Dublin beach fishing

Just started fishing last summer. Done a bit on holidays when i was a kid,mainly in wexford in the 70's early 80's. i've been all over howth,portmarnock,dollymount and once in killiney,had to stop in killiney after about an hour because of the weed. most of my fishing is done at night on a high tide(2 or 3 hrs before and after high water). i'm using rag/lug bait mostly with the odd offcut(i'm a chef) of Hake/cod/whiting. my problem is i'm not catching much,i have a 12ft beach rod with fixed spool,20lb main line,50lb leader 5oz weight. i use a pennel rig on a pulley system...help...

I see this is your first post. Another couple of posts/comments from you and you will be able to access the Reports Section of the site (I think you need to have made 3 posts) and then you will get an idea of whats being caught out there at the moment. It's been pretty poor lately,but these are lean months on the East Coast. I'd say try Greystones Harbour on a dropping tide,,,, small hooks,,,2's or even 4's,,,, using mack as bait. Having said that the wicklow/wexford beaches will hopefully start throwing up a few fish soon. Good luck and welcome to the site,,,i'm sure the lads on here will see you right with tips and advice

Just started fishing last summer. Done a bit on holidays when i was a kid,mainly in wexford in the 70's early 80's. i've been all over howth,portmarnock,dollymount and once in killiney,had to stop in killiney after about an hour because of the weed. most of my fishing is done at night on a high tide(2 or 3 hrs before and after high water). i'm using rag/lug bait mostly with the odd offcut(i'm a chef) of Hake/cod/whiting. my problem is i'm not catching much,i have a 12ft beach rod with fixed spool,20lb main line,50lb leader 5oz weight. i use a pennel rig on a pulley system...help...

I'd swap the pennel pulley rig for a 3 hook flapper with 15lb hooklengths and size 4 or 2 hooks, should do you for most of the venues you fish. you can pick them up ready made in Henrys if you're not comfortable making your own. Match the baits to the size of the hook you are using and swap your offcuts to a small piece of mackeral to tip off your worm baits..venue wise killiney, Greystones south beach, Greystones Pier, Bray harbour would be better this time of year than the north dublin beaches imo, you should be in with a chance of flats, whiting, coalies, small codling, rockling and maybe the odd dogfish. good luck!

thanks guys,looks like killiney beach tomorrow lunchtime...i'll keep you posted!

Hi Grumpy,

This time of year you'll get better results if you fish into darkness.

high tide is about 1pm,how good is killiney on a low tide?

I think Low water's just after 6 tonight, If it was me i'd fish from an hour after lw up.

high tide is about 1pm,how good is killiney on a low tide?

I've fished it a few times at low water and it worked out OK. Had flounder, whiting and a few coalies.

Just a general point too- each venue is different and will fish better at different states of tide. Some venues can be crap at high tide and magic at low! Unfortunately the only way to find out really is to experiment a bit yourself and try to tap into the valuable local knowledge too if you can.

I think i'll make a day of it...

Some of the Wicklow beaches are supposed to be fishing alright for whiting at the moment. lug and mackerel on size 1/0s would do the job.

Hi Grumpy,

I've recently taken up fishing myself in the last few years. None of my mates fish at all, so I found joining an angling club to be a great help. If there's one in your local area then the lads there will give you some good pointers.

One thing I've learned is put your the effort into finding where the fish are and then presenting the best bait you can get in the best possible way.

Good stuff Grumpy, try a 2 or 3 hook flapper with size 2 or four hooks. Get it out as far as you can and use little strips of Mackeral. For example, cut both flanks off the Mackeral and once you've done that cut each fillet into about 10-12 pieces. A sharp scissor is far better for this than a knife. Each piece about the width of the gape of the hook. If there's flakey flesh falling off the strip I just trim it off with the scissors. I fished Killiney the other night and straight Mack seemed to get the bigger whiting.


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Good stuff Grumpy, try a 2 or 3 hook flapper with size 2 or four hooks. Get it out as far as you can and use little strips of Mackeral. For example, cut both flanks off the Mackeral and once you've done that cut each fillet into about 10-12 pieces. A sharp scissor is far better for this than a knife. Each piece about the width of the gape of the hook. If there's flakey flesh falling off the strip I just trim it off with the scissors. I fished Killiney the other night and straight Mack seemed to get the bigger whiting.


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thanks,just stocked up on lug and macs,tying up a few flappers now. a handy tip i learned off my granddad was to tie up 10/12 rigs,some pulleys and some flappers. then wrap each one around an empty roll of toilet paper( i use kitchen towel rolls,they wern't around in the 70's) and secure with sellotape. you can get about 4 or 5 on each roll. i can get maybe 5 rollls into a metal tin i have. no f*cking around tying up rigs when you're on the beach...

Jay, if this is you, then send me a pm on my Facebook page and I'll sort you out. I've a competition today in Kilmore, then tomorrow in Kilcoole so I won't be online until Monday. Fish Killiney in darkness with lug tipped with mackerel. You'll get small Dabs and Flounder anywhere you cast and I mean anywhere, if your leader knot is still in your tip eye then you're in flounder country. A modest lob of 20/30 yards will see you connect with Whiting. If you can get a cast of 100 yards plus then try a big bait and leave it there. There is still a chance of Cod from the beach these days, I got a couple of 2 pounders there in November, but you'll need a big crab bait and it's more likely that a passing dog will grab it first. I'd normally fish up and over the top of the tide, but it's a deep beach with very little tide movement so once it's dark you'll pick up something at any stage of tide. The fish nowadays aren't big so don't go mad on the hook sizes. Fish no bigger then size 2 and buy and learn how to use a forceps and/or disgorger. There's nothing that pisses me off more then watching some angler reefing a hook out of a fish. Treat them with respect and the fish gods will smile on you. Best of luck.

Jay, if this is you, then send me a pm on my Facebook page and I'll sort you out. I've a competition today in Kilmore, then tomorrow in Kilcoole so I won't be online until Monday. Fish Killiney in darkness with lug tipped with mackerel. You'll get small Dabs and Flounder anywhere you cast and I mean anywhere, if your leader knot is still in your tip eye then you're in flounder country. A modest lob of 20/30 yards will see you connect with Whiting. If you can get a cast of 100 yards plus then try a big bait and leave it there. There is still a chance of Cod from the beach these days, I got a couple of 2 pounders there in November, but you'll need a big crab bait and it's more likely that a passing dog will grab it first. I'd normally fish up and over the top of the tide, but it's a deep beach with very little tide movement so once it's dark you'll pick up something at any stage of tide. The fish nowadays aren't big so don't go mad on the hook sizes. Fish no bigger then size 2 and buy and learn how to use a forceps and/or disgorger. There's nothing that pisses me off more then watching some angler reefing a hook out of a fish. Treat them with respect and the fish gods will smile on you. Best of luck.

i'm guessing this is you dave....still have that multipler if you want it...Good luck with the competition!