Fishing off the Gris Ore.
By Serdar Kearney Tekkanat.
Every year since I was born, we go to Inis Mór – the largest of the Aran Islands. It is always a trip that my family and I look forward to because we love the wild atmosphere and obviously the cycling and fishing that comes with it!
This year I went with my cousins Dan and Conor. One day I suggested that we should go fishing off the ‘Gris Ore’ (a fishing area off the cliffs on the most isolated side of the island). My cousins were perfectly content with the plan to go down to the cliffs early and try it out. As the day went on, we used different types of lures, baits and rods. For the first thirty minutes nothing was biting but then the fish started to become very feisty at around midday!
By the end of the day, we managed to reel in mackerel, pollock, and sea wrasse! We had to use the insides of seashells as bait to catch the wrasse, since they are not attracted to common lures. This technique surely required us to use our grey matter!
Minutes before we started to pack our gear and head home, my cousin and I spotted something in the distance that resembled a tuna/shark. We watched in amazement as it came closer to shore. The two of us eventually came to an agreement that is was a sunfish being attacked by a shark! (At least that’s what we told our parents!)