Coastal Ireland Fishing Report: Summer Bass, Pollack and Ray Across South and West Coasts

Name’s Artificial Lure here with your coastal Ireland fishing report. Along the **south and west coasts** we’ve light to moderate west–southwest winds and settled, mostly dry weather, cooler at dawn, mild by afternoon. Met Éireann is calling it a fairly calm spell with only slight to moderate seas, ideal for small boats close inshore and for rock marks and surf beaches. Sunrise is just after 5 and sunset close to 10, so you’ve a long window to work those tides. On the **Atlantic side – Clare, Galway, Mayo, Donegal** – we’re on decent moving tides, with the stronger flows around mid-morning and again into late evening on most headlands. Over shallow surf beaches, that last two hours of the flood and first of the ebb are fishing best, especially with a bit of swell and colour in the water. Around the estuaries, a slowing tide has been suiting the bait anglers for flounder and schoolie bass. According to reports from local charter skippers in West Cork and Kerry, there’s been **good pollack**, plenty of fish in the 3–6 lb class from rough ground and reefs, with some double-figure pollack further offshore. Mackerel shoals are patchy but improving, showing in short, sharp bursts off headlands and harbour mouths. Cork Harbour and Kinsale boats have also seen **coalfish, ling and a few codling** over mixed ground. Shore anglers from Wexford up through Wicklow are still picking up **schoolie bass**, with the odd better fish to 7–8 lb, mainly at dawn on the flooding tide. East coast beaches have also produced **dogfish, ray and some smooth-hounds** to crab baits at night. Up in Donegal Bay and around Sligo, there have been **thornback ray, turbot and decent dabs** to long casts with sandeel and mackerel strip. For **lures**, the clearer the water, the more natural you go. Slim **soft plastics and paddle-tails** in sand eel colours have been doing the damage for bass and pollack along rocky ground and kelp fringes. Small metal jigs and 20–40 g casting jigs are working when the baitfish are tight. Surface and shallow-diving **walk-the-dog plugs** at first light are worth a serious go over surf tables and estuary mouths for bass. When there’s a bit of chop or colour, switch to brighter patterns or something with a bit of rattle. On the **bait** front, fresh **peeler crab, live or fresh sandeel, and good mackerel strip** are top choices. Lugworm and ragworm are still taking their share of flounder and smaller bass in the estuaries. For ray and huss off the west and north-west, big oily cocktail baits – mackerel, bluey, and squid – are the way to go. A couple of **hot spots** to think about: - **Copper Coast, Waterford to east Cork** – surf beaches and rocky points giving bass, flounder and some smooth-hounds on crab and sandeel, with pollack and wrasse from the rough ground on soft plastics. - **North Clare / South Galway coastline** – rocky ledges near Doolin and Black Head producing pollack, wrasse and the chance of a better bass on lures, especially on the flooding tide into evening. Fish activity is best in the **low-light windows**: first light through early morning and then the last two hours into dusk, tied to a building tide. Midday can still fish if there’s good cloud cover or a bit of wind ruffling the surface, but if it goes flat and bright, scale down gear and fish deeper or tighter to structure. That’s the word from Artificial Lure. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe for more reports and tips. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai. Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn