Irish Coast Fishing Report: Early Summer Bass, Pollack, and Mackerel Action

Name’s Artificial Lure here, checking in with your Irish coast fishing report. Around the Irish Sea and Atlantic fringes, we’re sitting under a fairly typical early‑summer setup: light to moderate west–southwesterlies along the south and west coasts, a touch more breeze on exposed Atlantic headlands, and mostly settled, broken cloud with good clear spells. Air temps are running in the low to mid‑teens Celsius, cooler at dawn, pleasant but not scorching – perfect for a bit of graft with rod in hand. Sunrise is coming early now, just after 5 in the morning across most of the country, with sunset a shade before 10 at the western edges. That long, low light either side of the day is your money window – bass especially have been a lot braver in the half‑dark than under the high sun. Tides are in a springy phase after the new moon, so you’re getting a decent push of water, especially around headlands, inlets, and estuaries. The stronger flood has been key: on the Cork and Waterford coasts, anglers are reporting the better bass sessions on the first two hours of the rising tide, with the fish moving right up onto the flats and over shallow reef. Recent activity has been encouraging. Shore crews around Wexford and Wicklow have seen schoolie to mid‑size bass in fair numbers, with the odd better fish nudging the 6–7 lb mark. Up on the north coast, from Portrush to Donegal’s rock marks, pollack and coalfish are well on the chew, especially where the kelp is thick and the tide pulls hard. Out west in Galway and Clare, mackerel are starting to show in more consistent shoals, with mixed reports of launce and sandeels under them – always a good sign for predators. From boats, charter skippers off West Cork and Kerry have been putting clients over decent pollack, ling, and a few early tope in the deeper sand channels. Ray and dogfish are plentiful on the cleaner ground, with some spotted ray turning up close enough for shore crab‑bait lads to find them. Lure choice: for bass along the south and east, small to medium soft plastics in natural sandeel colours are earning their keep – think 4–5 inch paddletails on 10–20 g heads, worked just above the weed. Slim, shallow‑diving hard minnows in silver or bone are producing when there’s a bit of chop. On the rock marks out west, metal jigs in the 20–40 g range and weedless soft shads are the go‑to for pollack. Bait: peeler crab is still king for bass and big flounder in the estuaries and surf beaches, with lug and rag doing steady work on mixed species. Mackerel strip is taking rays, dogfish, and the odd huss. For tope and bigger ray from boats or deep rock marks, whole or flapper mackerel remains hard to beat. A couple of hotspots to circle for the next few sessions: • Copper Coast, between Tramore and Dungarvan: plenty of mixed ground, reefs and coves. Great for lure‑caught bass on the flood and pollack off the rocks in a bit of swell. • North Clare and south Galway rocks, around Black Head and similar marks: classic deep water close in, ideal for pollack and coalfish on lures, with mackerel shoals pushing in on the better tides and calm days. Keep an eye on water clarity: after any heavy rain the estuaries will colour up, so push out towards open surf beaches or rock points if things go too brown inside. When the water cleans and there’s a light onshore breeze, that’s your cue to really lean into the lures. That’s it from Artificial Lure for now – tight lines if you’re heading out. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss a report. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai. Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn