Sea Fishing in the south of Ireland

[gregfromfrance]

Hello guys

I'm Greg, french fresh and SW fishing enthusiast
A friend and I had the idea to come to your country by ferry (landing at Rosslare) for a few days with our boat for fishing purpose...

For the moment we have the idea but no information...
Would you mind helping us ? we are not looking for your secret spots or tricks but our first questions to see if it's a good idea are :

- is it possible to fish with a french boat on your waters ?
- we'd like to fish for sea bass, are the south waters good for sea bass fishing by the beginning of october ?
- do you know places were we could put our boat onto the water ? (we will bring it on a trailer)

Thanks for your help

[Its Ofishal]

you re allowed fish with your boat with rod and reel but I think there is a limit of 2 sea bass per day and they have to be bigger than 42cm. The southern beaches and surrounding areas are good for bass and over rough ground is good for a variety of fish. You can contact Inland fisheries Ireland and they can give you more details and regulations.

[gregfromfrance]

Thanks for your reply. We don't care about eating our fish as we practice C&R... in terms of result, on a average, how many sea bass can be expected by boat fishing in theses areas ?

[JimC]

Hello guys

I'm Greg, french fresh and SW fishing enthusiast
A friend and I had the idea to come to your country by ferry (landing at Rosslare) for a few days with our boat for fishing purpose...

For the moment we have the idea but no information...
Would you mind helping us ? we are not looking for your secret spots or tricks but our first questions to see if it's a good idea are :

- is it possible to fish with a french boat on your waters ?
- we'd like to fish for sea bass, are the south waters good for sea bass fishing by the beginning of october ?
- do you know places were we could put our boat onto the water ? (we will bring it on a trailer)

Thanks for your help

Yes it is possible to fish.
South waters can be good for bass. Probably not as good as some French waters but at least here there is no commercial fishing allowed.
In October the weather can be a big factor. In that case it would be best to be in an area where you will have shelter. Cork harbour would be a good base in that case.
Cork is about 2.5hrs from Rosslare. You a ould also check out Dungarvan and Youghal on the way from Rosslare. Both good bass harbours.

[gregfromfrance]

OK, so in case of strong west or north west wind, do you think it's possible to fish in Cork arbour ? I guess there will not have too big waves but is it sheltered from wind ?

[JimC]

OK, so in case of strong west or north west wind, do you think it's possible to fish in Cork arbour ? I guess there will not have too big waves but is it sheltered from wind ?

It will be difficult to fish anywhere if the wind is very strong. However the harbour is a big area and it is possible to find areas to fish in most conditions.

Have a read of this: http://www.topfisher.eu/angling-cork-ha ... sta-style/

[gregfromfrance]

good, we will try to come by the 10th of september or the 5 th of october, to be decided in the next days
seems to be a great place to fish.

two last question : I read on this forum that sea bass are mostly "coastal and shallow", which is quite different from France... so you guys don't fish/catch bass on rocks under 10 or 30 meters deep ?
and if anyone knows a cheap place where to sleep with a boat on a trailer, as we come for 10 days a kind of flat/small house (to cook and have breakfast on our own) would be great.

[Its Ofishal]

I recently stayed in Kinsale in a place called Cappagh lodge it is beautiful and peaceful and only 110 or 120 euro per night it has a double bed upstairs and a pullout couch below. Kitchen and full sky tv. It is a self contained unit attached to a house .Hopefully they will drop you in a few of their free range eggs for breakfast. Only 5 mins drive to the slip and safe place to park boat and trailer. Contact Dane on 00353876573999. I think you can view it on Eir b and b.

[gregfromfrance]

THank you, they were full but we found an other place that seems to be good, where we can park car + boat on the trailer.

Is there a good fishing shop in the area ?

[donal domeney]

The only place worth going to is Halfway Angling Centre at Halfway Ballinhassig.
About a 15 minute spin from Kinsale.
https://tackledirectireland.ie
Contact Dan Lynch at 021 4885894 you can find is location by using his Eircode, T12V228

[JimC]

good, we will try to come by the 10th of september or the 5 th of october, to be decided in the next days
seems to be a great place to fish.

two last question : I read on this forum that sea bass are mostly "coastal and shallow", which is quite different from France... so you guys don't fish/catch bass on rocks under 10 or 30 meters deep ?
and if anyone knows a cheap place where to sleep with a boat on a trailer, as we come for 10 days a kind of flat/small house (to cook and have breakfast on our own) would be great.

Yes, bass are coastal and shallow! We do not get bass offshore on reefs and wrecks.

[JimC]

THank you, they were full but we found an other place that seems to be good, where we can park car + boat on the trailer.

Is there a good fishing shop in the area ?

It depends on what you are looking for really. The shops here are good on some things but not as good on others.

[gregfromfrance]

It's in case we need gears we don't have left (lures) or broken (rods).

[JimC]

It's in case we need gears we don't have left (lures) or broken (rods).

I would bring spare rods. Bring plenty of soft lures. Bring plenty of jig heads. Hard lures/plugs and metal lures would be available.

[gregfromfrance]

Sure, we made a big stock
So sunday on our way from Dublin we will fish in the evening a Kilmore Quay then from monday to saturday around Cork HArbour !

[JimC]

Sure, we made a big stock
So sunday on our way from Dublin we will fish in the evening a Kilmore Quay then from monday to saturday around Cork HArbour !

If the weather is good you can have lots of choice. If the weather is bad, at least you will still be able to get out fishing.

[gregfromfrance]

Hi again

Our first day weather (sunday) seems to be hard in the South, and perhaps better around Dublin...

Is Dublin area good for lure fishing by boat ? If yes do you have one or two good spots/areas to fish (and a place to launch our boat !)

Thanks for your help

[gregfromfrance]

back from holidays

We had some great great fishing !

first day we spent 5 hours on the way to Cork at Kilmore Quay, what a spot ! We caught about 15 basses (around 45-55 cm) and 45 nice pollocks, a lot of fun this day.

Then we fished around Cork, most of the time it was possible to fish outside the harbour. We tried inside the harbour but it was not crazy... outside it was awesome :tons of polocks (around 70 and 120 a day ) and some bass (difficult to find, perhaps due to the very small tides ??). There were plenty of mackerels too but a bit too easy to fish, so we spent half and hour catching some then swapped to pollocks.
We kept a pollock a day, the other went back to water

[JimC]

back from holidays

We had some great great fishing !

first day we spent 5 hours on the way to Cork at Kilmore Quay, what a spot ! We caught about 15 basses (around 45-55 cm) and 45 nice pollocks, a lot of fun this day.

Then we fished around Cork, most of the time it was possible to fish outside the harbour. We tried inside the harbour but it was not crazy... outside it was awesome :tons of polocks (around 70 and 120 a day ) and some bass (difficult to find, perhaps due to the very small tides ??). There were plenty of mackerels too but a bit too easy to fish, so we spent half and hour catching some then swapped to pollocks.
We kept a pollock a day, the other went back to water

Great to hear you had a great time! Yes, often the small tides do not suit bass.
Did see your vehicle and trailer parked near Aghada? I saw a French registration.

[gregfromfrance]

Yes ! I was very probably us