Well I got one thing wrong, I made Norway AND Ireland. Norway, spectacular scenery, the fishing wasn't the best i've had up there but we had some good fish and it was a good learning experience - the best bit was seeing the Northern Lights the night before we left - awesome sight!
I got back from a long weekend in Ireland yesterday, another visit to 'The Helm' restaurant and apartments - superb food and service and of course - Plenty of guiness! The skate festival went well with four skate caught, measured and returned. Estimated weights were 160-200#
The guy with the biggest won 2000 euro, he's also a good friend of mine, he couldn't fish the first day due to guinessitis (had too much Friday night) but he made up for it Sunday. I didn't fish the boats this year as we concentrated on the shore fishing, we were guided by Doug Priddy, the owner of the local tackle store 'A Shore Thing'. Doug knows the area well and guided us to dogfish (they're everywhere) bull huss (huge dogfish) sea trout, bass, flounder, mackerel, thornback and painted ray, all in wonderful scenery plus we saw an otter loping along the beach and in for a swim to find his supper - magic! Then it was back to The Helm for a pint and the most memorable sea food platter you ever saw, lobster thermidor, crab claws, oysters, stuffed oysters, salad, then to top it off we had mackerel and flounder we'd caught ourselves that day.
My next trip is in 2 weeks time when I'm over on the Island of Jersey for their annual bass festival weekend, then its save hard for the Florida trip over Christmas.