Angling Marks
An Irish Anglers Marks, Ireland East, South East and Wherever else I visit
The east and south east of Ireland provides a wonderful mix of angling opportunities in both sea and freshwater. Predominantly low lying the coastline varies from steep to shingle beaches, sandy storm beaches, to large estuaries and a few headlands. Dotted along the coast are harbours such as Wicklow and Cahore where boats can be launched and piers can be accessed for fishing. Inshore waters comprise in the main, shallow clean or mixed ground, averaging five fathoms or less on the east coast, which are characterised by strong tides. Kilmore quay, South Wexford is the main charter boat venue in the region. The wrecks, reefs, and rock pinnacles off Kilmore and around the Saltee Islands provide fine fishing for Pollack, Wrasse, Codling, and Ling. Shore anglers can take their pick of venues and methods, with depending on the season and venue, the main species to expect off beaches being; Bass, Codling, Whiting, Coalfish, Dab, Flounder, Dogfish, and Smooth Hound. While headlands such as Bray head, north of Greystones, Co. Wicklow and the Hook Peninsula in South Wexford are home to Pollack, Wrasse, Mackerel, Bull Huss, and Conger.
The main rivers in the area would be the Fane, Boyne, Dargle (Bray), Avoca (Arklow), Slaney (Wexford) and Barrow (New Ross). All these rivers get a run of Sea Trout and Salmon, and have stocks of wild Brown Trout. Fly fishing covers, both wet and dry for the Brown Trout, and evening wet fly for the Sea Trout. Salmon are targeted with both fly and lure. Check the rules and access rights to the various waters first before venturing out. The Barrow is unique in that it also has stocks of course fish along its length, and gets a migratory run of Twaite Shad coinciding with the first spring tides in May. St Mullins, Co. Carlow, situated at the head of the tide is the place to be when the Shad run is on.
There are plenty of angling venues and marks in the area, most are well documented, but very few are up to date. Current information is the key to angling success, so only marks that have been fished within the last twelve months will be included here. It has to be understood that fish have their seasons and cannot be caught all year round. With game fishing it is self evident depending on the open and close seasons of the various waters, and Pike angling generally takes a dip in March and April due to the spawning cycle. However local advice is well worth gleaning, as form can vary through the season regarding the various fisheries. On the coast a rough rule of thumb would be to fish from May to January, as most sea fish spawn in the spring months of, February, March, and April, with the result that prospects can be fairly lean during this period.
Sea Angling Marks
Co. Cork
Co. Wicklow
Co. Wexford
Co. Carlow
Coarse Angling Locations
