Help Me Get Started - Sea Fishing

littlejp

I've been talking about taking up fishing for a long time and my wife got me a Sea Rod for Christmas.
Her parents live down by the sea in Sligo so I want to get started out there sometime. There is a long coastline of rocks at sea level. My father in law used to fish there a fair bit and says there is plenty of Mackerel and Salmon in there at different times.
I only have the rod and a reel, have to get some hooks etc but I don't really know where to start.
Can anyone advise?

haybob

littlejp wrote: »

I've been talking about taking up fishing for a long time and my wife got me a Sea Rod for Christmas.
Her parents live down by the sea in Sligo so I want to get started out there sometime. There is a long coastline of rocks at sea level. My father in law used to fish there a fair bit and says there is plenty of Mackerel and Salmon in there at different times.
I only have the rod and a reel, have to get some hooks etc but I don't really know where to start.
Can anyone advise?

First thing first its not rocket science and we all started off with mackerel (still the nicest fish to eat imo)

Get you father in to show you the various knots etc and how to rig the rod maybe even bring him to a tackle shop with you

start with coloured feathers and silver traces, do google searches etc I asked lads here to recommed a book but they were slow enough

Older lads are great for info

Good luck

.red.

what kind of rod and reel have you?
if its spinning gear then just pick up a few cheap spinners and a few floats and youll have plenty of fun that way. google a float set up and away you go.

if its heavier gear like a beachcaster youll get bored and tired quickly whacking out spinners and feathers. call to a tackle shop near to where you will be fishing and ask their advise, buy a trace or 2, a few leads and a little bit of bait and they will be happy to advise you on where to go and what to expect to catch.
good luck

redzerologhlen

I dont know what the fishing is like in Sligo for the winter but in north Clare its poor enough. Like haybob said we all started with mackeral and you are guaranteed to catch them if they are there but they wont show a face again until the start of May at least, much the same can be said for wrasse and pollock which are easy enough to catch in the right place. I have bought a few books and fishing magazines over the years and never picked up much from them to be honest, if you could get talking to a few locals that fish the area regularly it would be worth a lot more to you, its hard to beat local knowledge but from experience some people just dont like to tell you about their marks. One last thing I will say is dont be afraid to stray off the beaten track, if a place looks fishy there is probably fish there regardless of whether anyone else fishes it or not. Is it a beachcaster or spinning rod you got?

danbrosnan

get out with some local lads is the best advice here me thinks!

flounder

You could go to the local tackle shop and ask them for advice, just tell them if you got beachcaster or spinning rod, ask them for advice on tackle, bait and local spots to try, if you got a spinning rod get some lure/spinners and a small box to put them in, if you got a beachcaster buy some ready made rigs, weights and bait just to get you started, if your going to fishing off rocks this time of the year be careful, they can get very slippy when they are wet , and if your going fishing these marks tell someone where your going..
if you got a beachcaster you might want to get a tripod instead of leaving your new rod resting on rocks,

littlejp

Cheers lads. The best advice seems to be to talk to the old locals.
I'll be back down in Sligo in a month or two and will hopefully get a chance to try it out.

bhamsteve

This may be of some use to you.