Are there any fish left in Dublin bay?

I recently returned to fishing as my kid asked me to take him out. I haven't been fishing in about 17 years. Tried howth harbour with feathers, caught nothing, and only seen 3 minuscule mackerel caught. Tried Dollymount strand with peeler crab, didn't even get a bite. Tried red rock at the Martello tower, and nothing once again. Tried balscadden rocks, nothing. Tried killiney with peeler and fresh mussel, nothing. Tried portrane with surface plugs in the hope of tempting a bass, nothing. Donabate rocks with peeler, nothing. Has the fishing really gone so bad? Is it now necessary to travel further afield in order to catch fish? What's going on around Dublin lads ? Any advice / input would be very welcome. I'm tired of taking my kid on disappointing fishing trips.

A lot depends on your gear and tide times years ago you could catch fish at any time of the day but these days is like a precision skill have a look around the rest of the posts you will pick up a lot of tips if you're looking for mackerel ten try dun laoire west pier producing good fish at the moment but if you're going for bigger predator fish I would say fish killiney beach at dusk or dawn with peeler or rag good luck and tight lines


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Hi DarrenNiall, Ive been out of it myself for a while but I think the whole east coast is suffering because the fish aren't coming in as they used to. I usually fish the south Down area and noticed a major decline in catches. Off ardglass pier I once caught a 2lb coalfish now I'm not even getting nibbles and I'm recently back from south down and louth strangford and carlingford loughs and all I caught was sunburn. If it's any help I've noticed more weed more blooms of jellyfish the low tide is full of life but no fish at high tide so something is amiss and it's probably affecting Dublin bay as well. I'm not a hardcore fisherman or a marine expert and don't really have the opportunity to travel to guage fish numbers but on the east coast not just myself but many others as well have commented on the decreasing catches.

I've dropped down to 12lb line just to hit deeper waters at high tide, 70 80 yards of a good deep mark and nothing of the spin or float so I'm buying an inflatable sea certified dingy.

Thanks very much lads, I really appreciate the help. It's sad that fish stocks seem to have been hit so badly. I had been fishing on the high tide but this was in full daylight. What worked years ago is now ineffective and I will change my tactics to improve our chances. I see now that I should be also considering evening, night, dawn fishing trips to coincide with tides. Will also change up my tackle and baits until I get results. Thanks again lads.

It can be tricky but there are fish to be had. You do seem to have to work harder for them in Dublin and particularly North Dublin. In terms of entertaining the kids try fishing for a few mini-species down the side of pier walls-light spinning rod, size 4 hooks with rag and mack for bait. You can get a nice variety of small fish. Howth, Dun Laoghaire, Bray, Greystones and Wicklow pier all within easy reach and usually produce something in half-decent weather. A good mini-bash can get the enthusiasm going again for another stab at 'proper' fishing from an adults point-of-view too!

That's a good idea, thanks very much. As a kid, used to fish for small pollock and wrasse along the walls of Dun Laoghaire; I had totally forgotten about that. Will get some rag and make up small rigs/jigs and give it a go.

To answer your question yeah the fishing is dirt around them places and need to travel but there is time and places for some marks after that you need to put the time in on the marks to be rewarded

Had a small bass last night lads, thanks for the advice

Ahh, that's good.

Thanks for sharing!

Well done.

Did your kid see it?

John D.

My kid wasn't there, unfortunately where I was fishing was a bit dodgy, so I didn't bring him. But at least I'm back on track with the catching, and I can bring him along to a place where I know how and when to get fish. Fished poolbeg today and had a fair days fishing, so I will take my kid there and that should peak his interest again.

Fish stocks close to big urban centres have been declining steadily for the past 40 years. Over exploitation is the most obvious cause - but not necessarily the main cause. The quality of the water in thickly populated estuaries has declined to the point where sea walls are now bare stone which were once thickly covered with seaweed and all the marine life that went with it. Similarly thousands of acres of banks which were once prairies of laces and eel grass are now completely bare and all the tons marine life they contained as feeding for fish has disappeared. When you think of all the gallons of detergents - some which would take glaze of glass - which finds its way hourly into our estuaries - the disappearance of weed growth is hardly surprising.

We are constantly told that our water quality is well within this guidline or that guideline. Unfortunately, most of the guidelines are codswollop.

I recall a time when a net - after several days - came out of the water in Cork Harbour cleaner than when it went in. Now - after a matter of minutes in some places - it would need to be steam hosed.

Lots of fresh water going in with added chemicals from farmland ,treated and untreated sewage plus razor boats digging up the seabed not only kills everything in there path but raises years worth of settled gunk into the water column ,from fishing in around Balbriggan all the minis we used to catch from the rocks have disappeared steadily since the razor boats started ,lots of factors affect the Dublin Coast it's all probably too much for the area to handle

Thanks very much for your input lads, it's much appreciated. Everything you are saying makes sense to me. I recall going rock pooling as a kid and finding so much life on the shoreline. Recently went collecting bait and found the shoreline to be quiet barren. Struggled to get enough bait. Obviously Dublin bay is suffering badly. I hadn't realised this when I first posted the question. Thanks to all again for the responses.

The weed growth on quay walls as can be seen in Fr Brown's picture of Titanic passengers persisted to around the mid 1970's when it disappeared very rapidly and left the clean walls that you see today. Around the same time Deadman's Laces and Eel grass disappeared off thousands of acres of banks.

Shocking

Lots of fresh water going in with added chemicals from farmland ,treated and untreated sewage plus razor boats digging up the seabed not only kills everything in there path but raises years worth of settled gunk into the water column ,from fishing in around Balbriggan all the minis we used to catch from the rocks have disappeared steadily since the razor boats started ,lots of factors affect the Dublin Coast it's all probably too much for the area to handle

This seems to be the case in Drogheda and adjacent coast line, there is a constant stain in the water and the razor boats are back this year. Not a single Bass this year and the sea trout are very scarce. I noticed that there are very very few jelly fish this year as well????? there usually a plague but on the plus side there are huge amounts of sprats and sand eels and small hearing fry, alot more than usual.