Advice for novice in Bangor, Co. Down

[Sampraz]

Hi everyone - my first post, so go easy on me . As a novice, my prior sea fishing experience has been limited to the occasional bit of feathering / spinning for mackerel (off the Seacliffe rocks ) during the summer. So, after reading through the forums for a bit, I’m hoping that you guys can help me out with some advice on fishing around Bangor.

To get started, my brother (also a novice) and I have been fishing off Pickie breakwater a few times (easily accessible and less crowded than the main pier, hence less potential for embarrassment!). We've had some success but have found that we’ve been plagued by tiny fish (whiting and pouting I think) stripping the bait. We’ve been using mackerel and ragworm, on 1 or 2 hook (size 1/0) paternosters and had the (very!) occasional reasonable pollock, coalfish and even a small codling but 99% of the time we have spent reeling in bare hooks or fish not much bigger than our 2/3oz leads!

Could part of the problem be that most of our fishing has been done just before dusk and for the first couple of hours of darkness? - Haven't been able to get out during the day much with work during the week and family commitments at weekend.

Any advice on targeting larger fish, different marks, species available etc around the Bangor area would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Darren

[Ronald]

Hi sampraz . myself and kissmywrasse fish the back of the north pier regulary through the winter for good rockling and conger ,best method for them is to use a boat rod and fish down into the holes between the boulders ,you need the heavy gear to haul the fish out ! if your using a beachcaster you can fish the front of the pier for them . its coming into the bast time for them as they seem to feed best after dark .
as for wrasse pickie hasn't fished so well this year but there are still a few good fish around only problem is they dont feed after dark so you need to fish in daylight which normally means a weekend trip now the darker evenings are coming . use straight rag for the wrasse and float beads seem to help,put them on the snood abov e the hook and bait up with a 2"segment of rag-worm work every time ,you can get these from trap and tackle just ask joanne or robin .

[Sampraz]

Hi R.Surgenor. Thanks for the tips, especially the hints on targeting wrasse from pickie. Will have to see if I can get out of work early some afternoon and head down during daylight (or else earn some extra brownie points at home to get a few hours over the weekend ).

With regard to the floating beads - I assume the idea of them is to put a bit more movement into the bait so would I need a fairly long hook length for them to be effective?

Thanks again,
Darren

[Ronald]

we fish the beads on a snood about 6"long ,you put it around 2 feet from your weight .(make sure to use a weak link between your weight and main trace body ) you can normally get fresh ragworm from trap and tackle at weekends and pickie fishes best from low water up to high water ,bites seem to die of after high and all you get are smaller fish .

[Sampraz]

Once again, thanks for the invaluable advice Ronald.

I'm away this weekend, but will try to get out next week / weekend to put it into practice. Will let you know how I get on.

Cheers,
Darren