Smoothounds dollymount area

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Smoothounds dollymount area

Postby sea serpant » Fri Jan 25, 2019 3:38 pm

After fishing for hounds over the last ten years in the usual places i have gathered alot of info on the species I'm wondering has anyone ever gave the dollymount area a real go for hounds and I dont mean one or two sessions prob fishing for something else !! I mean really put the time in over a whole summer ??? I'm curious as I was walking my dog last summer and got talking to a local guy fishing at the bathing shelters who had two fish in a bucket and didnt know what they were I identified them as baby hounds he caught them on ragworm ! I wonder would I be wasting my time or has this place been completely over looked as a sometimes barren bass and flounder venue I wonder could it hold some half decent hound fishing? I've brought this idea up to others but was told the same that I be wasting my time but i would like to maybe give it a real go ! I mean it looks perfect for hounds on a calm incoming tide at night and only a few hundred metres away they are caught in poolbeg I'm thinking of giving the statue a go this summer a couple of times over the summer seen as it's only ten minutes from my house anyone any input
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Re: Smoothounds dollymount area

Postby Rod Tips » Fri Jan 25, 2019 6:09 pm

sea serpant wrote:After fishing for hounds over the last ten years in the usual places i have gathered alot of info on the species I'm wondering has anyone ever gave the dollymount area a real go for hounds and I dont mean one or two sessions prob fishing for something else !! I mean really put the time in over a whole summer ??? I'm curious as I was walking my dog last summer and got talking to a local guy fishing at the bathing shelters who had two fish in a bucket and didnt know what they were I identified them as baby hounds he caught them on ragworm ! I wonder would I be wasting my time or has this place been completely over looked as a sometimes barren bass and flounder venue I wonder could it hold some half decent hound fishing? I've brought this idea up to others but was told the same that I be wasting my time but i would like to maybe give it a real go ! I mean it looks perfect for hounds on a calm incoming tide at night and only a few hundred metres away they are caught in poolbeg I'm thinking of giving the statue a go this summer a couple of times over the summer seen as it's only ten minutes from my house anyone any input


Hi sea-serpent , the dollymount area is really dab, odd flounder and sometimes bass. Plenty of mullet too. The usual channels on the Tolka Estuary side have changed dramatically since last autumn. Where once bass and the occasional smoothound would come up along the breakwater or in under the bridge, they no longer do, as the sand bars have all moved, channels have shifted too. That said, before the changes, I was fishing the statue and a few guys fishing the bathing shelters had caught 3 of those small hounds, very thin looking though. That area on the Tolka estuary side needs some serious pioneering sessions to work it out.
On the dollymount side the chances would be better, however, the algal blooms and weed never let up all of last year, it was unfishable, I've been putting in two to three sessions in the area every week from May 2018 and still do. The beach is spotless now, no sign of weed at all. I myself expected to catch hounds there and other species too, but every time the weed ruined the session.
I did however hook one from the telegraph pole just beyond red rock beach at Sutton, not far from dollymount, couldn't land him, as it was low water, he twisted himself around the trace while trying to lift him over the kelp beds. And he was a decent size too. That was late July 2018 just before the sun went down.

If you do give the statue at dollymount a bash, just be aware that the lighting there is out of action the past few months, totally dark there, you'll need lamps.

Glad to hear someone else thinks the same as myself regarding species other than , dab, flounder and the odd bass! I will be trying the beach myself this weekend but will use the causeway entrance at St. Anne's park side, bigger channels and stronger tide there.

Best of luck
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Re: Smoothounds dollymount area

Postby sea serpant » Fri Jan 25, 2019 6:23 pm

Thanks for that I know the area very well it's great to hear someone is fishing it consistently even though the return hasn't be great I think if your a good caster use big crab baits and fish at night then the statue might be worth a try for hounds and I think your right about the Rocks in sutton being another spot to try for hounds I used to fish for bass around this area but always in late autumn sep Oct time I think this year I'll try it alot earlier in the year maybe may early June and see can I land a hound or two would be a nice accomplishment for me if they were feeding around that area especially living that close to it I'll give it a bash when summer nears either way

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Re: Smoothounds dollymount area

Postby m.b3 » Fri Jan 25, 2019 10:00 pm

i would be quite confident trying dollymount beach for hounds. i think you will catch them there the question is in what numbers?they have been caught booterstown, poolbeg, estuary side of the bull wall, red rock martello tower area, split rock and glenaveena beach before the bailey lighthouse.

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Re: Smoothounds dollymount area

Postby roger de dodger » Fri Jan 25, 2019 11:40 pm

Hounds follow the food try dollymount strand in a good surf ! I've seen 10 lbers taken on lug whilst targeting bass
In the surf
They can and do turn up everywhere last two years Bray beach has had plenty of smaller hounds on it in October 3/4 lb and I've taken 7 and 8lbers off ballygannon in late Sept and oct.
Try different spots I think laytown portrane ect need a good thrashing with crab this year .
My advice it fish them hard just for hounds leave your flappers and flounder rigs at home

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Re: Smoothounds dollymount area

Postby sea serpant » Sat Jan 26, 2019 7:02 am

Yes much like I was thinking thanks for the replies lads hopefully I can pull out a few nice hounds this summer around that area

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