Dunfanaghy

[billybob1013]

I was wondering if anyone can give me some spots to try near here as i will be there this weekend and have never fished this area any help will be appreciated.

[Tanglerat]

What kind of fishing are you going to do? Beachcasting, or rockhopping with lures? The north end of Killahooey should throw up a sea trout or two at this time of year, esp if you can get your hands on fresh sandeel. The rock platform just around from Portnablagh pier is good for Pollock, ballan and coalies. any size of Pollock/coalie could hit you from the rocks behind Horn Head, but that's a fair old hike and the marks aren't for a novice angler.

There's always Sessiagh or New Lake if you fancy chucking a bit of fluff for a wild Brownie.

[billybob1013]

I was thinking of the beach but i might bring the fluff chucking stuff as it would be easier to hide in the boot from the wife

[Tanglerat]

Lough na Toohey in Creeslough is fishing well for Rainbows. €20 for day permit and boat hire, 1 fish take then C&R. Fish that fight like wee grilse.

[billybob1013]

Thanks for that i shall do a google search for it.

[guernica84]

If you're after white trout, Ards Friary pier is another excellent spot. However, you need to keep the bait off the bottom as there are more crabs there than at Waterfoot pier even. A small flounder float does the job. Sandeel has always worked better than mack for me there and I've found that you do have to blast it out a fair bit. I've also ran into rockling and turbos there, both on sandeel too!

Out of interest, does anyone know what the state of play with the state licence is at Ards now? They had a sign up for a few years recently and a Fisheries Board dude coming round in a van rigorously enforcing it as well as one rod only. I see that the sign is down now yet still remains up the estuary at Doe Castle. I have no issue with licence enforcement but what I would resent is fishing there with rag for flatties and being made to move if I didn't have a licence. To my mind, they have no right to do that but please correct me if I'm wrong. In my experience, they have moved people on regardless of whether they were trout fishing or not. I always had a licence in the past so it never bothered me but I doubt if I'll buy one this year with salmon stocks as they are in Co. Donegal.

[Tanglerat]

You still need the licence for sea trout fishing at Ards, despite yahoos ripping down that sign and chucking it into the tide. The chances are that you will be checked by IFI Inspectors, and you'll have to convince them that you're fishing for flatties in such a well-known sea trout mark.

Personally, if I was going to fish for flatties there I'd make sure my terminal tackle included every bit of beads, blades and bling possible, using squid/mussel baits and have a dead flattie or two in the bag to prove I was fishing for them.

[guernica84]

Thanks Tanglerat. One beach I've always been intrigued by there is Marble Hill but I've never tried it. I can remember snorkling there 20 years ago as a kid and seeing hoards of flatties but I notice that it never gets a mention in any list of "marks" for the area. I suspect that some beaches that are widely used by sun worshippers, surfers etc deliberately don't get a mention like Marble Hill and Carrickfinn but they certainly look fishy to me. I've always wanted to give them a try but have never had the confidence to give them preference over more publicised marks.

[Tanglerat]

Marble Hill? South end, dusk into dark on a rising tide, lug/rag or mack/sandeel.

[billybob1013]

Thanks for all the info , but due to rotten weather and a sat nav which was locked i could not go to far. I ended up fishing a pier at Ards and going by the state of the water the tide was on its way out in a hurry. I then moved down towards Dunfanaghy and fished a pier ( sorry no name ). I hooked into some thing big which was taking line even on full drag. I had slackened of the drag but to much line was heading out so i slowly tightened. I was using a 7000i abu with straight through 40lb , my swivel on the trace finally gave. It was baited with half a mac fillet and dirty squid on a 2 hook pennel , it was a good 20min scrap. If the weather was not so bad i might have stayed.............i had checked the spot during the day and no lobster pots where about

[Tanglerat]

The only pier between Ards and Dunfanaghy is PortnaBlagh. You hooked into either a conger or a tope. Conger is more likely, but tope is a vague possibility too. Mind you, an ABU 7000 with 40lb mainline should have been more than enough to handle anything. (Actually, it was. I just read you post again, it was the swivel that failed. American snap type rather than an Interlock type, I suppose?)

Sounds like you were at Ards in the middle of the ebb - not the best time of tide to fish it. You'd want to be there an hour before bottom and an hour after bottom of the tide for that mark.

[billybob1013]

I was only up at a friends holiday home and everyone was away to bed so i just had to go , going by the surf in the middle of the lough i thought it was on its way out. The pier was about half a mile outside Dunfanaghy on the Letterkenny side it had 2 levels on it. I also came across a great beach with surfers on it but it was a bit far out when the tide was out and with the weather and no floation suit i thought the comfort of a pier was easier:-)

[Tanglerat]

Yeah, that's PortnaBlagh. There's Trigger Fish there in the summer, and they're driving me bonkers trying to land one of them.

[billybob1013]

Thanks for that , the next time i will have as much gear as the wife allows me.lol. One last question is there anywhere near that does bait

[Tanglerat]

Nearest bait would be John McLaughlin in the Donegal Angling Center out the Ramelton Road from Letterkenny. A quick google for that or "Swilly Flies" will get you his info.

Or just dig your lug in Dunganaghy, vingle up sandeels in Ards and catch a few mackeral in Portnablagh. Free bait!

[billybob1013]

Thank you once again for the info it will make life a lot easier the next time i head up. Thanks again