Looking for Turbot, N.Donegal

[chuckaroo]

so im off to north donegal next week to try for turbot for a few days
i intend to only head up around inishowen and maybe portsalon directions
it really would be great if some people could give me some pointers here please..
was thinking culdaff, leenan, or portsalon - or anywhere around these areas
what is rathmullan like to fish from this time of year and what species could i expect??
i would even appreciate info on baits and methods too (distances, tides, rigs, exact locations etc)
PMs very welcome
thanks in advance
any help greatly appreciated

[Sweetwrasse]

Hey Chuckaroo. The venues sound good for targeting turbot. Coalies should be about on Culdaff too. Keep the hook sizes small and fish in close for the turbos (fish baits) and dont expect any whoppers!

[weedave]

pm sent buddy

[petekd]

Lots of small turbot available on Ballyliffin beach FWIW.

[Beelo]

Dont expect much of any size, as with most fish at this time of year.
May is a much better month for the big ones.
mackerel strip is hard bet as bait, easy to get aswell.

[chuckaroo]

Hey Chuckaroo. The venues sound good for targeting turbot. Coalies should be about on Culdaff too. Keep the hook sizes small and fish in close for the turbos (fish baits) and dont expect any whoppers!

nice one sweetwrasee, appreciate your advice man.

pm sent buddy

cheers dave

Lots of small turbot available on Ballyliffin beach FWIW.

thanks for that pete, its a definite consideration

Dont expect much of any size, as with most fish at this time of year.
May is a much better month for the big ones.
mackerel strip is hard bet as bait, easy to get aswell.

expecting only small turbot seems to be the general consensus here. why shouldnt i try bigger baits and hooks?
hasnt any1 tried bigger baits before?

thanks for the responses so far keep em comin
btw, i havent even been up around this direction before, let alone fished it
still very keen to find out info on fishing rathmullan too!

[Sweetwrasse]

expecting only small turbot seems to be the general consensus here. why shouldnt i try bigger baits and hooks?
hasnt any1 tried bigger baits before?

Unfortunately the average size of any turbot I've caught is about 12cm Larger specimens do turn up but generally later in the year. One 10cm turbo I caught last year managed to get his mouth round a 3/0 baited with mackeral I had out for ray (took it on the retrieve I think) which was impressive I thought although they do have large mouths! If you fish 1/0 hooks then you'll cover all bases and can always downsize if not getting any hook-ups.

[chuckaroo]

expecting only small turbot seems to be the general consensus here. why shouldnt i try bigger baits and hooks?
hasnt any1 tried bigger baits before?

Unfortunately the average size of any turbot I've caught is about 12cm Larger specimens do turn up but generally later in the year. One 10cm turbo I caught last year managed to get his mouth round a 3/0 baited with mackeral I had out for ray (took it on the retrieve I think) which was impressive I thought although they do have large mouths! If you fish 1/0 hooks then you'll cover all bases and can always downsize if not getting any hook-ups.

thanks again man. sounds like the go

[weedave]

how'd you get on chuckaroo??
dave

[petekd]

It will be another months or 2 or so before you see any numbers of bigger turbot around, best you can realistically hope for is a low to mid 20s fish TBH at this time of year and there wont be too many of them around either. 30 cm fish at any time of the year is a decent fish. Bigger baits do work well for bigger Turbot but only when they are there! Stick with small neat mackerel strip baits and try and fish a rolling lead through the tables. Lashing a clipdown with sandeel can also turn up a decent fish or two but as I said before, only when they are there....

[chuckaroo]

thanks for the advice petekd, appreciated.
yeah i will be heading next week now, its planned, so i will just have to see how i get on at this time of year then..
like the idea of the rolling lead and i will be taking your advice up on the rigs and bait type too
cheers man