Good numbers of reasonable sized Whiting around now. (plus the odd Coalfish)!

First day – great weather and very good wreck fishing. Water temperature 9 degrees centigrade. Loads of mackeral, few Herring, lots & lots of baitfish showing on sounder – everywhere.

Strings of Mackeral

Early season Herring

One of the many nice Pollack from the Audacious

Nice Whiting

Season ended on the wrecks – fishing well for Pollack & Ling & Coalfish.

Fishing generally has been poor to fair. Mackeral are very patchy. There are a few Sharks around – mostly Blue Sharks – but nowhere as many as 2007 & 2008.

88 Pound Porbeagle

112 Pound Blue Shark

25 pound 4 ounce Ling caught on the wreck of the Devonian. Rosguill’s first specimen Ling although I have had 5 over 20 pounds from this particular wreck.

Couple of really nice Blue Sharks – 93 & 106 pound

Mackeral – lots

Water temperature – remains stubbornly low – at least by half a degree

Blue Shark – probably same as last couple years – average 1 to 3 runs per day – no return yet to the great years of 2007 & 2008

Porbeagle Shark – a few scattered around – hot spot has not recovered since start July

Reef Polllack – not as bad as 2009 but still not as they should be.

Limeburner – just Ok

Tope – seem to lots around

Sand – Usual – good & bad days

East Belfast Sea Angling Club records were obliterated on board the Rosguill by a super day’s sand fishing for Turbot & Rays. A total of 33 Turbot, 1 Brill, 6 Blonde Rays, 3 Homlyn Rays, 2 Cuckoo Rays, 2 Tub Gurnards and 84 ubiquitous Doggies

Nice 20 pound Blonde Ray

Smashing 120 pound Blue Shark – first Blue of 2010 for the Rosguill, boated after a mammoth battle lasting 1 hour and 20 minutes. First run it almost spooled Dublin angler, Steven. Beautiful Blue Shark measuring 75 inches fork length with an amazing girth of 33 inches.

120 Pound Blue Shark

Watch the video here: -

The first Blue Sharks of 2010 caught out of Downings were landed on 27 July by a private boat 4 runs with 3 landed – same boat had another the following day. Great to see them back!

Nice Red Sea Bream

Fishing has been Ok recently. Lots of Mackeral now. A lot of Porbeagle Sharks have been caught in the area – unfortunately none by Rosguill….Yet! Blue Sharks should be here within a few weeks. The Limeburner has been fishing ok – perhaps not just as good as earlier in the season. The sandy bays have been Ok with both good and bad days. Wrecks have been fishing good. There sems to be lots of Tope this year & they seem to have migrated earlier than normal onto the Limeburner grounds.

95 Pound male Common Skate for Dutch angler, Ton Etman. First this year – on 3rd day trying!

All is well on the fishing front. Weather, mackeral, reef, general, sand, Tope, going reasonably well.

Tope arrived in big numbers and have been “blowing hot & cold since”

3 Tope

Rosguill’s first ever Halibut. 32 inches long weighing 11.5 pounds. Caught by Dutch angler, Bert Uithol.
So nice, I have shown both sides of the marvelous fish which I thought was a small Tope by the way it fought. Took mackeral baited Hok-Kai (what else!)

HALIBUT

Nice day on Turbot with 17 landed. No great size but all respectable. Wrecks fishing poorly now. Mackeral quite patchy. Water temperature now 10.5 degrees centigrade

Double Turbot

Turbot