Boat Charter - Dublin Bay

[jfkireland]

Hi guys,
Does anyone know of any charter boats in Dublin Bay.
Myself and some friends (5/6 in total) would like to give the banks a bash sometime in the summer.
Any help much appreciated.
JK

[Wes]

JFK, head over to Dalkey. Theres boat rental in Bullock Harbour......fit up to 6 in them, €10 per hour with full tank. Now that was the price last summer, no doubt its gone up somewhat.

[jfkireland]

Thanks Wes,
The guys would not have any gear, experience nor sea legs, so I'm trying to get a skippered vessel which has gear to hire. I will bring my own of course!!!!...
JK

[danceswithwolves]

Hi JK,
we attempted this very task last weekend. I checked the cfb.ie website and got some numbers from there. Here is the summary of my many phone calls. (might save you some time and effort)
There is only 1 chartered vessel that operated out of Dublin. It is based in Rogerstown during the winter but is in the west of ireland for the Summer.
The only other option was Kilmore Quay, the only available time was a Sunday evening.
So I contacted Monica on 01 2806517 who rents boats out of Bullock harbour. The rate was €15 per hour for the boat, fuel and life jackets. 5 of us fitted into comfortably into the boat and set off. We had 3 boat rods, 1 14' beachcaster and an 11' spinning rod. The larger rods were a pain in the rear. It was very difficult to thread line through and they were too flexible when reeling in. The line on the spinning rod was too weak for the rough ground. That said we caught about 10 small whiting and a 3lb pollock. It was a good day out but those without boat rods suffered a little bit. I'm not sure but I think Monica might rent rods and tackle.
One other point, it would have been a good idea to show the new lads how to set up the tackle while on shore.

[Conor H]

DW Wolves - I take it you drive these boats yourself ? What sort of size are they, are they open or with cuddy ? Can you send details to me i.e contact details, prices, directions coming from N.Ireland etc. As much as you can think of. Sounds class .

[Luke Scully]

Don't get excited, they are miserable small open boats with 5 - 8 HP engines and the area you are able to cover does not often throw up any decent fish. The whole of dublin bay is pretty much fishless in a word. A few baby wrasse and excuses for Pollack. To get decent fish in Dublin you need a decent boat and a knowledge of decent marks. I have learned this over the years. On a decent calm day you can go as far as 'The Muglins' in these boats and 'sometimes' you can pick up good Pollack and the odd codling or wrasse but not often. The North side of the muglins is best with small black redgills and close in to the rocks on the drift. Pollack of 5 lb can be caught here. Thats it really, in a nutshell!

[Conor H]

Cheers Luke, excitement over for the day !!

[danceswithwolves]

Hey Luke,
don't diss my pollock. All I've caught prior to this a few dogfish and plastic bags from killiney beach.
I agree that a larger boat with a skipper that knew some decent marks would be far better, but unfortunately that's not really an option in Dublin. And for €15 for an hour its not going to break the bank.

H rocks to answer your questions. The boat is a small open boat with a small outboard on the back. They seat at most 6. You drive it yourself. Bullock harbour is about 2 miles south of Dun Laoghaire town on the coast road. There's no cabin so raingear is necesary. Obviously the boats wont be rented out if the weather is bad. Phone number is 01 2806517

Conor

[George]

I think there used to be a charter out of DunLaoghaire. Does any one know about it?

[Luke Scully]

I did'nt mean a charter baot. I meant a real boat you wn yourself or someone you know owns. I know not everyone knows someone but if you want to catch real fish in Dublin sadly thats what you have to do...

Charlie Robinson used to run a charter out of Dunlaoighre but not any more. The fish simply were not there. People go south to decent charters where real fishing grounds exist like Kilmore quay and the Salties...

[JonnyB]

Howth SAC have a 23ft Hi-Rider on a mooring at Howth Yacht Club. While this is primarily for the use of club members I believe they will charter it out to groups of up to 5 or 6 anglers and one of the members will skipper it for you. Not sure of the cost but I'd imagine around €200 or so. The grounds off Howth can offer some reasonable fishing at this time of year, especially when the weather is calm enough to head out to the Kish and beyond. The Howth club have a clubhouse on the West pier, so you could call in and see what the charter situation is

[dtsacs]

Hi lads,
I have to agree with Luke here, the fishing so far this year in Dublin Bay is one of the worst I can remember. I have made several trips out of Skerries, Howth, Bray and Ringsend to plenty of different marks in and around Dublin Bay/Kish Bank/Bray Head areas and most have been pretty bad (the only thing good was topping up the tan). It's only when you head South of Bray that things start to pick up. We usally make around 10 trips to Kilmore Quay a year and hire two charter boats (that's the club on our outings) and on the 3 trips we have made so far things have been pretty good with good Pollack/Wrasse/Cod and Pouting showing. The charter boats in Kilmore are all to a high standard but are nornally booked out for months if not the year for weekend trips, the best time to try and get one at short notice is a mid-week trip. I have contact numbers for a few, if you want them I can mail them to you.
Damien
Dublin Telesport SAC