On the brink of defeat!!!

This whole year ( with the exception of 1 smooth hound ) has been a complete load of me balls, I am sick to death going out digging lug and collecting crab to be met with nothing. I have put in more hours fishing this year than I have into my house but it's the worst years fishing I have ever had.....

Tonight we hit new castle, nothing, not even a single bite. I tryed everything but no not even a doggie.....

Is it me or has everyone had the same, and I dont just mean bass, I meand alllllll fish.

the fishing has improved up our way i noticed this year. plenty of fish being caught from shore and boat
what Newcastle are you talking about, i assume that you mean Wicklow? heard that the fishing has been poor down there but still plenty of bass being caught in cork? sounds like wicklow just quiet this year, we had a very quiet year 2or3 years ago.
maybe might have been an idea to have travelled a bit, tried different marks and/or methods? targeted different species? taken a boat out? met up with others who are being successful..?
not too late yet

I was the same until I bought my kayak. I was sick to death spending money and wasting time and not catching fish. That all changed with my kayak. Tope smoothhounds wrasse cod 14 diferent species this year most from the east coast , Dublin marks

Hi there iv had more fish, well more fish simply by being more flexible like not just fishing on a saturday night , using smaller hooks and baits, traveling more and not chasing reports
Keep the faith lad every one has bad years

Hi,

this is the first year that I seriously fish from the shore, so I don't have any comparison point. However, I didn't found that the year was that bad. Yes, I had few blanks, but I had also some busy sessions with many different species. Maybe it was just the luck of a beginner. I fished around Dublin and a couple of times down to Arklow and Courtown. Most of the time, a nice fat wriggling ragworm saved me from the blank.

So if this was a quiet year, I hope I'll be still around Dublin next year... but that's not so sure, sadly

I have only just taken to fishing. Caught 1 bass and loads and loads of bites but think my technique is crap as not landing any. Had a battle trying to land a conger.after 1.5 hrs the winding handle broke the the line broke. Wasn't even tryingto catch conger.

I've fished roughly the same amount this year as last (mostly east coast) and must say that while my species count is more-or-less the same the numbers of fish caught is definitely down. Even the old reliables like doggys and flounder have been scarce for me this year and it's been a good while since I had a really busy session. That said if the beaches stay weed free I have high hopes for the next few months, bring on the pin whiting

Howya. Just for sanity's sake have you thought about hitting the likes of greystones pier and downsizing the hooks etc. bring a variety of baits with you and you might be surprised at the catch. Normal beach rigs or packet gear should do the trick and even try a slow retrieve up the wall for the pollock etc.you can always keep one rod out of the mouth of the harbour as you never know what might be lurking!!! I had a couple of very enjoyable sessions off of greystones fishing just inside the mouth of the harbour and caught a couple of new species to boot. Did wonders for my confidence

I only got back into fishing mid summer. Last time out was five years ago.

I was amazed at how well the east coast was fishing. especially for hounds and to some extent bass. If this is a bad year i can't wait for 2013.

Been a crap September though i'll say that

I don't know will this cheer you up but at one stage last year I hit about 6 four/five hour sessions without a bite. I was in well known hot marks I couldn't even nab a flounder. I was beginning to think the same and wonder was our sport doomed, then hit about 15 blank less sessions and picked up some great fish. Hard to explain, I think everybody hits poor spells at times. The key is patience and you will be rewarded for your hard work and time my friend, best of luck

We all have lean times but just be patient and all will come right I even had a blank on a Waterford mark a while ago....

Howya. Just for sanity's sake have you thought about hitting the likes of greystones pier and downsizing the hooks etc. bring a variety of baits with you and you might be surprised at the catch. Normal beach rigs or packet gear should do the trick and even try a slow retrieve up the wall for the pollock etc.you can always keep one rod out of the mouth of the harbour as you never know what might be lurking!!! I had a couple of very enjoyable sessions off of greystones fishing just inside the mouth of the harbour and caught a couple of new species to boot. Did wonders for my confidence

i find greystones pier an absolute waste of time iv fished it twice since built an there is a serious drag in the water weights just wont hold bottom have just lobbed into the mouth of it an has drifted an have put a rod at distance an my leads mays well be ending up in wexford found it a disaster altogether

Howya. Just for sanity's sake have you thought about hitting the likes of greystones pier and downsizing the hooks etc. bring a variety of baits with you and you might be surprised at the catch. Normal beach rigs or packet gear should do the trick and even try a slow retrieve up the wall for the pollock etc.you can always keep one rod out of the mouth of the harbour as you never know what might be lurking!!! I had a couple of very enjoyable sessions off of greystones fishing just inside the mouth of the harbour and caught a couple of new species to boot. Did wonders for my confidence

i find greystones pier an absolute waste of time iv fished it twice since built an there is a serious drag in the water weights just wont hold bottom have just lobbed into the mouth of it an has drifted an have put a rod at distance an my leads mays well be ending up in wexford found it a disaster altogether

Downsize the hooks to 10 r 1 and drop down the wall thats where you will catch the fish

I know the feeling of blank sessions,some years ago when i was based in cobh i had blank after blank in good marks around cobh,deep water key,lynchs pier,the pilots station,aghada and in and around the naval base,at 1 stage i nearly tossed my gear,but it has,nt happened since,so i just put it down to just 1 of those things.

Anyway dont get to disheartened as your luck will change and when it does the lines will pull tighter as the fish will be bigger when you start to catch again.

Keep casting

john a

just knowing it's not just me who's failed to nab anything makes me feel less silly !!

i love going out anyways peace and quiet etc... but it can be annoying.

im convinced tho its all leading up to somthing ill remember for a long time.

i had a lug and a rag worm on a trace cast it in... got a few bites, when i took it out to check bait the rag was gone and the lug NOT touched at all, so then i just went with ragworm everytime, and ive caught more times this year than blanked, my aim most time is just to get one fish then after that its all gravy, i fish howth all year, 3lb best fish, a guy beside me got 16lb tope and ten doggies in an hour maybe two, i had 6 wrasses in the same time, i was on size 6 match hook with rag, he was on mac n rag size 3/o, i know a guy who got a 7lb bass on ragworm at howth too, just a tought man im sure u know your stuff, just throwing it out there