St Johns Point

Fished St Johns Point (between donegal + killybegs)
On Saturday 11-June-2005
Fished on a incoming tide
And the weather was great (sunny + light winds)
Tried spinning, Ledgering + Float fishing.
Caught Loads of B/Wrasse on float fishing using either rag or lug.
but fishing for mackerel + Pollock was very slow, A few macks + Pollock on Spinners, Trace + Lures (jelly worms + lead heads)
Bigger Pollock with Lug on 1 hook rigs - size 4 hook.
I lost loads of tackle.
But its the best shore fishing venue I have attended in years - Highly Recommended. - But if you are thinking of fishing this spot - Wait until the end of June.

Sounds good mate, what depth were you fishing the float rigs?

A Mate of mine got smashed up on St Johns with a 10lb+ Crazy pollack a Month back, It broke an Ugly Stick, Enough said.

Sounds good mate, what depth were you fishing the float rigs?

Used a medium sized bubble float, Just lobbed out to about 15 feet with about a 6 foot length line (maybe shorter) and a single hook. Count for 5 seconds and WHAM!! You are into one. (Its that quick)

I usually fish out near the lighthouse at the end of the point, but, recently have noticed that there is usually fishing nets really close in to the shore thus spoiling any chance of spinning. Would these nets spoil float fishing?

I always try by the lighthouse too, but I've found that there are a few little congers at the small pier to the left, but gazillions of wrasse straigth out form the lighthouse, on the flat rocks (with the rough edges that'll destroy your shoes). There are good pollack there too, although nothing like in Teelin Bay.

Where is Teelin Bay :?:

On out past Killybegs

A few years ago the pollack fishing at St John's Point was absolutely frantic, but it seems to have died down a lot recently. Down below the lighthouse there is like a platform of rocks you can fish off with a wee island just a few yards off the shore to your right. This place used to be teeming with pollack but doesn't seem to be anymore. There are still fish there surely, but not in the same numbers. Nowhere near. This are still plenty of ballan and cookoo wrasse here though that can be caught on rag, small hardback crabs or those wee snail like shellfish you find in rock pools.

There is a wee channel between the land on the Point and the wee island I mentioned, only a few yards wide. I have caught some amount of pollack in there down the years, just floating a small mackeral strip in the channel and letting the tide carry it up or down.

Then there is the wee jetty that all the divers use - someone already mentioned it for congers.

If you head on round past the jetty to the other side of the point, this is where the BIG pollack lurk and also where you can fill cooler boxes with mackeral for bait. I'm told some big conger hang around there too.

All very tackle-hungry ground.

Anyone ever fished the beach there?

I live pretty close to st johns point, and there are still some very good places to fish BIG pollock and ballen wrasse! Last summer I landed a 10lb pollock and it was some fight, a few years back my friend managed to land a 14lb pollock which snaped his 10ft spinning rod like a tooth pick!! If you bring loads of lug you will be catching wrasse all day long. No sooner than you have casted out the float you are straight into a wrasse. In a two hour session between myself and my friend we landed 29 wrasse! The biggest was 4lb. The mackerel are in poor supply and have never caught more than 3 on any occasion lately down the point, but I have to say, if you go 20 minutes in the road to teelin, there is any amount of mackerel, we caught over 60 mackerel the last evening I was in, not from the pier but over on the rocks. Must head and dig some lug for this evening, might give the point a go!