I went fishing on Cullen Bay today. I've never sea fished before, and the last time I did any coarse fishing was a few years ago. I was quite looking forward to it - I've wanted to catch a fish I could eat (and enjoy eating) for a long time.

The bay was quite beautiful and it was a another scorcher. Rain was forecasted for this afternoon, but it has held off. It was a fairly small boat, but it comfortably held 12 people. I think some of the people had paid to fish all day, as they seemed to know the skippers (is that the word?) well enough already.

We drove (?) out from the bay and after a v brief safety and rod use instruction we were told to bait up. I went with a bit of squid and some pilchard and drop my line. There was no casting, which I was looking forward to doing, as we were fishing off the bottom. I waited patiently.... nothing. Pulled my line up. Bait had gone. Good grief - I'm not here to feed the fish, I thought. Baited up again and down the hook went.

Someone else caught a fish. b*****! Then there was another one. b***** b*****! The skipper instructed us to wind up as we were moving to another spot. Right, I thought, time to get theoretical! I choose some more pilchard, as the fish seem to like this, but this time secured with a bit of squid that still had the eye on it. I figured that a fish might think it's a fish. See, not just cake inside my head

Down my line went. Then I felt a twinge. Was that a fish or the current? Not sure, strike anywho! And low and behold, I had a fish. Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah!

That was the only fish I caught. I was out there for�4 hours. I fed plenty of fish; the hook always came up empty �I still enjoyed it though. The leaflet said there was a bbq. I thought it meant that they bbq the fish you catch. Not the case - we had snags and chicken wings. I don't like chicken wings - too much fuss for too little meat. I didn't get my fish. Chances are they are probably enjoying it right now. F*&kers!