Kerry - Dingle

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#1 Post by **Eoghan** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 11:15 am

That time of year ladies. Heading down to Dingle on tne 18th April.

Spring tide weekend. Perfect tides etc...starting with 8am and 8pm so two good sessions per day and possibly a mid day low tide plugging session over a reef which has produced many times for us.

If you can let me know how its fishing I would appreciate it.
Pls send PM rather than post to whole board.

If ye fancy joining us for an early morning plugging session over that weekend then let me know

cheers.

#2 Post by **MAC** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 2:38 pm

Good luck mate... I'm jealous as hell. Let us know how you get on.

Kev

#3 Post by **Eoghan** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 11:54 pm

Will do as usual Mac...! Fingers crossed we get the weather.
If ye get a sign off from the FPO then give me a shout..! Bass guaranteed. I wont even charge..! :lol:

Tnks to all for the pm's..! :D

Will post catch report after weekend.

Tight lines

#4 Post by **wayne riley** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 11:14 am

hi eoghan, good luck wit ur trip 2 kerry on the 18th, im heading 2 cork same wkend, but im doing some deep sea fishing, fingers crossed we get good conditions and plenty of fish. :D :D :D :D :D

wayne

TREEMAN1963 · #5 Post by **TREEMAN1963** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 12:10 pm

Hi Eoghan,

I am in Kerry fishing in August - my first time. Any secret tips anyone can pass on - please PM me.

Many thanks

Treeman

#6 Post by **Eoghan** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 2:57 pm

Yeah will do mate. Aug can be a funny month for Bass in Kerry for some reason or so we have found. In the marks we fish we also do better in April than in Sept/oct and this is taken from data going back 12 years.
We fish the same 3/4 marks every year so we have a fair idea of how they fish. We have a couple of opinions as to why but really just guess work.

My advice would be to stick to a few marks rather than wasting time running over the peninsula trying to fish all the marks you have read about. We catch 80% of our fish before sunrise or after dark but have caught equal amounts of fish at either time. I personally prefer early morning. Usually once the sun is up its time to go home for brekkie. You will catch bass during the day down there but it can be a lot of hard work for just one or two fish.
Concentrate on plugging/spinning early morning and bait fishing at night.
We rarely fish the storm beaches as they can be hit and miss. Find the rockiest mark you can and fish it with either method.

Again this is just what we have found over the past 12 years and others may have different opinions. Will PM you some good marks to try.

#7 Post by **dickyfish** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 4:02 pm

Hi Eoghan
That sounds like good advice, we went down there last year and struggled to get anything at all kept moving from mark to mark like madmen trying to hit the 'optimal' tide times. I think you might b right about the surf beaches too, seem to be many more misses than hits! Never really tryed the rough stuff but it may be the way to go, if we ever go back. Anyway all the best with your trip, its good to know there are a few successful anglers to inspire the rest of us!!

#8 Post by **Eoghan** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 6:12 pm

Yeah we learned that the hard way. Running from Inch to Brandon, countless times across the conor pass and not enough fishing.

We then tried other marks. Basically looked for small rocky venues and started to fish them. Our theory is that if Bass are going to visit a venue, you have a batter chance on a smaller mark rather than waiting for a bass on Brandon or Inch. Dont get me wrong, these beaches have produced some great catches over the years but far too many blanks if you ask me (A blank being no Bass in a session)

The one rough mark we use for bait fishing produces on average 5 Bass per angler according to our figures. Not large fish, approx 6-7ib would be the largest but good numbers. Average tackle losses would be 3-4 traces per session but a no brainer in my opinion. My PB at this mark is 9 bass up to 7ib. Average bass being approx 4ib in weight.

All of our other marks are spinning/plugging venues.

#9 Post by **Dave** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 8:48 pm

That's pretty good advice there Eoghan, I did exactly the opposite on my first trip to Dingle last year, ended up spending more time in the car exploring than fishing and even less time catching. That said I can't wait to go back and actually do some proper fishing this time. I got myself a copy of the bible according to Bob and a decent map since and at the moment I'm trying to do exactly what you suggest, narrow it down to a few marks to concentrate on next time. So if you have any tips or suggestions I'd really appreciate it. I'm hoping to get a week in Dingle at some stage over the summer and I can't wait. Needless to say I'm jealous to put it mildly, enjoy your trip.

Dave

#10 Post by **Adam S** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 9:44 pm

you have to do that once though and then you can reap the rewards for years

one year we spent two whole days and i mean 10 hours each day going all around the penninsula stoppping everywhere and hiking to every mark we knew. derrymore all the way round to inch. but it was well worth it for the following years. especially if the weather is crap its time welll spent

#11 Post by **Dave** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 11:00 pm

Yeah I suppose you're right Adam and after all it is an absolutely beautiful place to explore. Next time though, more fishing, more fish and a little less time in the car looking for places to fish. Actually I remember reading your reports from last year, that was some fishing. Are you heading down again this year?

Dave

#12 Post by **Adam S** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 11:02 am

hi dave

yeah we head down every year at least once. hopefully a week in june/july and a long weekend in august/sept

TREEMAN1963 · #13 Post by **TREEMAN1963** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 11:29 am

Thanks for all the info guys. Let me know of anything you pick up? Good luck all.

Treeman :D :wink:

#14 Post by **Eoghan** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 11:41 am

No problem Dave, drop me a line before you go and i'll put ye on some good marks.

I think the mistake we made years ago was having too high an expectation. "We are fishing Inch, we have to catch bass".

Its really all down to conditions. One session we had was on the way back from travelling the area looking for a place to fish. The mark in question was right under our noses and on this day when we got back there was a nice surf running on a beach that usually has little or none. It was 4.30 in the afternoon and the sun was beaming. We said "What the hell, lets use up the lug". I had a bass on my first cast and between the two of us had about 8 bass that afternoon up until high tide when all of a sudden they disappeared. We knew the tide would be similar next morning so we walked the 10 yards from our house to the mark and as we had no bait we were armed with German sprats and had one of the best sessions ever over a period of about an hour and a half.

Adam is right though, sometimes you have to try a few marks before you stumble on gold. We have 4 marks down there and never fish any others. None of them are Inch or Brandon either. All are small reliable venues.

Look for a mark with rocks over shallow water and sand and close to a trickle/torrent of fresh water in the form of stream or river and you wont go far wrong.

http://www.sea-angling-ireland.org/bull ... ight=kerry

#15 Post by **Dave** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 10:19 pm

Thanks Eoghan, will do. Btw reading that report of yours has helped me one bit, I'm even more jealous now. I look forward to reading the next one.

Dave

TREEMAN1963 · #16 Post by **TREEMAN1963** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 5:10 pm

Great stuff Eoghan - I look forward to more info nearer august.

Many thanks again

Treeman :)

#17 Post by **GrahamHill** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 5:49 pm

TREEMAN1963 wrote:Great stuff Eoghan - I look forward to more info nearer august.

Many thanks again

Treeman :)

dont get too exited treeman,,kerry is pretty average in august,,why do you think the dublin lads are going down now! 8)

Thu Mar 27, 2008 10:14 pm

them big bass have a hormone rush in april all my best bass have been caught in april or oct ,maybe its to do with crabs peeling aswell ?

#19 Post by **Eoghan** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 10:06 am

roger de dodger wrote:them big bass have a hormone rush in april all my best bass have been caught in april or oct ,maybe its to do with crabs peeling aswell ?

We think it may have something to do with spawning and feeding to reach breeding condition. I reckon female Bass go on a feeding frenzy leading up to spawning. We tend to find less bass in May and they are usually smaller too leading me to beileve that food is less important during this time.

TREEMAN1963 · #20 Post by **TREEMAN1963** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 10:34 am

Well - I hope i catch something :(