We operate a new 11m
Vigilante with twin 320hp Turbo Diesels, she is a deep vee type
hull and so is very comfortable in a sea, and does not slam, she
has a very wide beam which gives exceptional stability at rest.
This combination makes her a very crew kindly vessel.
We are licensed by the Dept. of the Marine to carry 12 Passengers
and 2 crew. The license is called a P5 and allows us to operate
in the entire Donegal Bay area from Mullinasole, Mountcharles, Mullochmore,
and Killybegs and west Donegal from Burtonport.
The boat is equipped with all the necessary comforts for a good
day at sea and has a package of safety equipment, which exceeds
the very stringent D.O.M. requirements. We use high definition sonar
and are equipped with a seabed mapping system, along with all the
usual modern marine electronic navigation hardware. Local knowledge
is very important to the skipper, who has been diving for over fifteen
years and aspires to explore every nook.
Donegal Bay is the ideal
sea-angling venue; from our base Donegal Town we have easy access
to the entire bay which is one of the most diverse fishing grounds
in Ireland. On our doorstep are famous tope marks where we can fish
skate, ray, tope as well as flatties and even monk. This area is
full of estuarine channels with a sandy muddy bottom and deep scoured
holes, the bottom dwelling fish congregate in these holes waiting
for lunch to come to them on the tide. We sit uptide on a heavy
sand anchor with a ruby dubby bag on the anchor chain and set ground
baits. While we are waiting it is the norm to fish light tackle
for flatties.
A little further west we fish reefs where there are nice ledges
and drop offs. Sometimes we drift the reefs and at other times we
fish on the anchor at the reef edge or on sandy bottom areas between
the reefs or patches of hard ground. Here we target john dory, wrasse,
pollock, cod, gurnard, pouting, ling, conger, bream, coalies, garfish
etc. We have even caught squid and two different types of octopus
on these marks. We fish shark from June to October, the area is
very good for big blue shark who cruise the north east atlantic
all year and move inshore this time of year. Porbegle, mako, thresher
and six-gilled shark are also known in the area.
Recently we have equipped the charter boat with trolling gear and
will be targeting albacore when they next show up off our coast.
The giant bluefin tuna is of course hot on our list of priorities
and to this end we are fully equipped and ready to go. I have been
picking Adrian Molloy and Michael Callaghan’s brain in this
regard and am confident we will put one on the boat sooner than
later.
Doorin and St John's point shelter the inner bay from the north
and west and abound in good hard ground fishing and spectacular
dive sites. The harbours at Mountcharles, Inver, Killybegs and Teelin
are an easy steam and provide ideal pick up points for fishermen
and divers staying in the surrounding areas.
Murvah, Rossnowlagh, Creevy, Ballyshannon, Bundoran, Tullaghan and
Mullachmore are to the south of the bay and these areas provide
great surf fishing. We can bring the boat right inshore and fish
the surf on a heavy sand anchor. The species of note here is bass
but the prospect of fishing mackerel on fly-fishing gear is also
very exciting. We also pick up in Creevy, Bundoran and Mullochmore
if that is more convenient.
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