Newbie in Cork

donegaldude

Hi all,

As my name suggests I'm not from Cork but living here for a year now. long story short bought a starter sea fishing kit (10ft 8oz mackerel rod)there at the weekend and went spinning in Monkstown yesterday for a while off the pier at the toilet. figured I wouldn't catch anything but sure it would pass the time and low and behold I caught nothing!

Am I wasting my time spinning at the minute, where would be good for spinning? Basically I haven't a clue about sea fishing bar a boat trip last year and before that it was a worm on a hook in a river job!

Would I be better switching to baited hooks and bottom fishing at this time of year? And finally regarding times what is the best time to be hitting Cork harbour tide wise?

Not looking to go mad into fishing, herself is working shifts at the minute and I have a lot of spare time at weekends to kill. Would like to catch a bass or 2 but would settle for anything, just the thrill of catching is enough for me, and it gets me out in the fresh air.

Many thanks in advance, for any help/info,

.red.

Your gonna struggle to catch anywhere at the moment on lure gear but its not impossible. Try to get some jelly worms and some light jig heads and try monkstown pier again. Fish it up around high water and cast as far as you can and retrieve as slow as you can. You might be lucky and pick up a few fish but they will probably be small. There was a bass over 10lbs caught there not too long ago tho on bait so you might get lucky.
Failing that you could try the rocks in fountainstown or myrtleville. Again luck will play its part but youd never know. It can be snaggy here tho so you might loose a bit of gear. Google "texas rigging soft plastics" and try that to cut down on tackle losses.
Dan in the halfway tackle shop has some soft plastics sold singly so you could pick up a few different colours and variations to cut down on costs. That way you dont have a big pack of only one colour that might not work in a certain area.
Once the water starts to warm up things will get much easier and there should be more fish around. Hopefully!
Good luck.
Edit.
Just read your post again and spotted the 10ft 8oz rod part. Is this right? If so, ignore all i said as the rod is too heavy. Try a pack of 3 feathers and get a mackerel from the super market and put small strips on the hooks and you might pick up a few dog fish or whiting from the pier.

donegaldude

Yeah it's a Shakespeare omni 10' mackerel 4-8oz, what does the 4-8oz bit mean? When I said newbie, I meant it!

.red.

Its casting range is between 4-8oz so. It will be a grand rod for feathers for macks in the summer but a bit heavy for the lures or soft plastics. You could try baiting up some feathers and trying monkstown pier. Crab or lug would be best but mackerel is cheap and might pick up a few fish for you.

donegaldude

Ah I see, thanks again for the help will chance it again next this weekend and try some bait this time, hope to pop into your man at kinsale rd roundabout first and pick his brain too.