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The Ferry Point, Youghal, Co. Cork.  Head west along the N25 from Dungarvan heading towards Cork and you will see signposts on the left hand side, as you close on Youghal, for beach fishing.  They may mention Monatra House or Caliso Bay.  Follow these signs, however it is important to make sure you do not end up in Caliso Bay, which is further back the coast towards Dungarvan from the Ferry Point and Monatra House.  The road terminates either at Monatra House (private, limited parking on the road side, to be avoided) or at the Cottage on the Point itself (from where the picture above was taken).  There is plenty of car parking on the point on flat grassy land. This is a relatively steep and stepped shingle beach that runs from behind the point right around to almost under Monatra House.  The currents on the point itself should not be underestimated especially outside of slack water periods.  Whirlpools, eddies and disturbed and colour water are inevitable here and the steep beach can give rise to a substantial surf on even very calm days.

What about the fishing?

Before I start a big thank you to DrSeaFish off the forums for his generous assistance in 'mapping' this mark...

Before we talk about the mark itself, first we need to talk about the Estuary and specifically how the currents and tide work around this big piece of water.  It is well known that the Youghal marks, the corner of the "Green Park", all of the "Quays" and right down to "Tip Head" behind the LIDL supermarket, all fish best on an incoming tide.  This is especially true of the winter Codling, for which the mark is best known, and the occassional Cod as well.  After the tide turns and starts to empty out of the estuary, the fish (especially the Codling) seem to follow it out along the far ("Ferry Point") side, so it is best to fish this side from the turn down to the full ebb.  This applies to the Flounder for which the estuary is rapidly acquiring a fine reputation, and Ferry Point has been known to produce the odd decent sized Bass as well.

The main fishing here is under a spot called "dead mans pole".  This is an aluminium pole above the beach on a grassy bank on the seaward side of the Ferry Point, i.e. facing almost directly south. Crab is the only bait to use here. I have tried mackerel, squid and lugworm and the resident crabs strip it off in seconds, even the squid which is remarkable and whipping it on with shirring elastic does not help - clearly very sharp pincers at work!  It is not uncommon for the crabs to not let go and hold on right onto the beach.  The main mark on the beach faces a mussel bed that is only exposed at low tide. You can catch Bass there on a plug or spinner. The tide is fast and 100 - 175 grams (4 - 6ozs) of lead will be needed to hold bottom. The locals use long flowing traces with crab or lug as bait. Although it hasn't fished well for Codling in the last couple of years, fish to double figures were taken in really cold weather. In spring 2004 some exceptional Flounder have been taken off this beach, with several fish exceeding 1 kilo (2 lbs).  Having fished there recently, I can confirm that the fish are in remarkable condition given the time of year, although the average size is certainly smaller than 1 kilo!

In an interesting explanation for the dearth of Bass off many of these previously excellent marks, DrSeaFish reckons that the Bass have been attracted to the crab and lobster pots located in the mouth of the Bay and that with the explosion in this apparently unregulated commercial fishing, the Bass have not so much as disappeared as relocated!

A jeweller’s shop in Dungarvan called Baumanns on Mary Street has a tackle section, best to phone in advance on (058) 41395  but do not expect fresh bait.   If you are travelling from Wexford, e.g. off the Rosslare ferry, the specialists are Murphy’s in Wexford Town (053) 24717 or O’Briens in Waterford City on (051) 844314.  I have no information on the tackle shops around Cork but will add this in shortly , as soon as the information becomes available!

Probabilities: Flounder, Conger Eel, (resident near Monatra House); Codling (winter).

Possibilities: Bass (resident); Plaice, Dabs (summer).

Rare Exceptions: Mullet (summer); Three Bearded Rockling, Coalfish (resident).