Rock Fishing Outside Cork City - Where?

jArgHA

I am looking for suggestions on any spots to go rock fishing (for mackerel, pollack, bass) close enough to Cork city (within say an hour's drive). The only place I have fished at near Cork is Ballycotton pier, which is decent but I prefer fishing from more isolated spots. Preferably places that can be fished at during low tide also.

Ideally does anyone know if there any good spots out in the direction of Robert's Cove / Nohoval area, as I work out on the Kinsale road side of town so its handy to get out there after work in the evenings.

Cheers in advance,
jAH

mawk

well noaval cove itself is not too shabby.

theres fountainstown, which produces some ok bass aswell as the easier targets. church bay of bull rock in crosshaven both have some nice rock spots too. sea wall in monkstown is a good spot for cod and whiting with some good congers too.

currabinny pier is mixed but on a good day will throw out mackerel, whiting, dab dogs and the VERY occasional lobster.. really.

jArgHA

Hi mawk

Thanks for the very quick response. Is Church Bay near Crosshaven hard to find (don't have a map at hand) ?

Also, whereabouts is Curabinny Pier, did you actually catch a lobster rod fishing!? If so that's the first I've ever heard of that happening!

Cheers,
jAH

Tree

a few ppl go fishing on ballywilling strand, down beyond garryvoe (east cork direction). The ring road and tunnel would be a straight forward way of getting down there from the kinsale road.

jArgHA

thanx Tree,

I was actually down around there on the beach yesterday (not fishing) and got caught in a huge downpour I don't have any gear for strand fishing tho so I'm not sure if it would suit. Reckon I'll be trying out Nohoval Cove and Church Bay / Bull Rock over the next week tho!

jAH

deRanged

There's plenty of fishing off the pier in Cobh too, though it does get a bit busy when the mackerel are about.

Tree

i think you can catch makerel around passage west / monkstown area too, nice fishing off the walls. just watch out for little teenage boy types, they tend to get in the way.

mawk

jArgHA wrote:

Hi mawk

Thanks for the very quick response. Is Church Bay near Crosshaven hard to find (don't have a map at hand) ?

Also, whereabouts is Curabinny Pier, did you actually catch a lobster rod fishing!? If so that's the first I've ever heard of that happening!

Cheers,
jAH

yeah church bay and bull rock are both very near crosshave village. just come straight in through carrigaline, and where the main road goes off left (there is a pub at the corner) just go straight up the hill. road to the right.

also the kinsale road bridge is very conveniant fishing and a good variety. just try to ask a local where on the brigde is good as its very different from one end to the other. try setting up and just just strike up conversation as people pass. someone will point you to a hotspot.

btw, bull rock is REALLY on the tip of the harbour, the other tip being roches point, its a good spot but very snaggy. tends to eat up gear but rewards with 5lb pollack and such

mawk

oh and no ive never caught a lobster but ive seen a few caught by other luckier people:eek:

Judes

Yep - Bull Rock - Weavers Point - next to Church Bay - is perfect. You can actually park on the Church Bay Road (near the Helm Apartments aka the old Helm Hotel) and walk down the cliff path alongside it - then turn towards the right and you'll soon get to Bull Rock. Have fun!

jArgHA

whoop the fishing rod is in the boot of the car and with all these suggestions I'll be busy exploring for weeks to come. thanks again for all the tips!

jAH

scuby

used to fish at roches point on the rocks by the light house, take a right before the entrance to trabolgan, just down the road

daveirl

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mawk

ive never fished from the rocks but ive coverd the area in boats. great conger on the ballycotton side and even rakes of cod on a good day on the inner harbour side.

so has anyone been out lately? havent heard much of whats being caught and havent had the time to go out myself

Judes

Can you still fish at rocks at Roches Point because the gate into Roches Point lighthouse is now an entrance to private residences, so often locked. I've been there with my bf and helped people who went through the gate, got trapped when it was locked and had to climb over to get out of there, i.e. give them a hand when they were climbing over (not a low gate either). So, do you mean the rocky beach before you hit the lighthouse?

daveirl

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scuby

just park the car in the main parkign area by the water and walk through the entrance, or climb over the gate if it's closed, and go along the rocks, there was a pathway down to the water from there. nice spot to sit and fish, nice spot to see some of the big ships pass right beside there as well

mawk

daveirl wrote:

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yeah thats joe, good skipper. and a real fancy pants boat. were you on the new one? the big twin hulled cat? its a lovely boat. like fishing off a pier.

does anyone know whats catchable from hulbowline? im thinking of spending a day down there cause in the back of my head i remember a cfb map that said there are stingrays down there but i cant find the map now.

Illkillya

mawk wrote:

yeah thats joe, good skipper. and a real fancy pants boat. were you on the new one? the big twin hulled cat? its a lovely boat. like fishing off a pier.

does anyone know whats catchable from hulbowline? im thinking of spending a day down there cause in the back of my head i remember a cfb map that said there are stingrays down there but i cant find the map now.

From Haulbowline Island? Don't know exactly, but theres a legendary conger eel under the navy pier, supposedly 110lbs+, but I'm told that you're not allowed fish there so its kind of a catch 22 Wouldn't surprise me if the odd stingray is caught, and its a good spot in the middle of the harbour so you could count on the usual suspects.

daveirl

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jArgHA

I just found this excellent document with map on the Central Fisheries Board website which lists fishing spots around Cork harbour:
http://www.cfb.ie/fishing_in_ireland/sea/maps/docs/CorkHarbour.doc

They also have further information on fishing spots elsewehere in Cork county;
http://www.cfb.ie/fishing_in_ireland/sea/maps.htm

jAH

Judes

Thanks guys - you've freaked me out thinking about all the Conger Eels hanging out around the inner harbour - may not even paddle in Crosser/Whitebay this year knowing they're out there!!!

daveirl

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mawk

daveirl wrote:

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well i was fishing the sand quay im monkstown one day and there were a bunch of spaniards jumping off the pier. not wanting to hook one of them i figured i see what was under the pier. next thing the rod bends double and i lean in start dragging out a conger. about 15-20lbs so nothing crazy huge but it was about 5 feet long and in 5 feet of water... one guys sees me and swims around to see what it is, and ends up staring it face to face. i swear to god spaniards can fly when the feel like it. the pack of them couldnt have cleared a bath so fast. priceless :eek:

also thanks jArgHA

Judes

I regulary see Dolphins in the inner harbour but 2 weeks ago my parents called me to say they spotted 2 sharks (yes, they know the difference between a dolphin and a shark) - assume they were Basking Sharks! So now between the Basking Sharks, the conger eels and the fact that Whales were spotted off Roches Point a few weeks ago........... I'm sticking to my bath and rubber ducks!!!

"Happy Fishing" and let us know what you catch out there this year!

Illkillya

Congers can be very aggressive when threatened and will give you a nasty bite if you aren't careful. They'll usually be holed up in any medium+ sized pie but I've never heard of one biting a swimmer. I suppose if you stuck your hand inside the part of the pier where it was living then you might know about it. Sounds like the Spaniard was in a potentially dangerous situation but places like Whitebay you definitely have nothing to worry about. As regards basking sharks - they only eat plankton and stuff and are harmless. My only worry when they're around is accidentally foul-hooking one as they swim past.

jArgHA

mawk wrote:

well i was fishing the sand quay im monkstown one day and there were a bunch of spaniards jumping off the pier. not wanting to hook one of them i figured i see what was under the pier. next thing the rod bends double and i lean in start dragging out a conger. about 15-20lbs so nothing crazy huge but it was about 5 feet long and in 5 feet of water... one guys sees me and swims around to see what it is, and ends up staring it face to face. i swear to god spaniards can fly when the feel like it. the pack of them couldnt have cleared a bath so fast. priceless :eek:

hehehe that would have been quite a sight! I've yet to catch meself a conger, what kind of bait/lure do you use for congers?

Judes

jArgHA wrote:

hehehe that would have been quite a sight! I've yet to catch meself a conger, what kind of bait/lure do you use for congers?

Spaniards............. Hey, it worked prviously!!!

Illkillya

jArgHA wrote:

hehehe that would have been quite a sight! I've yet to catch meself a conger, what kind of bait/lure do you use for congers?

Congers are so easy... wave just about any bloody meat or fish near them and they'll gobble it. A mackerel head is probably the best, but I've caught them with loads of different baits... small rockfish, sausages, squid, pollock, cuttlefish...

mawk

jArgHA wrote:

hehehe that would have been quite a sight! I've yet to catch meself a conger, what kind of bait/lure do you use for congers?

like illkillya said, something meaty..

for shore congering find a pier where fish get tossed off or some dirty broken rockey ground. tackle needs to be pretty tough as congers are pretty much just muscle and teeth, pokey beachcaster will do but needs to be pretty heavy. 7000 sized multiplier is smart or something like sl30sh or a 535. you also want a heavy leader, maybe 15 feet of 50/60 lbs mono, you should use this anyway to stop casting accidents but in this case its to protect from the rough terrain.

tackle is dead simple, line-> heavy line->weight->big hook

start at a 4/0 hook and scale up if you need it. bait is mostly mackerel, just slice off a whole flank and either use that or cut it in half.

its good sport.

oh and get a t-bar. you need it to unhook them. or at very least bring a needle nose pliers cause a big eel will take off any fingers you put in its mouth

scuby

well if anyone wants to come diving with me i know where there are a few nice big scary ones !!!

one came out of weed on a sandy bottom one day, came close to soiling myself, scared the daylights out of me, he just swam on by, i was to scared to move and frighten him :eek: