Eileen, my wife is a Cork woman. Her father and mother are both Cork people, we were married in Cork and we have holidayed quite a lot on the Cork coast, in fact we spend a lot of time in Cork. We have our different reasons, Eileen having spent long summers at the holiday house as a child finds a connection, I on the other hand at some time try to connect with fish, Dan and Ruth are 100 metres from the beach and the rock pools! Circles.
Its inevitable that the times we spend in Cork are usually based around neap tides, thats the rule in our house, we live our lives around the tides - no its not quite as bad as that. But yes if I dont have workshops on a neap tide week and Eileen can take one or two days then we are gone. The fishing gear goes too amongst all the other stuff, a small amount at least. Its a small amount but its a good amount. I never plan my fishing times or anything and often, just after a weeks guiding, I don't want to fish for a while. The urge always creeps back though, usually after about 48 hrs.
So my fishing in Cork over the last ten years or so has always been a hit and miss affair or more of a miss I think. Last year I came across a location that held mullet, Gilthead bream, (small) bass and garfish and had a good day with light lure fishing - this year I planned to try them all on the fly. And as they seemed to be present on a neap tide that was exciting too. I went there this week and the fish weren't present - simple.
There is part of me that is resigned to not fishing for bass on neap tides with any real conviction, the other part (the sad one) says different. So on Monday having been to Fota wildlife park with the kids and knowing I was fishing a falling neap tide, in the afternoon mind you, I went fly fishing for bass. Heavy rain, high humidity, strong westerly winds I trudged over to an unfished venue, well at least by me anyway.
Sometimes you just know the fish will be there. Suddenly - gone was the water seeping up my sleeves, gone was the sweat and sluggishness, gone was the resignation. I walked down along a finger of rock and watched the waves roll over them going whiter than white against the dark sky and the green and blue water was fizzing with oxygen and the water was clear and the tide wasnt as far out as I thought and after 20 tough casts I had a fish or a rock no it was a fish - and I was surprised again and again!
Its inevitable that the times we spend in Cork are usually based around neap tides, thats the rule in our house, we live our lives around the tides - no its not quite as bad as that. But yes if I dont have workshops on a neap tide week and Eileen can take one or two days then we are gone. The fishing gear goes too amongst all the other stuff, a small amount at least. Its a small amount but its a good amount. I never plan my fishing times or anything and often, just after a weeks guiding, I don't want to fish for a while. The urge always creeps back though, usually after about 48 hrs.
So my fishing in Cork over the last ten years or so has always been a hit and miss affair or more of a miss I think. Last year I came across a location that held mullet, Gilthead bream, (small) bass and garfish and had a good day with light lure fishing - this year I planned to try them all on the fly. And as they seemed to be present on a neap tide that was exciting too. I went there this week and the fish weren't present - simple.
There is part of me that is resigned to not fishing for bass on neap tides with any real conviction, the other part (the sad one) says different. So on Monday having been to Fota wildlife park with the kids and knowing I was fishing a falling neap tide, in the afternoon mind you, I went fly fishing for bass. Heavy rain, high humidity, strong westerly winds I trudged over to an unfished venue, well at least by me anyway.
Sometimes you just know the fish will be there. Suddenly - gone was the water seeping up my sleeves, gone was the sweat and sluggishness, gone was the resignation. I walked down along a finger of rock and watched the waves roll over them going whiter than white against the dark sky and the green and blue water was fizzing with oxygen and the water was clear and the tide wasnt as far out as I thought and after 20 tough casts I had a fish or a rock no it was a fish - and I was surprised again and again!
