Purteen Rocks, Achill Co Mayo

At Castlebar on the N5, take the R311 to Newport, then the N59 to Mulranny. At Mulranny, follow the R319 for Achill and Keel. Purteen lies just after Keel on the left -hand side down a narrow road and is signposted. The harbour is used by a couple of commercial boats and charter vessels. There is safe and ample parking just to the rear of the harbour wall.

The rocks are accessed from the right hand side of Purteen Pier. This is mainly rough ground fishing casting on to a rocky seabed, but there are a few cleaner patches at longer range to the left of the rocks.

The summer months give good night fishing for conger, huss, codling, big 3 bearded rockling and dogfish. Daylight tides see ballan and cuckoo wrasse, pollack, coalfish, sea scorpions and mackerel. Mullet work around the edge of the rocks close to the harbour entrance.

Longer casts off the rocks find some rougher ground holding the better conger and huss. There's an island out to the right hand side and aim your casts towards this for codling, cuckoo wrasse and rockling. A beachcaster and either a 7000 or 9000 sized multiplier with 30lb line straight through is best. Stick to a single hook pennel rig using 6/0 hooks for the conger and huss, or 3/0's for the codling, dogs and coalies. A rotten bottom to the 5oz lead is essential.

The ballan wrasse are much closer in with casts of 30-yds or less finding fish to over 3lbs. These take best on a single hook fixed paternoster and short 10-inch hook length with a 2/0 Viking hook. Keep the leads light and let the bait bounce around the rocks. A spinning rod, fixed spool and 15lb line is ideal for these.

Spinners and Redgills worked over the rough ground picks up pollack and mackerel. Also try a two hook rig with size 6 hooks cast tight in to the rocks and baited with small bits of mackerel and worm for a variety of sea scorpions, blennies, poor cod and pout.

A night neap tide over low water is best for the conger, though the huss show more towards high water. Most of the codling are taken on the ebb tide. Coalfish, rockling, wrasse and dogfish aren't so choosy and feed on and off throughout the full tide. A spring tide high water also fishes well, but not so the low water period. Best of the spinning is over high water.

Good winds are a light south or south-westerly, but often the swell, which is direct from the Atlantic sees the sea with plenty of movement and the fish feeding well.

Fresh mackerel and sandeel or a fresh fillet from a pout or poor cod is best for the conger and huss. Crab or lug takes the wrasse, codling and coalfish. The pollack go for the smaller 110mm Redgills or similar sized jelly worms.

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