25+ years of taking ferries over to Ireland and I reckon that’s the first time my sailing has been cancelled

I can vividly remember the first time I went to Ireland. I had been commissioned to write and photograph a fishing book for a big publisher called Dorling Kindersley (DK), and we needed a couple of chapters on fishing in Ireland. I got a bunch of fishing mates together and said why don’t we head over to Clare on the west coast and give it a go (I had been strongly recommended to fish around there). I managed to get a bit of help from the Irish tourist board so the trip wasn’t too expensive for everybody, and we ended up taking a minibus over on the now defunct overnight ferry from Swansea to Cork……………

When we pulled into the massive Cork harbour it was in fact a day much like it is here in Cornwall this morning - low cloud, drizzle, good bit of breeze blowing, welcome to Ireland! We got ourselves up to Kilkee on the west coast and fell upon the local fish population. I had been told about catching thornback rays and bull huss about twenty five miles up the huge Shannon estuary, so with some element of doubt we all headed way up river to fish. It was almost silly the numbers of fish we caught up there. There was a massive swell on the open coast so we tucked away inside the bay at Kilkee and caught plenty of decent pollack. The locals said the mullet were uncatchable, so a friend of mine set up a ledger rig with bread and hooked up within about five seconds of casting out. I fell in love with Ireland on that trip and I continue to look forward to going over as much as possible.

What I should be doing right now instead of writing this blog post is driving up to the ferry from Fishguard to Rosslare. Then I would be doing the long drive from Rosslare to where I do my co-guiding work around Waterville in Kerry. But for what I am pretty sure is the first time in more than 25+ years of taking various ferries to Ireland, the crossing has been cancelled because of the forecast. As you can imagine I have done a hell of a lot of crossings over the years, from flat calm to seriously bouncy, but I can’t remember ever getting cancelled. Until today!

I am now booked on the ferry for tomorrow, but I have my doubts whether that one will sail. Whatever the case, when the ferry next goes, I hope to be on it. Somewhat frustratingly I was getting regular updates from Kerry yesterday, with reports of some cracking bass fishing on tiny tides and difficult conditions. For sure the weather they are currently getting is hardly ideal, but the beauty about that part of the world is that there is nearly always a viable option to go fishing and be in with a shout of fish. If and when I get over there I can’t wait to work again with John and Lynn and the anglers who come to fish with us. You all have a good weekend, here’s me hoping that the next post I put up will be from my favourite country on earth……………