Spidaal fishing

Hi there, I was fishing last week for half day at New Pier in Spidaal. This place looks nice, but on incoming evening tide I caught only small wrasse from the rocks beside pier. I tried with no luck on sea side of the pier for pollock/mack but weather was rainy and windy with really big weaves. I didn't caught anything from the end of the pier -there was a lot of black weed. I heard that there is a chance for flattie but I tried from the rocks on the beach with no hit as well. Could anyone advice me how to increase a chance to catch anything in this spot? What tide and time is the best.... And where are those flatties........ because I have never caught flat fish in my life And please do not send me to "Sea angling Ireland- Shore marks- Galway East " section

If you want flatties from Spiddal just go and fish the beach. Use a standard three hook flapper and the bait would be lugworm tipped with mackeral. Use a 70g or 100g weight and cast about 10-30 meters out. reel in and change the bait ever 15-20 mins or so!

As for the pier, i only ever fish off the end. I assume you mean the bigger pier here, not the small one thats actually in the town as that ones useless. A 3 hook flapper baited with anything and dropped straight down the wall with catch blennies, wrasse, pollock, rockling and a few other mini species. A mack flapper or a mack head and guts on a heavy trace in the same spot will also get you congers up to about 10kg. If you cast out, again using a three hook flapper baited with lugworm and mack, you can get dogfish and the odd flattie on the sand and wrasse and pollock near the weed line. The odd ray might turn up too but that would be very unusual.

I would only ever fish the pier two hours either side of high water, it doesn't matter when you fish the beach. If it rough you might want to use a heavier weight so your trace doesn't get washed up. Also you don't need lugworm really, but it does help.

Hope that was of some help!

Alex

Thanks for reply - maybe it will help me to get proper catch there If you mean flatties on the beach - as a beach you mean sandy shore before actual town (driving from Galway side) or sandy bank right close to large new pier?

I mean the actual beach that you drive past just before the town if your coming from Galway, just as you said.

If your interested in getting flatfish the best place around galway is Silver Strand, in between Galway city and Barna. Its not worth it in daylight, but if the high tide is around midnight and you start fishing just before it gets dark you should at least get a few if your using the same tactics as i said for Spiddal beach. Lug and mack on a three hook flapper using a 100g weight. Dont be afraid to cast very close in, sometimes no more than 5 meters.

Hope that helps

Alex

I took two nice flounder from the pier at the end of june , casting sandeel/lugworm at right angles to the end of the pier. there's a marker about half way between the pier and the rocks accross the beach, anywhere around that seemed the place to fish.