Fly-fishing at sea near Courtmacsherry

It is amazing to experience what force these mackerel have within them!
It is amazing to experience what force these mackerel have within them!

 

Courtmacsherry has been known for many years as a hotspot for fishing at sea. Almost year round wrecks in front of the coast can be fished here, with every chance of big pollack, conger and leng. In the summer months you can add blue shark to these species. Few people know, however, that Courtmacsherry also has excellent fly-fishing to offer in the harbour and bay.

Text by Rudy van Duijnhoven, pictures by Rudy van Duijnhoven and Jos van der Wouw

Jos with an average size mackerel, they can grow up to around 50 centimeter in size.
Jos with an average size mackerel, they can grow up to around 50 centimeter in size.

 

Mark and Patricia Gannon have around four motorboats for rent with which the harbour and the large bay in front of the coast can be fished. An excellent escape plan when conditions at sea are too rough for a sensitive stomach, but also just simply a very nice way to spend a couple of days. With a fly-rod, fastsinking lines and streamers you can enjoy wonderful sport with the mackerel which are present everywhere. In the harbour you can also fish for seabass, which is caught here in weights up to ten pounds.

Woodpoint House lies situated on top of a hill, it used to be a farm house in the past.
Woodpoint House lies situated on top of a hill, it used to be a farm house in the past.

 

One can fish from the coast for seabass as well, but while drifting along the coast and casting in between the rocks and the seaweed, one can cover a lot more water. When the conditions are good enough, you can also fly-fish for pollack in the bay, there are a number of rock formations to be found in the bay which attract a lot of pollck. When I was here by the end of August, together with my fishing buddy Jos van der Wouw, we had a wind force five to six every day, too much for us to be able to fish those marks.

Mark and Patricia have several boats available for the saltwater fly-fisher.
Mark and Patricia have several boats available for the saltwater fly-fisher.

 

Seabass

Ireland can have a shortage of sunshine, even during the summertime, and we experienced the same during our trip to Courtmacsherry. We decided to make the best of it and by aiming for the mackerel, we had some very enjoyable days at sea after all. The first evening I managed to land a fifty centimeter seabass from under one of the anchored boats in the harbour, which engulfed a small mackerel within seconds. I missed another take on the same kind of bait later. We tried the harbour with flies too, but according to Mark the harbour was alive with baitfish at that moment. The seabass where just lying on the bottom, digesting their prey, which is why they showed no interest for our offerings. In the week before several guest of Mark and Patricia managed to land five or six seabass each and most of them were of good size. On the last day, while drifting through the harbour, I hooked a seabass close to the shoreline, but it was just a ‘touch, swirl and go’ experience.

Seabass of a size that you can find in the harbour of Courtmacsherry. This one was not caught on fly.
Seabass of a size that you can find in the harbour of Courtmacsherry. This one was not caught on fly.

 

It is remarkable what kind of force a mackerel can develop when you hook them on light tackle. For a long time the flyrod is bend all the way down to the handle, even with mackerel of modest size. The flyrods we used were nine to ten foot long for line classes #6 though 9. Had the conditions been calmer, I would have even used a #5 outfit, but with the weather conditions we endured, I decided to leave them in my room at Mark and Patricia’s Woodpoint House. The flyrods were equipped with fastsinking flylines with which we could reach a depth of up to ten metres, if necessary. We used intermediate glass flylines when drifting by the shoreline and the rocks. The leaders attached to these flylines were only one and a half or two meters long, with a tippet of 20 to 30/00.

The entrance to the harbour of Courtmacsherry.
The entrance to the harbour of Courtmacsherry.

 

Small Clouser Minnows in different colours, transparent streamers tied with Super Hair, flies tied by Jos with ‘plugs’, it did not matter too much to the mackerel whatever we knotted to our tippets. Casting, let the line and fly sink and than strip it back. At certain times the mackerel would grab the streamer only when it had come close to the boat. Only a deeply bend flyrod would urge them to move away from under the boat. The mackerel made clear that they are a member of the tuna family!

The flies of Jos, tied with 'plugs' from a home depot store, worked excellent too.
The flies of Jos, tied with ‘plugs’ from a home depot store, worked excellent too.

 

Information

More information on fly fishing in this area can be gathered by contacting Courtmacsherry Angling Ltd., – Mark en Patricia Gannon, Woodpoint House, Courtmacsherry, West Cork, Ireland; tel. +353 23 464 27, mobile: +353 86 8250905, e-mail: csal@iol.ie, website: www.courtmacsherryangling.ie. Mark en Patricia are often to be found at angling shows. More information on the area itself can be found at www.discoverireland.ie/southwest.

When there is a school of mackerel in the area, one can catch one fish after the other.
When there is a school of mackerel in the area, one can catch one fish after the other.

 

1 comment on Fly-fishing at sea near Courtmacsherry

  1. Mackerel don’t like being held by bare skin, the human body oils burns their skin and they die later on, so hold them with a towel when releasing them.

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