Hi Lads,

          As we are not looking forward to the dark early days of winter we thought it was best to take advantage of the settled weather on Saturday and organised a boat trip. No venue was selected as we have not been at all happy with the forcasts from BBC of late, so when we met up, the conditions were near perfect for almost anywhere on the east coast. Only Tommy and myself had managed to gain enough 'Brownie Points' so we set off up the coast with Shark in tow. We launched at Cushendall and headed out for the deep water about seven miles off shore, our intention was to try this new mark when conditions allowed. Bait was Mackerel, Squid, Lug, and Rag, and we where both using three hook rigs, Tommy with three up Hokkai, and myself two up one down Beaded lures. In the first hour we had no bites so after altering the drift I landed the first fish, a lovely little Haddock of two pounds. This was followed by three more of the same, all taken on the bottom dropper. Tommy changed bait to Lug and was soon into action with a Codling of three pounds. The next five hours saw us land Cod, Haddock, Ling, Sand Dab, Gray and Red Gurnard, and Pouting, strange no Whiting or Mackerel. Best fish fell to Tommy a Cod of just over six pounds. We returned to port more than pleased with our day out and some lovely fish for the freezer.

Best regards

For Grumpy Old Men

Robert Craig