Salmon on bait??

[fishfeatures]

Just reading a discussion on another irish angling forum, and am wanting to see if any one here, can add to it.

Personally i have known quite a few anglers over the years but, never known, or heard of any sea angler to land salmon on bait from the shore not inland.
Others have been posting otherwise, with some claiming to have done it on more than one occasion.

Has anyone in here ever landed salmon on bait (not big sea trout)? and is there any pics out there of the catch?? also where was the catch landed??

I am in the camp of it's nigh on impossible but yet 1/2 % chance it might happen.

[fastnet]

In the 80's I netted a salmon at sea that spat out a large freshly eaten sandeel so I suppose it could happen to catch one on the rod!

[seafisher]

In the 80's I netted a salmon at sea that spat out a large freshly eaten sandeel so I suppose it could happen to catch one on the rod!

Sher sandeel is a main part of a salmons diet at sea.

[chuckaroo]

i spoke to an angler a couple of weeks ago who was standing on a beach fishing in Red Bay, Co.Antrim. he said that he had a caught a nice sea trout the week previous of 3-4lb, i was gob-smacked to say the least as sea trout that size are RARE these days. he showed me a picture of it on his mobile, it was a salmon, for sure
since then i have been told by a very keen and experienced angler (who knows more about salmon than i do) that salmon returning from spawning can be starving and could very well take a bait if put in front their nose, that it has happened in the past, but it is particularly rare..
i know the difference between a salmon and a sea trout, it was a salmon in the picture
it took a mack bait apparently

[Al and Jordan]

doggie3131 off this forum caught a lovely salmon a few years back on bait from the shore in Sligo. I think I put a report up about it or he did. it should be in the report section. if memory serves me correct he got it on a size 1 hook baited with lug and a belly sliver of mackerel.
the usual "debate" started to questioning if it was a salmon or sea trout
but he has spent his life around salmon and knew straight away what it was that he had caught.
but in all my 30 years of angling it was the only one I have ever seen taken from the shore in the flesh

[Deleted User 3488]

Free lining a sand eel or brown shrimp would not be much different from fly fishing for Salmon.

[basshunter10]

It would depend on where your free lining? You don't fly fish for salmon in the sea so it's completely different in my opinion. Salmon on a shore line are probably heading straight to the river or waiting for the tide to make their run. I think that would explain why it's such a rare catch from the beach. They are fixed on spawning when inshore and are not worried about feeding only making it to their spawning grounds. They strike a lure, fly, shrimp or worm out of aggression in the river a lot of the time after you have annoyed them with it a few times. In the sea you have a far smaller opportunity to do that. Either the fish are moving by and you won't cross his path twice or your bait is static. In the river the fish are holed up and you constantly cover the same fish with the same little annoyance triggering their aggression. Not saying it can't be done, what I'm saying is the method doesn't really matter, it's more the situation the fish finds itself in. I agree with chuckaroo, if you were lucky enough to get one I think it would be a fish returning to sea after spawning.


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[Deleted User 3488]

It would depend on where your free lining? You don't fly fish for salmon in the sea so it's completely different in my opinion. Salmon on a shore line are probably heading straight to the river or waiting for the tide to make their run. I think that would explain why it's such a rare catch from the beach. They are fixed on spawning when inshore and are not worried about feeding only making it to their spawning grounds. They strike a lure, fly, shrimp or worm out of aggression in the river a lot of the time after you have annoyed them with it a few times. In the sea you have a far smaller opportunity to do that. Either the fish are moving by and you won't cross his path twice or your bait is static. In the river the fish are holed up and you constantly cover the same fish with the same little annoyance triggering their aggression. Not saying it can't be done, what I'm saying is the method doesn't really matter, it's more the situation the fish finds itself in. I agree with chuckaroo, if you were lucky enough to get one I think it would be a fish returning to sea after spawning.

I know locals who use the free lining method in an estuary fishing for Sea Trout and it works are they not similar in behavior to the Salmon?


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[Dangler1810]

I have caught three salmon on bait (sandeel) in the estuary between Enniscrone & Bartra Island on the comming tide at the last perch before the bar during the 70's & 80's, I have also caught salmon on beaches west of Killala on sandeel. I dont think its common but it does happen. Enjoy the fishing.

[paul skelly]

Here is a post from a while back with a suspected salmon from the beach.

http://www.sea-angling-ireland.org/bull ... 5&start=20