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Print versionKilmore Quay, Fishing Unlocked
Norman Dunlop, Sea Angling Advisor with the Central Fisheries Board, once said to me that Kilmore Quay in County Wexford was one of Ireland's best fishing ports for all round sport. That was before I'd ever been near Kilmore, and with me being pretty familiar with most of the southern and west Irish coast, I figured Kilmore would have to be pretty damn good to compete with my favourite areas way out west.
Since then I've had a couple of very quick stopovers in Kilmore, but never been able to really get to grips with the fishing potential due to ever tight time travel schedules. This time though, we'd got two full days to get stuck in and see just what the area could produce. What's more the weather was glorious!
FIRST CAST
My lad and I got off the ferry at Rosslare and were in Kilmore Quay by 8am. Norman wasn't due to meet us until lunch, so Mick and I went straight down to the harbour for some species bashing.
The harbour is made up from two breakwaters. The east side is the shorter and pretty much straight. The west flank is long, doglegs in the middle so that the entrance to the harbour faces due east for protection. This is a working port with large commercial fishing vessels moored up, or coming or going all the time.
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AN EVENING OUT
Norman arrived and we learnt we'd an evening trip out with Dick Hayes aboard his Offshore 105, The Enterprise.
With the weather flat calm and sunny, we headed out towards the Saltees Islands just a couple of miles offshore. These are granite islands famous for their sea bird colonies with around 11 different bird species nesting here. The fishing ain't bad either.
We took easy drifts over a patch of rough ground to start. We knew there were good ballan wrasse here, plus cod and quality cuckoo wrasse, so we all chose different types of feather rigs to begin with and baited with either mackerel, launce of ragworm.
Working the feathers tight to the seabed found cod. First in was local angler and former charter skipper Nick Bowie who was wrestling it out with a plump 5lb plus codling that swiped a mackerel baited Hokkeye. He followed that up quickly with another a fraction bigger.
Norman was fishing lighter and smaller shrimp rigs and was building up the species having taken, pout, codling, launce and small ballan wrasse. Young Mike contributed another nice codling around 5lbs, and I picked up smaller cod to 3lbs and a 4lb ling. The ling on the rocks aren't huge here, but will get in to double figures occasionally.
There are good stocks of codling off the southern coast of Ireland and in the southern Irish Sea at present that defies some of the gloomy news coming from the authorities. We saw evidence of that in just a four hours fishing. Something to take heart from.
Deciding we'd try for wrasse now, Dick headed off to some ground where there are small rising pinnacles of rock and kelp beds. I switched to Hokkeye's and baited with ragworm, my lad doing the same. Norman stayed with the shrimp rigs.
Straight away we hit some nice cuckoo wrasse, brightly coloured in orange, blue and yellow. There are Irish specimens here and we ran close with a couple of fish ourselves. Norman bagged the first ballan, a decent fish of a couple of pounds.
A couple of drifts later, out the corner of my eye I saw young Mike's rod tip drag over and he was in to a better fish. This turned out to be our best ballan of the evening, a good 3lb plus fish. As the drift progressed we started to take pollack. Fine fat fish up to 5lbs, plus smaller coalfish, with more codling sat tight underneath the pollack.
With the light going and stomachs rumbling it was time to head in. Maybe four hours fishing and we'd topped 10 species including a lot of codling. We had a 6am start with Dick the next morning with a view to doing some drift fishing over sand, so eat and sleep was the priority.
DRIFTING AWAY
It was another flat calm sunny day as we headed out. A quick stop found us enough mackerel for our short morning session, and after a few drifts over rough ground for the codling and pollack, just to make sure they were still there, we headed off towards the flat sand just out from the Burrow Shore west of Kilmore.
Not many boats bother with the sand fishing, but you don't need to be Einstein to figure out there would be rays and flatfish, plus gurnards here.
I decided on a two-hook attractor rig using a chrome spoon on the lower hook length off a boom, and with yellow and black beads in sequence above the hook. I've found this yellow and black a killer combination everywhere I've fished.
The drift was slow, but after about 20-minutes I felt a slight tap tap on the line. I fed off some slack and waited for the line to come tight. I could feel weight and lifted in to a tidy fish that I knew straight off was a flattie. I don't get to see many plaice in the course of year and I was really hoping to see a decent spottie come up out of the deep. I wasn't disappointed. Skipper Dick netted a beautifully marked 2lb plus plaice for me.
I'd baited the lower trace with rag to take the plaice, but decided to switch to a long sliver of mackerel belly this time hoping for a gurnard, or maybe a ray. We chose to take a drift slightly further out this time too.
Halfway through the second drift I felt a little weight come on the line. I released some slack to give the fish time to take the bait in, and then let the line tighten and pull the rod over to set the hook. No flattie this as the fish pulled hard and took a few yards of line as it turned and ran. I could feel the undulations of a rays wings as it turned to deflect water. Norm and Dick reckoned it might be a thornback, but I felt it was fighting a tad better than a thornie would, and I called it right when a clean looking small-eyed ray, they call them painted ray in Ireland, broke surface. A 7lber!
This sandy ground holds thornbacks and spotted rays, plus tope, gurnards, dabs, flounder, whiting and john dory. There used to be good monkfish caught here too, but nobody tries for them much at present.
On the rougher ground to the east there are good bass to be caught. Trolling rubber eels and plugs would be the killer method.
Norman came here to experiment a couple of years ago and caught Ireland's first black bream. I'm used to black bream fishing in my home waters of Cardigan Bay, and looking at the ground around The Saltees it's no surprise that black bream are here. I was talking to Dick about them and nobody anchors up to fish the rough ground. Once they do, then expect some excellent catches of black bream and trigger fish here, with July and August likely to be the best months. I think they'll get great conger fishing too, when anchored.
No boats had tried for blue shark until Norman put together a trip a few years ago, and within a few minutes of the dubby bag going over the side they had their first run. I think they had three blues that day, so you have plenty of variety to choose from if you want to break a weeks fishing up and do something different every day.
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We were back on the quay side for just before 11am. It was a case of chuck the boat gear in the car and take out the ditting rods again.
We were now a team of four. Josie Mahon, an Inspector with the Eastern Regional Fisheries Board was with us to check out the fishing in Kilmore for herself.
We headed down to the harbour entrance. Mike and I had fished here before the previous year and taken several mini species, so with four rods out all trying something different we could really evaluate just what lurked below.
I went off float fishing on to the outside of the breakwater and was instantly in to small pollack and scad. The two lads and Josie stayed on the end of the west breakwater and started to literally bag up on corkwing wrasse that hammered small rag baits. Some of the corkwing were the biggest I'd ever seen. They also took small ballans, pollack and coalies.
Deciding to try somewhere different we went on to the east breakwater and fished at the back of the Ice Plant. Here you've got rock and weed for the first 20-yards, then clean sand.
Switching to float gear we started hitting the corkwings again. I've never seen so many corkwings in such a small area. All four of us were in to a fish a chuck, only alternated by the occasional ballan.
I'd seen the occasional flash of silver out over the rocks, and reckoned it might be a bass. Norman had spinners and plugs with him, so tried for the fish without success. It didn't put the fish off, and as the water dropped back on the ebb I could see this fish was working inside an old digger tyre. I wondered if it might be a mullet and mentioned this to Mike.
My lad switched to float gear straight away. He was fishing left of the tyre, me on the right. I saw my float shudder and was slightly disappointed when I hit yet another corkwing. I unhooked the fish, turned away to rebait, then heard Mike's reel screech as a decent sized fish belted off in the general direction of Wales.
He literally had his hands full with this beast. No doubt a mullet as it took off on long runs, with just brief pauses as it thought out its next move. I was wondering how to get the fish in as we had no landing net. With Josie and Norman shouting encouragement, plus onlookers above us on the road side, Mike fought the fish while I worked my down the boulders to the waters edge. After a good five minute fight Mike led the fish towards me and I managed to get my hand around it and lift it to safety. This mullet was a fat as pig and the general consensus was that it would top 5lbs. A cracker, and what a way to finish up our two days in Kilmore Quay!
TACKLE TO TAKE
For the general drift fishing over the rough ground go for a 20lb class outfit or an uptider. If you want thrills and spills you'll fish happily with just a 12lb outfit. I'd also use this for the clean sand drift fishing and nay bass trolling. If you fancy a crack at those blue sharks, then you might choose to take a 30lb class rod and reel.
Carry weights between 2oz and 8oz. It's rare you'll need more than this, unless you're way out.
Take plenty of Hokkeye's and Mustad Shrimp rigs with you. These are the killers baited and build up your species. A single hook flowing trace finds the ling and maybe the better cod worked tight over the rock. That two-hook attractor rig ad the beads is the best bet for the sand fishing.
For the ditting in the harbour we used light trout type spinning rods and 6lb line. Carry a selection of floats and small hooks from 10 to 16. If you deliberately target the mullet, use a longer coarse fishing float rod, but stick to 6lb line as there are big mullet in the harbour.
OTHER SHORE FISHING
The beach east of the harbour carries flatfish, with whiting and codling in the winter.
There's a boulder reef or causeway looking east from the harbour that dries out on the big tides. Fish crab here for some cracking bass. Also try plugs.
The Burrow Shore is a clean sand beach that produces big bass in a surf, with rays, flatfish, whiting and gurnards. There is also some of the best flounder fishing in Ireland at Ballyteigue just west of Burrow Shore.
SUMMING UP
I really enjoyed my time in Kilmore and it's become one of our favourite Irish destinations.
The fishing is varied and consistent. There are big fish to be caught, but it's the variety of species that will appeal to most anglers, plus you've got great pubs and several good restaurants to eat in to give you the full package.
It's less than a 30 minute drive from the ferry port at Rosslare. I think it's an ideal short three day to a full weeks break destination for a group of lads.
GENERAL INFO
As you drive down towards the harbour you come to a roundabout. There is limited parking on open ground just to the left of the roundabout. Check out the Central Fisheries Board fishing map here. It gives loads of excellent information to help anglers.
The red ship sat on the harbour top is "The Guillimot". She has been converted in to a maritime museum and has two decks with sea antiques and maritime pictures on display. Well worth a visit!
You must go in to Kehoe's Bar and try the seafood platter. Huge ain't the word! Excellent food and great Guinness in here. It's very popular, so if you're eating grab a table asap and hang on to it.
The main car park is turn first right at the roundabout and just on the left past the harbour you'll see the parking area.
CONTACTS
CHARTER SKIPPER
Dick Hayes, Kilmore Quay. Tel: 00 353 53 29704. Mob: 087 2549111
Other charter skippers are.
Eamonn Hayes (Autumn Dream) Tel: 00 353 532 9723
Paul Bates (Lady Alison), Tel: 00 353 53 45888
Declan Bates (An Crosan), Tel: 00 353 53 29684
John Deveraux (Celtic Lady 2) Tel: 00 353 53 29637
FISH SHOP
Seaview Fish Shop, Kilmore Quay. Tel: 00 353 53 29848. Mackerel and squid for bait.
TOURIST INFORMATIOM
The Stella Maris Centre, Kilmore Quay. Tel/Fax 00 353 53 29922
ACCOMODATION
The Quay House Guesthouse & Restaurant, Kilmore Quay, Co Wexford. Tel 00 353 53 29988 Fax: 00 353 53 29808 E-mail: Quay House
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