SLEEK?Beautiful slate-grey tope sharks are plentiful in Clew Bay.?Pic: Mattew Meier
Sprat to shark for the taking
Country Sights and Sounds
John Shelley
We finally found our mackerel, on a windy and overcast, properly autumnal day at Old Head. A mere dozen fell to my rod before the sky closed over and rain drove us to the safety of the car. Even those few were hard caught. A huge shoal of herring sprat had the predatory mackerel preoccupied, so that for a time I despaired of catching anything at all. The discovery of a string of small, white-feathered hooks changed things for me. Other anglers were less fortunate; they sent their traditional multi-coloured rigs into the middle of the shoals over and again without so much as a pull.
‘Mackerel Bashing’ is the derisory term given to hauling these tasty and normally undiscriminating members of the tuna family from the sea three and four at a time, though there was no bashing about it on this day, only frustration at seeing them so close to the shore yet almost impossible to catch.
Soon after low tide the sea became confused, with the waves heaping over each other in their hurry to fall upon the strand. Then the sprat, driven inshore by the marauding mackerel and at the mercy of the surf, found themselves high and dry. The score or more of black-backed and herring gulls that had been looking on saw them immediately helpless, and it was only with seconds to spare that we arrived to scoop them into the bucket. Floured and fried, sprat are a fine treat. Forget the whitebait that proliferate in the restaurants of British coastal towns, for these, fresh from the sea, are the real deal. Some like to eat them with head and entrails intact. A small sharp knife separates these less desirable parts from the tasty flesh with ease, which to my mind makes for more comfortable eating.
In our haste to gather our silvery prize, we neglected to rinse them well before heading for home, and by the time we got to sorting them out the small amount of sand that had been scooped along with them stuck to their flanks and had them spoiled. They went to the family of badgers across the road, which, unbeknown to themselves, are being conditioned so as to fear us no more.
Mackerel eat sprat, but what eats mackerel? Some birds, notably gannets, specialise in them. Seals take their share too, but neither of these is of immediate interest to the angler, apart from adding a little to the day. South of Mayo, where bass abound, these larger silvery predators follow the mackerel shoals and offer an exciting challenge. If they do so in Kerry and Cork there must be some to do the same here, especially this year, with sea temperatures up from the norm.
Now a whole Joey or undersized mackerel armed with two sets of treble hooks, one at either end, cast and allowed to sink and drift at its own speed, might provide exciting sport. But there are still greater fish to be taken.
Tope, a beautiful slate grey shark, often swim within easy casting range of the shore angler from dusk into darkness and especially through autumn. There is little they like better than the tail half of a fresh-caught mackerel, apart from the head end. The tail is easier to manage and, according to my book, is attractive enough to lure them into taking without hesitation.
Notable tope haunts around Clew Bay include the tidal race at Bertra Point and the rocky platforms to the west from Old Head and along the Curraun peninsula. Tope are hard fighting sharks, fully equipped with the abrasive skin and sharp teeth of that family. Strong line, wire leaders and sharp hooks are essential.
Inspired by things I had read I went to a secret location armed with all I thought was necessary and cast my bait into a spot where I thought I would swim if I was a tope. It hadn’t been there more than a minute before the large float plunged beneath the surface. In the excitement of the moment I tightened into the fish too quickly and it let go. Next cast the same thing happened and this time the hook went home. Away went my shark, running like a train, before the line fell slack, cut through by sharp teeth.
And that was that. But I know they are there and how to catch them. We have until the end of November...
