ring of Kerry but in 2011 the decision was taken (not lightly) to move south to the current location on the Beara peninsula as much to sample different types of fishing and try somewhere new as anything else.

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It has proved to be a wise decision specimen wise with 3 Irish specimen fishes recorded thus far. There follows brief details of each tour ......

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June 2013

November 2012

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Day one and its all looking good ….gear on the plane , albeit slightly overweight ( a bit like tour participants after 4 days of Guinness and scallops ) , 250 black lug and the promise of 100 Irish crabs in the bag ……Then we get the car at Cork , it’s a pile of Hyundai Shiite ……..now I know how Johnty must have felt the first time he sat behind the wheel of his pride and joy…. Still it has got sexy exhausts , 2 of em , so with delusions of Penile grandeur we set off into the great Corkian Unknown …….

 

Once we arrive its raining which means we must go fish rocks…..Plan A …go to Dursey island , feather 20 mackerel , catch a load of cod and a few specimen dabs ……someone to forgot to tell the Cable car operator who has disappeared till tea time……Lucky it’s a Sunday followed by a bank holiday so we have no opportunity to buy any and no frozen either from Harris…..Muppets ….we end up fishing on Jontys favorite Dab and Gurnard rock because its raining and its lovely and black and slippery …not to mention jagged edge sharp ……vicious cross wind and 2 people on the captains rock not ideal….still there a load of coalies to spinners and Sofa catches a sole so its only the captain who is unhappy with the rock……….

 

On return to the cottage someone has parked their 18ft rib in front of the cottage ….Captain utters “what tw@t parked that f---ing thing there “ just before noticing the owner standing next to it …oops don’t think the Diving club are going to be my friends …..

 

Lucky part 2 of the plan is executed perfectly ….Down the pub , scallops and Guinness and port and brandy ……luckily Cork diving club are in that night  ….we all laugh about boat parking escapade and …..The Honour of SHAG is upheld but its a close run thing by the time we leave......

 

Day 2 and its gorgeous ….better waste this day at Allihies…..After losing a very large Pollock on the outer rocks we spend the afternoon watching motionless bottom rods hook the very occasional dogfish …luckily for us Chris Be is abit of expert at catching mackerel and sandeels and shows us supposed seasoned experts the way forward by filling the bait larder and breaking the Mackerel record with a fine 1-03 lunker……..we retire to the pub after a chuck conger bash at Firkeel ….……SHAG honour is once again upheld

 

Day 3 is lovely again so we decide on a Dursey conger bash…too windy ….we fish Dursey rocks in the sunshine with sofa on the Capt rocks ….he loses gear and his temper …but wont quite concede that Mike was not in the wrong in the great casting debate in June ..Still the captain bags a monster dab of 1-08 plus specimen Pollock , plaice and flounders…Chris loses a bunch of fish and spinners and we both bemoan leaving the bread at home as the entire Beara mullet population is feeding in front of us …….

 

Onto Black ball head where the wind is now vicious and across the rocks …..interesting mark with plaice, flounder and close to specimen dab plus conger and Pollock for sofa inside the harbour,,,,,The weather and sea gets a bit dicey and dark so we leave a bit early only for the captain to slip gracefully down the rock into a pool of knee deep water ………

 

Return to the pub we manage scallops and Guinness and retire…

 

Day 4 – wind is up and we ‘re off to Cods head because we like the drive , and the feeling of soiled underwear……still it’s a lovely spot well sheltered and we do manage a few small congers, a rare ling and a specimen Cuckoo wrasse….Pollock are think on the ground but its an enjoyable afternoon.   Then its off for a wild goose chase for Monkfish ……Dungboy …..there have been large fish lost here allegedly in recent weeks so we catch a couple of dogs proving that it is a truly shitte mark ( or at least it is when we are there) ….retire to the pub …..

 

Day 5 – last day and its blowing a hooley now so we off to try the beach ….its very weedy but we tuck into the corner and lob out our crab/worm baits into the teeth of a gale…..fish come quickly and we end up with 6 sizeable bass to 4lb , a couple of Pollock and a flounder over low and up for a few hours …easy fishing and weather aside a neat way to end the holiday ….. 

It takes forever to pack , drive to the airport and we nearly miss the plane oops…..still we make it and board the plane having had a last guiness and chips……….All in all a lovely trip in good company ….the cottage was fantastic , the pub too close, the bait excellent and we even managed a couple of irish specimens…nothing too large , biggest fish an 8lb conger but we learn a whole lot of stuff …..now lets start talking 2013……

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June 2012

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So finally it has arrived.....1 down before we even leave Worthing and Sofa using up all the Irish Sunshine in his girly week ....so things not looking good for the Intrepid Trio...and worse to follow with  team Audi failing to make the grade and failing short of Carmarthen. Nifty phone work and we are soon back on the road thanks to the slowest welsh car hire man in history we make the ferry with 5 or less minutes to spare...still we are back on track and celebrate the ferry journey watching the dolphin and taking cream teas and cake on the upper deck ........
a few beers in the sugar loaf and a comfortable night and breakfast at 'Arris's and we ready for the off Saturday morning -mmm pssing rain , no mackerel and bait digging in the inclement weather - it was never like this in the dreams.....

so is this to be the Captains year , another rout for the Blue-Eyelands Boy or will the first timer but resurgent Jonty bring his match and specimen form from the UK.......

we are on the "House" rock by 4 and feathering for mackerel ....2 good sized Pollock hooked but no mackerel ..still it’s a good sign that we have landed Pollock to 4lb without really trying......a 3 1/2 lb. wrasse on dab gear indicates the sand is probably a little too far out for the conditions. No fun really though as it psses down the whole session,.

an early start the following morning, well for some but the captain is left in bed with a coffee to catch up, clearly the other tour attendees are worried that the captains day 1 form ( he caught most of the fish) will be hard to match so they are trying every trick in the book .......NO great Pollock but plenty of small coalies to just under 2lb, mainly to the captains silver spinner...Jonty's jelly has definitely lost its wobble but at least there is fish about ...no mackerel though.  In the absence of Dimsun, Sofa utters the immortal Lure angler's tag line......."Did you catch it on the way in ".....nuff said.

Blues islands follows with hopes raised high by an early attempt at Octobers Jewel in the BeerA! crown over top of tide in calm conditions and the knowledge that Plaice have figured there recently. Shame that it is total and utter PANTS till top of tide ...on some venues this would have spelled the end but we solider on and a steady but unspectacular stream of Pollock and dogs follows.....a reasonable Pollock pushing 4lb for both the Capt and Sofa are mediocre highlights together with a bass (BeerA record) .....Jonty inexplicably blanks although suspicions are raised at his use of Bright red "DANGER, DANGER" snoods (could be a bit long too) although his tangling with the captain is also partially to blame (in his eyes anyways)....  a couple of beers in the Allihies bar revives hopes and off to bed for an early start ...

mulletting, day 3  ,,,,,,,of course nothing goes according to plan as some damm pads have nicked the spot in the sound for mullet so we head off further out in the sound ...sofa cracks out a good Pollock first drop of around 6lb but the Captains technology failures continue to haunt the trip as his scales fail to operate and no one has a backup set ...damm £3.95 down the drain! A second decent Pollock of 5lb ish to sofa is the only other fish of note on the day but it certainly starting to look like the Pollock are "in"............no mullet though ..

Off the back of reports of bags of Pollock and wrasse and with no fresh mackerel to use for congers we decide on a long walk out to crows head , of course despite loads of running, healthy breakfasts and less alcohol than usual the walk is a mere stroll enjoying the natural sights...Turtle dove and Chuffs abound.....

sadly the fishing is dire and we fail to get a single decent Pollock ...we're doing it wrong for sure ....with a rising tide and a low lying rock combining with no fish we head off a little early.......unlike previous days on Blue islands ...a cautionary tale perhaps ........

John is put in charge of a short sharp session on route to Allihies pub (it can’t get much worse so what the heck.....) he cracks it with a lovely little black rock , ideal for the rainy conditions , near garnish .....he bags 3 flounders and 2 wrasse in 1 hour , sofa and the captain  are humbled (or jerking off over humble I can’t recall) .......Port n brandy ensue...

A glorious day greets the awaking shaggers on Tuesday and mulleting is the early order of the day once we have gone to Teddy town to c our bait .....No mackerel all week at the fish shop but the chubby girl at the wholesalers gets the captain excited by her positive response to his request for something fishy ...sadly his joy is short-lived as she can only offer 7 mackerel (it being a little early for any other type of business) ... the captain may have erred here too as it appears he dropped the cool box on the way to the car and the chubby girls fishy offering has to reside in a bucket kept from getting sweaty by a simple pack of frozen peas.....

We entertain ourselves over lunchtime with a couple of hours of mulleting ....the biggest shoal of mullet we have ever seen glides up and down within casting range but completely ignore our bread in the main ...Jonty is the main of the moment as he whips out a couple on his carp-esque techniques .....fish to 3lb but still nice in the sunshine

And so to the "Raison D'etre' for our early season escapades in BeerA!...Ray fishing at Dunboy.... right so that was shite, still it was a nice afternoon ......rally cross back to Allihies for dinner..*8KKM my butt ..still it was Jonty that got told off by the over-officious dick head from England about his speeding in the village (judging by the proliferation of Roy Keane Sister look-a-likes in Allihies I suspect that speeding (or any other form of noxious substance abuse) is probably the only way forward.......)

Time is now running out , fish have been caught but the specimen fish is eluding the Shaggers but a good forecast and some uncharted flatty territory (oh and that huge shoal of mullet in the sound ) mean we are still in with a shout

An early morning session on the dab grounds beckons and all that stands between us and glory is ....cows, an electric fence and another downpour ...still we soldier on and soon the dabs are coming in slowly but steadily.......sadly Jonty's gear is also coming in at regular intervals on the end of the captains gear as we aren’t fishing the same pattern..........2 lost rigs (including one with double dab/gurnard) later and Jon has run out of red snooded rigs, reel line and patience.......the captain is left with the distinct impression that he is getting the blame for it ......well ok one of the casts was a little bit low and left .....Jonty departs , sofa bags a big UN , a plaice and he thinks the glory .....The captain while clearly shaken by his fellow anglers stompy rock exit still feels he has the edge with a large dab in the bag .......

weigh in reveals that he has indeed managed to beat the Irish Specimen size with a 600g dab ........

However Sofas Red gurnard (Shaggers all Irish record) coupled with his plaice and mackerel will probably win the day in the week long species race.......

The usual lunchtime  mulletting session follows in glorious sunshine (weird how the weather changes so quickly) a& Dorsey island and the captain's luck runs true and he bags 2 mullet to 3lb 2oz and loses another ..The fish are further out than yesterday and seem to have developed the habit of flicking the bread of with their tails......

The afternoon is devoted to a short trip to Dursey (sad because we f'ed up the cable car times and had only 3 hours ) , starting on the pier /rocks , Jonty bags a very nice dab over a pound , sofa shakes the specimen size to within 25g and the captain bags a codling of around 3lb (no one told me it wasn’t chisel) .....There is a general feeling that the depth of water and tide run over there could produce something really special with more effort ......the final hour is spent trying to work out to present sand eels in the hellish tide race ...failed...expect for a coalie to Sofa....and so ends Wednesday (and the trip although we didn’t know it at the time)

 

 

 

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