Chesapeake Angler (and his wife) visiting in October

[Chessie Fisher]

Hello fellow anglers!!

We plan to visit your beautiful country in October (10 year anniv.) and wife wants me and her to do some fishing (in between pints )

We will be staying in Corofin, County Clare for the majority of our stay (also visiting Doolin, Cobh, and Dublin).

I am looking to fish on a boat (ocean) and also spots to fish from shore. Looking at a map I see LEHINCH and KILCONNELL areas look fishy..


I will also require tackle (to rent).

Any suggestions are appreciated.

I typically use soft plastic and metal lures to catch (striped) bass, bluefish, perch, trout, and flounder but will use bait if that is what is catching.

Last edited by Chessie Fisher on Wed Jun 20, 2012 8:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Welcome Chessie.

Striped bass angler, you say? You should sneak a few lures into your baggage when you come over, might be handy for the kind of bass we have here.

There are many fishing options out of Cobh if you struggle in the west.

This is one of the most popular lures and I will br bringing some of my favorites (topwater plug, jigheads and soft plastics and a couple spoons..

Very popular (6"):
http://basskandydelights.hypermart.net/products2.html


Mike

Theres a lot of very helpful and accurate information in the link below.
Hope this helps ya get a few decent fish.

http://www.fisheriesireland.ie/Angling/ ... tions.html

Thank you. Good reading. Your Sea Trout are actual sea-run trout.. Ours are a completly different speices.. not related to freshwater trout at all.

Mike

I've done a lot of fishing up around MA - I presume that Chesapeake fishing is similar.

We don't have stripers - our bass are much smaller. The keeper size is 40cm (just short of 16") and that's indicative of the size. We don't have bluefish either. For bait, the most common here are mackerel and ragworm (they bite!). Like the US, mackerel fishing is hugely popular among kids and what are referred to here as "mackerel bashers", although I enjoy it myself, particularly with very light gear.

Around Clare there's good pollack and wrasse fishing, both of which will take ragworm, and the pollack love soft plastic worms on leadheads - they're strong fish and good sport, not quite the same as the ones you occasionally get in the US. The blue shark fishing is also good, but by October many of the charters may have shut up shop. It's always interesting to go out in a boat there - you'll almost certainly see a couple of varieties of dolphin, and there's a good chance of seeing a sunfish. Whales are rarer, but I've seen killer whales and larger ones too, as well as basking sharks. I suppose it's a bit like Stellwagen without the humpbacks. Or the tuna, although there are some bluefin in the area - I've only ever tried for these further north off Donegal (without catching one, I have to admit).

Try conger too - these are large slimey eels that can grow to over 100lb, although 20lb is probably a good size. They're relatively easy to fish for, and you can catch them from pretty much every pier in the country, as well as most rock marks. However, they have teeth and are quite aggressive so treat them with respect, and they're coated in a nasty slime which is probably great for them, but it's very messy for us humans.

I am looking to fish on a boat (ocean) and...

You could do worse than contact Luke Aston at http://www.fishandstay.com/ to see if he may have a spare spot when you are over. He fishes out of Carrigaholt.

More great info greatly appreciated.

For those interested here are examples of striped bass caught during C&R (Catch and Release) season on the Susquehanna flats. This is where the mighty "Susky" meets/becomes the Chesapeake Bay north of Baltimore Maryland. A shallow tidal area where striper's (and many other fish) come to spawn and feed. Its a chance to catch "cow" bass in shallow water which is quite fun on light tackle (Top water is the best!!!).





If you ever plan a trip here, March-April on the flats and December at the other end of The Bay (Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel or CBBT) near Virginia Beach, VA are the way to go. CBBT can be out of control with "acres of breakers" Striper's and Blues busting bait on the surface as well as fishing the bridge-tunnel pilings..

We do allot of C&R. Especially the big ones..

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Our Itnerary has firmed up:

10/5 ArriveDublin Airport-drive to Enniskerry
10/6 Check in Kinsale/Cobh through 10-9
10/10 Check in County Clare through 10/15
10/16 Check in Waterford
10/17 Check in Dublin
10/19 Fly Home..

Will probably buy a rod when I get to Ireland. Does Mikes Bikes have a selection or where can I pick up a decent, low-mid priced 7-9' spinning rod (mainly for throwing lures)??
I have to find out more about fishing the Kinsale/Cobh area as well..

Thanks to all for the help.

Mike

Will you be staying in Cobh or Kinsale?
There is a tackle shop in Cobh that will have a reasonable choice of rods etc.
I'm sure we will be able to sort a "loaner" rod for your stay in Cork if that suits.

Jim C. good question. I was working off email from wife. Think we have zeroed on one area..checking..

Just confirmed:

We are staying in Kinsale at The Olde Bakery B&B with Chrissie and Tom Quigley, and will day/fish-trip to Cobh. We'll be there 5 days and 4 nights.

Kinsale is a lovely spot to stay. In terms of Cork, Kinsale is somewhat a mid-point! There are plenty of fishing opportunities around the area east & west - both shore & boat. Courtmacsherry is nearby and the bass fishing here can be explosive. There are bass guides, charter (party-in US terms) boats in the Kinsale area.
If the weather is poor around that time then Cobh/Cork harbour will be a nearby alternative. No harm to keep an eye on reports here and on F/book etc. and make your mind up closer to your arrival.

[Chessie Fisher]

Hello fellow Anglers.

Our travel date approaches and I have been remiss in my attempt to prepare for angling adventures.

Staying in Kinsale, County Cork OCT 6-9

Corofin, County Clare OCT 10-15

And other places for a day or two. These will be the best dates for me to fish. I am not bringing waders.

I am planning on traveling with a 7' spinning rod and Penn Slammer 260 with 20lb bfluorocarbonurocarbon leader (20-30lb).

Also a collection of soft plastic/jigheads, metal spoons and some topwater and swimming plugs.

I would like to try and get out on a boat at least one day..Any suggestions?

I undertsand there is a tackle shop in Cobh. Could anyone provide address/phone/contact info?
Also do I need to buy a license? appreciateould apprcieate a link.

Thank you all.

Mike

Last edited by Chessie Fisher on Tue Sep 25, 2012 12:55 am, edited 1 time in total.

Hello fellow Anglers.

Our travel date approaches and I have been remiss in my attempt to prepare for angling adventures.

Staying in Kinsale, County Cork OCT 6-9

Corrofin, County Clare OCT 10-15

And other places for a day or two. These will be the best dates for me to fish. I am not bringing waders.

I am planning on traveling with a 7' spinning rod and Penn Slammer 260 with 20lb bfluorocarbonurocarbon leader (20-30lb).

Also a collection of soft plastic/jigheads, metal spoons and some topwater and swimming plugs.

I would like to try and get out on a boat at least one day..Any suggestions?

I undertsand there is a tackle shop in Cobh. Could anyone provide address/phone/contact info?
Also do I need to buy a license? appreciateould apprcieate a link.

Thank you all.

Mike

No you only need a licence for salmon and sea trout in Ireland so your ok. There are loads of good spinning marks within 20 minutes of corofin for bass, pollock and wrasse if the weather is any way reasonable and the fishing has been good for the last few weeks. There is a tackle shop in Fanore and another in lisdoonvarna aswell. I have been following Luke Ashton on Facebook and he has had some great catches. He has landed a few six gill sharks this year which are a very rare catch in Ireland. He seems to have some excellent fishing for blues and ray in the shannon estuary aswell. Heres a link to his facebook https://www.facebook.com/CarrigaholtSeaAngling

As we will be with another couple in Corofin. My best chance for fishing will be while in Kinsale October 6-9. Information on tackle store near by would be great.

Also any pier/shore fishing marks (general areas, no spot burning! ).

Mike

There is a very good tackle shop 10 miles from kinsale and the owner is a top class all round angler. He will have anything you need and will know where is fishing well when your around.
Halfway Angling in the halfway village.
Leaving kinsale take the road to the halfway roundabout. Go thru the roundabout, 2nd exit and go over the bridge veering right and enter the halfway village. Just at the end of the village you will see a row of stone fronted houses on your right. The driveway to the shop is just after these and will have a sign on the road. The shop is behind his house and is an aladins cave of fishing tackle. ask the people in the b&B where The Halfway is if you need to but its very easy to find from kinsale.
http://www.tackledirectireland.ie/

I notice you fishermen keep track of your species. I recently fished a long weekend in the Chesapeake Bay (about Mid-Bay) near the Potomac River. Our boat caught 10 species offish in three days. 7 on lures. It was an almost perfect trip.

I am very much looking forward to fishing while in Kinsale.

I live near and fish Baltimore Harbor which is very industrial but has tremendous structure (could use more current!). Seems similar to fishing Cork Harbor. Water quality is scary (fish and crabs do not mind a bit). I do not eat the fish from here but it is close by and a year round fishery (we fish (catch and release) warm water discharges from power plants in the winter for "striped" bass up to 30lbs).

Mike

To say we enjoyed our trip would be an understatement.

Driving on the wrong side of the road is an experience. Highways not so bad but back roads are mostley 1.5 lanes wide, and we had a manual trans..

Sunday morning I hooked up with my new fishing friend Jim C (that I met here) who I met at 7AM and off we went to fish Cork Harbor. We could not get out to sea due to strong east wind but wound up catching Pollack (like cod, about 12), Bass (about 7), Coalfish (similar to Pollack, about 3), and Mackeral (3). All on soft plastic baits. Jim introduced be to a very interesting jig head design that utilizes a free-swinging hook. Also some interesting soft plastic baits. He liked the BKDs I shared with him. Jim lent me a very nice/sensitive rod/reel with extra-thin braid.

Water is VERY clear and clean. Blue green color. Same fishing technique (LTJ/LTC) worked in Ireland as do in the USA.
Ireland has similar issues with overfishing, poaching, and water quality. I was surprised to learn from Jim that bass is the only fish that is regulated with minimum size and 2 per day limit. Their bass is similar to ours but smaller and no stripes.

My wife Louise and I spent two weeks traveling around Ireland and enjoyed delicious food and beer. Folks are very freindly and weather has been OK (glad I brought my Gore-Tex!!!).

Tight Lines All,

Mike Gussin