Haddock

Hi All,

Going out fishing this friday and the skipper informs me that theres a few Haddock about. Never caught one before and I would love to. Has any one advice on rigs and bait specificly for Haddock?

Many thanks

Caz

Small baited Hookais with orange beads, Haddock like orange for some reason. Or try a 1 up 2 down rig with booms and a small spoon or spinner blade above the bottom hook with luminous and orange beads. I know an angler who uses decent sized hermit crab as bait with good results but a cocktail of lug and rag will do just fine. They have rather soft mouths though and hooks can be pulled easily.
Tight lines!

Shamrock Tackle Cod Caspers do the biz!

Simple ordinary 3 hook paternoster Hokkais in size 2/0 baited with fresh mackeral. Simple, straightforward and easy. Remember as The Austrian says, they have soft mouths. Don't mask the point/barb of the hook with the bait.

Lovely fish to catch. It always cheers me up no end to see them come onboard.

You can find all the Shamrock rigs here: http://stores.ebay.ie/sink-or-swim-fishing-tackle (Irish shop)
Have a look at the Orange Sabiki Muppets or the Rainbow Warriors, they tick all the boxes. Bait them with small slivers of razor or clam, fish baits can be a touch less selective unfortunately, but fresh shrimp are supposed to be very good.

Thanks for the info lads. Much appreciated.

Caz

Fished a comp out of cork harbour last weekend and caught one myself and saw one other coming to the boat. Lots of rigs in the water but both fell to mac baited orange muppets. The only baits being used at the time were rag, mac and sandeel but I've been told before that razor is a killer bait for them. If they are on the feed I'm sure small mac baits will do the trick. Good luck

Agree those wee orange muppets are good, but for me lugworm or mussels are the best bait.

if they are there then they will take most things / anything
last one i caught was on a trace of feathers baited with rag

Mission accomplished. See boat reports for Clifden. Many thanks again

Caz

Shamrock Tackle Rigs are also stocked at various Tackle Shops at key locations all around Ireland.
See Shamrock's Dealer Locator page.
http://www.shamrocktackle.com/index.php/shamrock-dealer-locator


In Culdaff, Donegal, we have had Haddock on the Shamrock "Mickey Fish" rig (baited with a strip of Fresh Mackerel).
and also my mate had a small Haddock in Culdaff on Shamrock "Euro Champs Rig" (white) and he was fishing them UNBAITED!
the image is on shamrocks website here:
http://shamrocktackle.com/index.php/2012-07-15-14-05-47/articles/eurochamps

Just curious on how you fish these rigs lads ? are they fished tight to the bottom on the drift or lightly jigged ?

Just curious on how you fish these rigs lads ? are they fished tight to the bottom on the drift or lightly jigged ?

both techniques will work, I always have the best results when I bait the hooks with a small sliver of mackerel or squid as the scent is an additional attraction. Try to fish hard on the bottom first, if you get no bites then slowly work your way up until you find the fish. Tight lines!

Just curious on how you fish these rigs lads ? are they fished tight to the bottom on the drift or lightly jigged ?

both techniques will work, I always have the best results when I bait the hooks with a small sliver of mackerel or squid as the scent is an additional attraction. Try to fish hard on the bottom first, if you get no bites then slowly work your way up until you find the fish. Tight lines!

Cheer Bud.Over what ground would be best to target them.

Haddock live in schools in moderately shallow water over rocky or sandy ground. Try to find a bank to a depth of several meters to several dozen meters surrounded by deeper water which is ideally covered by sediment and fish hard on the bottom as they are ground dwellers. A good fish finder will help no end to identify a potential mark.