Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Isle of Man angling trip

We had a two day Isle of Man trip booked this weekend on Sunday and Monday.  It was a tough decision as to whether to put the trip on or not as the forecast gave strong southwest winds on Sunday afternoon. However less wind on Monday would mean a more comfortable day to travel back home to Conwy. So we left for the Island on Sunday morning.

We fished a few wrecks in the shelter of Anglesey but fishing was slow with a few pollack up to 6lb. The wind freshened as forecast so we decided to make a dash over to Port St. Mary and arrive a couple of hours early,  extending the day on Monday, when the weather was forecast to be more favourable. We arrived in Port St.Mary to be greeted by a bustling harbour wall full of people and stalls. The annual queenie festival was being held that weekend. Queenies are basically a small scallop and the lads took advantage of some great food stalls to recharge after the hard trip over the Irish Sea.

The following morning as forecast the wind had altered direction and decreased.  We fished some of the reefs and wrecks around the Calf of Man which produced steadyish pollack fishing to about 4lb. Many fish were taken on live launce which we caught on a sandbank just off the Calf.

The wind continued to decrease and allowed us to start our journey home via 4 or 5 wrecks. About 8 miles to the south of the Island we spotted many gannets and shearwaters working. We stopped and had the best mackerel fishing I have seen so far this summer. A couple of the lads had smokers at home so were very pleased to catch some mackerel to smoke.

The pollack fishing was steady, with fish up to 7lb. We also had one ling and the odd coalfish thrown in.

The wind continued to decrease for a pleasant passage back to Conwy. We were also treated to a display from a few dolphins as we drew closer to Anglesey.

The weather looks unsettled again for the next couple of days but by the end of the week it finally looks to be settling down for a few days.