Bert Goerree of travel agency Tightlines Travels invited me last year for a fishing trip to Cobh Ireland. The fishing in Cobh is very famous and has over 30 different species of fish to catch. Most famous is blue shark, cod, Pollack and last but certainly not least is bass. After a few calls we both found the time to travel to Cobh to the lovely Bella Vista hotel owned by Kevin Murphy. Both the hotel and Cobh are great and worth a visit. Kevin´s team is very friendly and also the rooms are very comfortable and some of them have a great view over the village and the bay.
The Bella Vista Hotel
Some of the rooms in the Bella Vista hotel have a great view over Cobh and the bay. As the hotel is situated on a hill the view is really fantastic.
A great view
After we arrived we had some lunch and the idea was to take a look at Cobh before we were going out to fish for bass. So Bert gave me the grand tour and it was worth it. Below you see some pictures I made that can give you a small impression.
Cobh harbor
Cobh
After the tour we met Jim Clohessy and with the 4 of us we went fishing for bass. It was pretty clear to me that we could go to several spots were the bass was around, but the first night we went out of the bay to hunt for some bass in front of the rocky coastline.
The Irish coastline
It was tough, but nevertheless all four of us caught one bass and Bert and some of us caught some Pollack as well. So not a lot of fish but, we all had the pleasure to fight this strong and beautiful fish. It was already dark when we came back into the harbor. After a few pints of Murphy´s it was time to go to sleep.
Bert and Kevin in their boat
My first Irish bass
The next day we went out again. Bert and Kevin in one boat and Jim and me in the second boat. The plan was to do some shark fishing. First of all we had to catch a lot of bait fish and as there was more than enough mackerel this was no problem. After that we, as in Jim, did the rubby dubby shuffle. Don´t ask for the details, but this is about preparing the bait to attract the sharks. The technique is simple, a big hook with a steel wire and a mackerel on the hook. This goes into the water and you lower it to let´s say 3-4 meters under the surface. Then you tie a balloon on the line and you put the balloon in the water. The balloon is your bite indicator. It can go down or it goes “swimming”. After a bite you can let the shark go swimming before you strike but then it is possible that the hook is swallowed by the shark and that can hurt this beautiful creature. So it is better not to wait too long before you strike.
Jim Clohessy looking for shark
It is a shame I don´t have the pictures, but Jim caught a nice blue shark of about 30 kilo. On the other boat Bert and Kevin caught 2 as well. It is a shame I lost one during the fight. That was disappointing but that is why it is called fishing and not catching.
The third day we were with the 3 of us, Kevin, Bert and me. The weather was very poor with lots and lots of rain, that wasn´t what we needed if we wanted to catch some nice fish. So what happened was a tough day for bass, but we found an alternative called mullet. Or pet mullet like Kevin said. In the harbor Kevin feeds the mullets with leftovers from the hotel. He put every now and then some old bread in an onion bag for the mullets. Now I hear you thinking, then it is easy to catch them. WRONG! These strong fighters are very smart and they won´t let you catch them easily. Despite the clever fish we caught a few of them and it was great fun.
Kevin with his pet mullet
My own "pet"
The last day before we left, the weather was a bit poor as well so we decided not to go out for fishing as we didn´t want fly back with our wet clothes. Besides that I had some catching up to do on my emails so I worked in the hotel until we left for Cork airport.
Let me finish by thanking Bert and Kevin (and his team) for a couple of great days of fishing and a lot of fun.
Regards,
Robert
