Smoothie advise

Hi we heading to kerry in 2 weeks then gonna head over to the east coast for a spot of smoothie fishing for our first time. I see on this site that poolbeg seems to be doing well at the minute but we were thinking of courtown. Any info or advice would be greatly appreciated. Also any recommendation on accomodation would be great. Thanks

Was in poolbeg last week I caught nothing but people around us caught 4-5 between them.

its best fished when there is a tide say above 3.7m

Any time I go to poolbeg it's always full of weed. Maybe it's something to do with the direction of the wind?

It's hopping with them!

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Was up there last night and got 1 but missed loads of bites. I think its to do with the hooks I'm using. I'm using 1/0 Aberdeen's.. What would you guys suggest?

Was up there last night and got 1 but missed loads of bites. I think its to do with the hooks I'm using. I'm using 1/0 Aberdeen's.. What would you guys suggest?

1/0 2/0 small €2 sized crab baits. hounds only have small mouths so i find going any bigger you will miss alot of takes

Nice one thanks. Gonna try Wexford over the weekend so hopefully I'll get to test a few sizes out

What sort of rigs should be used? Pulley rigs or flappers? And what breaking strain of line is it possible to get away with?

Cheers

Cathal

People say Poolbeg is best fished when the tide is above 3.7 or when the wind blows a certain direction, its all guessing. I have got hounds on neap tides, at low tide... If its a neap tide go closer to the light house and you will still get hounds...

Also, the only bait I will use there for hounds is fresh peeler. Frozen seems to fail allot there.

2/0 pully rigs an frozen peeler is as good as fresh if it was froze down properly, wicklow beaches are fishing well had about 20+ hounds last week between 2 of us all on frozen peeler biggest about 5lb

always found an up and over or even a fixed paternoster far better for hounds in places with little or no tide. the fish move off and hit the lead and it sends the hook home. will often get as many bites as on a pulley but you will hook nearly everything with the up and over. the downside is that it's more time consuming to tie. pulleys are simple and effective but like anything not everywhere and not all the time. over used. if you tie a stop not on the body of the pulley near the top swivel you will hook more fish. it will still function as a pulley as the weight of a good fish will move the stop knot down. a 2/0 is a good hook and generally you don't need much crab unless things are slow or crabs are on the munch. nothing as frustrating as missing the few decent bites you get.

Is it safe enough parking the car up there at night? Heard reports of cars broken into in the past. Is it still worth fishing for hounds during the day if you fish it on a big tide or best to wait till its dark?

You can park the car at the start of the pier and ya don't gave to venture far from it once the tide is coming in I was there last week landin hounds to four odd pound in the evening light as the tide was coming in a couple of hours before it dark so they can be had there in daylight on the flood

Sound,thanks for that. Must give it a bash. Save a lot of petrol money!

Is a wire trace a must or will heavy nylon do , just tied up some wire traces but not over confident on the wire crimps any advice on this would be very gratefully received

No wire trace no jus a pulley rig or fixed paternoster. 60-80lb. Rig body 30lb snoods or sixty right through for the pulley is what I use 1/0 - 3/0 hooks 4-6 oz grip lead peeler crab and Bob's your uncle

Is a wire trace a must or will heavy nylon do , just tied up some wire traces but not over confident on the wire crimps any advice on this would be very gratefully received

No need for wire trace or even heavy mono for that matter, a good quality 30lb snood will even suffice. Some people use as slightly higher as the hounds crushing plates and skin can be abrasive, but they have no sharp teeth like tope etc. Personally I use 30lb maxima flourocarbon.