Autumn Dream off Kilmore Quay, Co. Wexford

[Ashley Hayden]

The sleepy fishing village of Kilmore Quay in south Wexford has long been recognised as a centre of sea angling excellence. In his book “Salt Water Fishing in Ireland”, Herbert Jenkins Ltd, 1966, Clive Gammon regaled stories of large reef Pollack, hard running Tope, and fighting Bass. Come full circle and Kilmore still exudes quality, with over 7000 fish (many caught and released) landed during the recent IFSA master angler event.

The superb inshore reef fishing around the Saltee Islands tends to divert attention away from other forms of angling available in the area. Not much notice is given to deep sea wreck fishing, yet within twenty miles of Kilmore Quay lie some very large vessels within which some very large fish must reside. With this in mind Failte Ireland funded a survey carried out by the Eastern Regional Fisheries Board to establish just what might be out there.

Skipper Eamonn Hayes and his vessel “Autumn Dream”, with a motley crew comprising amongst others, Mr Sea Angling Norman Dunlop, specimen hunters Ian Mulligan and John Millerick, small boats king Mike Hennessey, and David Gray from the Daily Star, fished hard over three days to unlock some deep water secrets. Red Gills, Shads, Pirks, and heavy ledgering gear were employed, and the results were promising.

Fishing a number of wrecks in up to 250 foot of water large concentrations of fish were found to be present with some fine Pollack and Ling landed. A feature on the third day besides the unseasonal fine autumn weather was the capture of eight pack Tope, capped by a 43.lb specimen for Ian Mulligan. All the fish were tagged and released as part of the CFB tagging programme.


Twelve species of fish were caught over three exciting and varied days. Denizens of the deep do exist off Kilmore Quay with fish being lifted out of their wreck home, only to dive unstoppably back to their fishy lair. The door has been unlocked though, and with a further survey planned 2010 looks like becoming a very interesting year for the Kilmore fleet.

Skipper: Eamonn Hayes
Vessel: Autumn Dream
Contact: http://www.kilmoreangling.com/

Accommodation:

The Saltees Hotel, Kilmore Quay, Co. Wexford, Ireland.
Contact: 00353 53 912 9601
Email: info@hotelsaltees.ie
Web: http://www.hotelsaltees.ie/about_kilmore_quay/index.htm.

ling.jpg

[twinkle]

kilmore is full of wrecks the old rosslare mail boat was sunk about 5 miles out and about 75 old trawelers all around st patricks bridge i know the old jack bates boat scarlet steel is also down there plenty of artifical reefs all man made pity we cant have the same in dublin bay might give fish stocks a chance

[mitch]

nice report ashley
realy enjoyed wednesday great to meet all the lads, and thanks again ian for all the help and advice
it was very strange fishing over a wreck catching tope but hey no complaints here it was some fun
fighting those tope in 180 ft of water
looking forward to giving it another go
ashley any chance of some more photos

[Bradan]

Nice report Ashley. Keep up the good work over there!

[steyrman]

hi i was down there the same day meet the lads and ladies josie mahon good days fishing on my boat as well put in a long day finished up for 6.30 just after autumn dream crew as you say its starting to open up a new angling scene for everyone

[The Austrian]

dream crew as you say its starting to open up a new angling scene for everyone

brilliant, that's what it's all about

Nice report Ashley. Keep up the good work over there!

+1 (sorry, couldn't resist) nevertheless, I fully agree

great to meet all the lads, and thanks again ian for all the help and advice

good to read, comradeship and helpfulness, that's what makes these days enjoyable

Fishing a number of wrecks in up to 250 foot of water large concentrations of fish were found to be present with some fine Pollack and Ling landed. A feature on the third day besides the unseasonal fine autumn weather was the capture of eight pack Tope, capped by a 43.lb specimen for Ian Mulligan. All the fish were tagged and released as part of the CFB tagging programme.

Twelve species of fish were caught over three exciting and varied days. Denizens of the deep do exist off Kilmore Quay with fish being lifted out of their wreck home, only to dive unstoppably back to their fishy lair. The door has been unlocked though, and with a further survey planned 2010 looks like becoming a very interesting year for the Kilmore fleet.

Superb report, and if the trend towards more environmental awareness and preservation continues, which I hope is the case, the future looks bright for our sport. Still, there is a lot of work to be done and it will need the effort of every concerned and conscientious angler - but where there is a will, there is a way Well done on a very successful and enjoyable trip, may these good memories stay with you to share with others and help educate younger generations!

plenty of artifical reefs all man made pity we cant have the same in dublin bay might give fish stocks a chance

sounds like a good chance, beneficial to men and animal for a change any ideas

[twinkle]

yes martyn loads of them starting with all the derilect trawlers and ships tied in the harbours of ireland all beyond repair taking up mooring space there is at least 10 of these in howth alone i havent been in dun laire in a few years but there was a good few over there the last time i was there they should be taken out of the harbours [made safe first oil diesel removed and towed to a desinated area and scuttled and let the reefs start growing around them if a boat is not sea worthy the harbours should insist on the owners taken them out after a reasonable period of time not only do you get a reef but it frees up mooring space in the harbours for boat s to move freely in and out they are also used as tips by the other trawlers they put all the waste on to these have seen rats running freely on decks i also favour a slipway ranger to check fish quetos on charters i know alot of skippers advise anglers what to keep but with whats going on in the harbours
it is hard to tell a guy who does not have good english to put that back in but if that skipper was fined say a days fishing he would make sure the law was keptand all small fish would be left to grow the norm at the moment is 20 joeys makes lovely soup thats just a few to be going on with