Skerries/Rogerstown Bait Collecting 06.07.2020

Hi guys,

Just wanted to give a bit of a report on my bait collecting activities today, had some success and some failure but was good day anyway!

Razor clams
So I started off the day down on Skerries beach an hour before the spring low tide (about 5.30pm) trying to get some razor clams, I walked all along the water and tried walking backwards and forwards, stomping and walking quietly, looking for squirts of water or key shaped holes and I had absolutely no luck at all. I've yet to have a successful razor mission and after I got home I did a little bit more research and found 1 or 2 people saying something like the tide needs to be 0.02m or lower, I looked at the tide table and the next time it gets anywhere close to that is July 24th at 0.09m so I think that's the day I will try again!

Peeler Crabs & Cockles
On the way back from Skerries I stopped in Rogerstown Estuary to try get some peeler crabs for bait and cockles for tomorrows lunch! I think I collected about 25 crabs and only 3 of them where actually peelers Kept the hard backs anyway as I'll use them on the boat during the week. I then gathered a nice big bucket of cockles as I tried them for the first time yesterday and really like the taste!

Squid Jigging Skerries Pier
After having a break for a few hours and with it being a full moon tonight, I went back to Skerries pier armed with my 11ft bass rod some squid jigs and a rig I learned from fish locker channel on youtube, it was a twisted mono boom arm rig for 2 squid jigs with a weight on the end. I arrived on the pier at 10.30pm with a plan to jig up to high tide at 12.30am. I tried jigging from all directions off the pier and from up the stairs too without any success, I tried all different kinds of retrieves but mainly let it sink, lift the rod 2-3ft, let it sink, repeat. Oh and another thing, it was real windy and absolutely freezing, almost like winter it was that cold! Anyways maybe I'll get a squid next time..

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I would highly suggest not eating shellfish from rogerstown estuary! There used to be a massive landfill up the top end of it. I read a report about mussels there before and it said they weren't fit for consumption!

I would highly suggest not eating shellfish from rogerstown estuary! There used to be a massive landfill up the top end of it. I read a report about mussels there before and it said they weren't fit for consumption!

Yeah the landfill is now fully closed and covered over, they turned it into a park and it has a gas management system. I'm not worried about how the landfill might effect the shellfish though, the marine institute has a shellfish safety monitoring programme that covers the Rogerstown estuary, and there is always a large group of people collecting periwinkles here. Plus it's too late now I've already had some cockles from Rogerstown the other day, which were delicious and I'm still alive

Well hopefully all will be well!

Your either brave or have a goats stomach ,I wouldn’t eat any shellfish from Rogers town or anywhere on the east coast
If you are trying for the squid try float fishing for mackerel close in ,about 3m out from the end of the pier on the inner corner ,the squid are not always there but if you start getting bites on the mackerel float and you don’t get any hook ups it’s squid at the bait ,get yourself a few squid hooks ,it’s like a long needle with the prongs on the end ,then elastic on some bait and u will get them ,if not will not be waisting time if there not there mackerel on the float is great craic.if the squid are about just try and take in the slack as the float is going under don’t strike .

Your either brave or have a goats stomach ,I wouldn’t eat any shellfish from Rogers town or anywhere on the east coast
If you are trying for the squid try float fishing for mackerel close in ,about 3m out from the end of the pier on the inner corner ,the squid are not always there but if you start getting bites on the mackerel float and you don’t get any hook ups it’s squid at the bait ,get yourself a few squid hooks ,it’s like a long needle with the prongs on the end ,then elastic on some bait and u will get them ,if not will not be waisting time if there not there mackerel on the float is great craic.if the squid are about just try and take in the slack as the float is going under don’t strike .

Cheers, yeah I bought a squid jig pack that has a bunch of different coloured ones, I'll give the float & bait a try next time!