Sea Angling Ireland

Fished Sat 28th Feb 10am-6pm.
Bait: Squid-Rag-Lug.
3 of us fished the spot. First 2 hours went by and not a nibble. Tide started to come in and one of the guys took a decent sized Cod, put it back though, not big enough to be taken. I was using a one up and one down rig with a rag and squid coctail. Left my other rod (10') with a float and just rag on a size 3. Kept going with my main rod (14') hoping for a bite, but nothing. Glanced to check my float and it was gone.....took it in and felt a nice load on it....nice 4.5 cod. the other guy took a couple of Codling but that was our lot. One point though, we saw 3 Dolphins! hanging around the area, bout 4-500m out. What a sight.

Did you say you caught a 4.5 pound cod ? Thats a cracker of a fish from the shore , especially at this time of year. I caught a 4lb cod from the reef just to the left of the Bailey while boat fishing before the winter last year. It's turning into a great cod mark. How far out and how deep was your float set? Were you fishing the left or the right hand side of the lighthouse? I fished the Lion's Head which is the mark to the right of the lighthouse two weeks back and didn't even get a nibble so I must give the lighthouse itself a go as Ballscadden isn't fishing well at all. Have you fished Lion's Head or Ballscadden recently?

I know, I was shocked myself, especially to catch one that size this early....but I guess its been a mild winter of sorts. the depth i set the float to was about 5-6'......I just put it out on the off chance, hence the reason why I wasn't even bothering with it much. I was down to the right of the Bailey, as for Balscadden, ive gone off going there. I havent fished the Lions Head since last summer, I'll go to either side of the Bailey or Pucks Rock for the time being, then when the season gets going I'll move around. Actually George, you mentioned fishing from a boat. Do you know of anywhere in Howth that would rent a small boat for the day? Seen a few out last summer and was thinking I'd like to do it this summer.

Forgive my ignorance but I always thought Cod were bottom feeders and did not know they could be float fished. Has anybody else used this method for cod?
It may open up some very snaggy marks if sucessful.
Maybe if you put something up on the shore fishing forum, some people may have more information.

Havent heard of it myself Dr. I was chancing my arm with the float, hoping something would wander past. I plumb depth the spot where i droped the float and was only about 6' deep, set the float to that depth and left it. Needless to say i was surprised, especially with the size of it.

Hi Wes,
You could join Howtrh Sea Angling Club (HSAC).
I believe they have a few good boats andare very reasonably priced - only a couple of quid I believe. I'm not a member of HSAC, but maybe Kieran or someone else could give you help.
If fishing the bailey from a small boat, be very careful. There are overfalls and extreme tide rips. Never fish wind against tide in anything over a force 3.
Cheers
JFK :P

I actually sent them a mail, must have been at least 6 or 7 months ago now, never heard back. I was asking them about water depth in certain areas. I was just curious about the boating end of it, been out on a boat in Blessington, but that was all. No real experience. Thanks for the suggestion though.

have heard of a 3lb codling being taken off howth pier before by a young lad there with his dad, i had a 2lb codling while spinning for mackeral at poolbeg in early october, and saw several others (up to three lb) caught. Just shows it can pay to change tactics once in a while.

Wes,

How do you get to the Bailey? I've fished from the Telegraph Pole to the South, but the road to the lighthouse says it is private. Is there a "proper" way to get there?

Ian

Yeah, it was down by the Bailey. The road is private, and says in bold "NO FISHING", but if you respect the peoples privacy, as there are two family homes there, they're ok with you going down. In fact they often stop me and ask if its been a good day, but I've been going there for nearly 6yrs now. If you drive, park outside the gates, DONT drive in and always close the gates behind you. Now in saying all that, I've heard of them stopping people from going down, as is their right, so be warned.

i am not surprised that you caught a cod on a float but fishing so shallow?! i had one of similar size off the back of Bullock Harbour floatfishing about 12' deep on gone off ragworm! it was in june and may a nice change to the small pollack i was catching.

Blanked again! Fished from 7:30 to midday. Pulley rigs baited with rag/mussel/squid cocktail. Came back a bit wetter than it went in each cast! Even the crabs were on holiday. Even tried float fishing on my other rod from 6 to 12 feet with a two hook flapper - nothing.

Beautiful day though. Saw a pair of Peregrine Falcons above the lighthouse as I was leaving. Mmmmm, maybe I'll take up falconry again!!

Thanks for the advise Wes. At least I was able to find it this time.