spurdog tactics

this spring im hoping to target spurs from a few marks around leinster that throw some up every now and then. one thing though i have no idea to go about landing one, i presume fish baits at distance would be a good start, what rigs work best and whats the best bait?

hi eirc,well done on sunday.the first spur this year i saw came from courtown ,it took lug tip with mac only 30 to 40 yards .when landed it through up a full herring.imo a pulley rig loaded with big fish baits about 40 yards on a deep venue.good luck on the spur hunt :D

have been told that squid and crab were decent baits...... also mackeral and squid........ probably depends on the venue. would imagine that a pully rig would also come in handy as i would imagine it can be difficult in keeping them off the bottom at times

how heavy should the snood length be?

i have never fished for them but often meant to.... i would geat up in the same way as i would for smoothies

snoods have to be at least 30lb of the shore although you will land some on less strenght snoods,,, but every year i lost a few with snood been bitten through,,, or rubbed of the noses as they seem fairly long,,,,,


where i fish here at distance,,,and i usually use mack as bait,,, but also a few of em have thrown up full herring ,,, ill be hitting the mark this week def,, so ill keep you posted on how i get on
have to get my spur count of to a start this year,,



there are a few spots of the boat to eric that trow up a good few to,,

snoods have to be at least 30lb of the shore although you will land some on less strenght snoods,,, but every year i lost a few with snood been bitten through,,, or rubbed of the noses as they seem fairly long,,,,,


where i fish here at distance,,,and i usually use mack as bait,,, but also a few of em have thrown up full herring ,,, ill be hitting the mark this week def,, so ill keep you posted on how i get on
have to get my spur count of to a start this year,,



there are a few spots of the boat to eric that trow up a good few to,,

:shock: a few spots dont here many reports of them unless eric you want to bring your boat to antrim or kerry :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

spurs were under pressure from overfishing. probably why people keep marks quite...

spurs were under pressure from overfishing. probably why people keep marks quite...

your right there mark i actually got my boat marks of a guy who used to commercially fish for them around dublin,,,

if they were still there in numbers dont you think you would at least see some in all the boxes of dogs they catch for whelk bait.
there are some to be had but they are very localised.
looking foreward to seeing some pictures from thease marks you got :wink:

you seem to have a few marks for them yourself john

http://boat-angling-ireland.com/phpbb/v ... php?t=1987

surely its not that hard to think that there are a good few other marks on the east coast where people, apart from yourself, are catching some

i do indeed have a couple of marks for them adam.

i am not saying nobody else catches them on the east coast i just don't here reports of them.

i had 1 specimen last year plus a few smaller ones, after i posted a report of the specimen i had quite a few requests from lads wanting some marks and some of them have been angling the east coast for a considerable number of years and never encountered a spur.

needless to say i never gave a location away.

you learn over the years to keep your cards close to your chest :wink:
gave fish and bait locations away before to only see them devastated :shock:

john ive fished with you for years in dalkey

you should know i dont give away marks,,,esp like this,,,
and i appreciate you dont do the same ,,,
i might show you a pic though :lol: :lol: :lol:

and if you read the post i said the guy USED to fish for them,,,
he aint doing the trawlers any more,,
last year i had only 8 in total and 3 were from the shore
joe had 2 from the shore last year to in another mark you know we fish

i know your shore mark for them denis :wink: you gave away to much info in the pics :lol: :lol: your secret it safe with me i might hit that mark in the next couple of weeks :wink:

i dont need any encouragement to hold onto my marks i would be a rich man if i had a euro for the amount of times i was asked for special marks :shock: :lol: :lol:

i did read the post denis all i said is that you would expect to see some mixed in with the boxes of dogs they/not he land all along the coast from howth to wexford where i often frequent you just dont see them.

snoods have to be at least 30lb of the shore although you will land some on less strenght snoods,,, but every year i lost a few with snood been bitten through,,, or rubbed of the noses as they seem fairly long,,,,,


where i fish here at distance,,,and i usually use mack as bait,,, but also a few of em have thrown up full herring ,,, ill be hitting the mark this week def,, so ill keep you posted on how i get on
have to get my spur count of to a start this year,,



there are a few spots of the boat to eric that trow up a good few to,,

:shock: a few spots dont here many reports of them unless eric you want to bring your boat to antrim or kerry :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

i lucky enough to have a few mates who've given me a few gps coordinates and shore marks, as henry gilbey once said

''sworn to secrecy under harm of a very painful death''

i know your shore mark for them denis :wink: you gave away to much info in the pics :lol: :lol: your secret it safe with me i might hit that mark in the next couple of weeks :wink:

i dont need any encouragement to hold onto my marks i would be a rich man if i had a euro for the amount of times i was asked for special marks :shock: :lol: :lol:

i did read the post denis all i said is that you would expect to see some mixed in with the boxes of dogs they/not he land all along the coast from howth to wexford where i often frequent you just dont see them.

you have to be joking me if you know the mark,, joe or mick told you


those pics show rocks that are from north beach ennerielly to ballymoney and so on and on ,,,

any way back to your question eric your best of to use 30lb snoods,,, found stren very reliable for em

joe or mick told me :lol: :lol: :lol:
that would be like getting blood from a stone.
i would not bother asking for a venue.

i could meet you there for a meet without asking you for directions :wink:
but as you know my situation at the moment i cant make any plans.
all SPUR of the moment fishing im afraid :lol: :lol:
ye back on topic i dont target them from the shore buy from the boat i would use 80/100lb mono.
sometimes i would 50lb coated wire.

on the subject of spurs, all the specimens, pages and pages of them in the isfc a few years back. dozens and dozens of claimed fish to 19lbs out from dun loaighaire and bray

where they wiped out by the commercials, all those claims and i assume dead fish couldnt have helped either

Adam,

They became a very popular eating fish with the French and the Germans hence the wipeout of them on our coastline although there are still a few around where I fish :wink: :wink:

cheers paul, any idea why there was such an abundance of them that particular year out from dun loaighare and then fewer/none for the following years

did the isfc reports lead the commercials to them in any way?