advice on cullenstown area please.

[pixieinc]

Hi all
Ive been shore/rock fishing (the north coast mainly) for a year now, took up fishing for something to do with my kids and got well hooked..prefer mainly spinning tobys. dexters etc though have used bait too... hav had one trip to downhill and tried ledgering for bass..no luck though...anyway have just booked a week in cullenstown with the sole goal of catching a bass. My gear includes a 15-50g rod..9ft, a 50 to 100g 11ft rod, and a 2.5tc 2-5oz 12 ft fladen universal carp type..have a cheap beach set up but havnt tried to work a multi yet so its kind of a nogo. Dont have any wading gear ( have read the cullenstown beach to dodgy anyway..unless you know it) so i hope that wont put me at a disadvantage. Ive been running 25 and 25 pound braid on my fixed spools but casting wise im not great..
Have also googled mapped the beach and seen the estuary and the sandbank which runs along the coast. There is also rocks at the end of the beach (going west)
Have read online all I could find on fishing this area which wasnt that much..some info said light gear can be used which I think is at the estuary mouth( they mentioned fly fishing from here)

Anyway would dearly like any info/advice at all on this area
what gear, best spots, baits, plugs, spinners, tides, time...anything that you feel could help improve my chances to catch a bass

cheers and thanks for reading

[roger de dodger]

you can use spinners around the mouth of the eastuary a few hours either side of high water is prob the best time ,every time i go to cullenstown the beach has changed with gullies and channels only visible as the tide drops ,the beach itself fishes well on the rise or the drop if it has a decent surf on it ,southerly wind up to force 3 is perfect ,suss out the gullies at low water and aim your baits into them once they have filled with a few feet of water ,always keep an eye behind you as this is a very dangerous beach and a gulley can be 5 foot deep before you know it!as the tide is dropping if you want to fish futher out cast into the flow and let the tide bring your bait out to the required distance stop your line and let the rig swing around onto the beach as you walk along ,weed can be a problem if its been rough so you may find it unfishable ,their are plenty of other good marks nearby including lacken part of the cullenstown eastuary and kilmore quay where you can fish off the harbour and also dig lug at low water, bannow is the next inlet southwards i think it has the odd bass aswell , good luck on your fishing and holiday in the sunny south east we hope!!!

[pixieinc]

thanks alot SAI Megalodon for the reply..have to admit abit worried about the danger on this beach not being that experienced..is there any time when its safe and you can still catch?..at the mouth of the estuary where I believe the spinning is done, is it safe enough here? Will ledgering with a sliding pulley rig do ok for the beach work?..any help appreciated.

Thanks again

[roger de dodger]

a simple two or three hook paternoster with worm baits will pick up flounder ,bass,whiting,coalies ect ,crab is good too,i,ve had fish on razor too ,the safest time to fish would be the few hours before and after hw ,i wouldnt advise wading around the mouth of the eastuary at all, keep back from the edge a few feet and you should be fine as i said every time i go the whole place looks different so common sense needs to be used ,futher down the beach is alot safer, around hw most fish will be quite close so big casts wont be needed flounder are often no more than 5 feet out,as the tide starts to drop fish just to the edge of the current on the beach where the fish can be found picking up bits of food getting washed around ,a crab bait might pick up a smooth hound as they do show up around the beach on bigger tides,now without comming down to catch em for ya thats about my brains picked doesnt take long mind

[Danny M.]

,i wouldnt advise wading around the mouth of the eastuary at all, keep back from the edge a few feet and you should be fine as i said every time i go the whole place looks different so common sense needs to be used :

I echo what Rodger said, this is a very dangerous area to fish if your are not familiar with it. If you can have a look around at low water and see how quickly the tide floods you will get an idea, also the sand on the banks are not very stable under foot.

Best of luck.

Danny.

[pixieinc]

Thanks guys for the info and advice, much appreciated. Cant wait to give it a go and maybe catch something different form the usual small coalies and pollack that im used to up here.
Please let the weather and weed be kind!!

Cheers again

[Jayball10]

Fished straight out where the toilets are for a few hours last month. Weed was bad but seen a nice red codling pulled in. At dead low there was a big bed of red kelp so maybe theyre residential. Had doggies too but the way things are going this year Id say ya could get them by whistling at the water...

[pixieinc]

thanks for all the advice lads...mission accomplished!
one biggy and a schooly...reckon the big one close to 10lbs but im no real judge on weight..scared the sh*t outta me when it hit..close to dusk on a dexter an hour after high water ...ended up 50yds down the beach by the time I landed it, reel and heart both whizzin like blazes.
was plannin to keep it but its the biggest fish ive landed and with its size it would have felt like killin a dog...nursed him back to health and let him go..think im a catch and release kinda guy ..that is until tackle shops start selling lethal injections
thanks again all.

[samo]

cracking fish mate

[dbrock]

well done great fish, and well done roger for putting him on the fish

[Al]

Fair play on catching that on the spinning gear, i'd say it was great craic

[pixieinc]

great craic!..maybe it wasnt... thought I had a tiger by the tail..wee 4000 reel with 20lb braid and 9 ft quantum rod, biggest catch befor that maybe 2lbs...was as much luck as skill to land it..took a couple of hours for the arenalin rush to wear off..wished i lived down there, macs and coalies will never be the same.

Thanks again for all the help

sea trout may well be the next target..doin the research.. lures/spinners and strangford for marks.

[roger de dodger]

you,d nearly think i knew something after all cracking fish pixie i,d say that was some fight on such light tackle now thats what i call a holiday