Kerry Head

Float fishing and bottom fishing from various rock ledges for wrasse, pollack, bull huss, dogfish and conger. It is a good mark if you are looking for a specimen wrasse, fish in the 5lb bracket and above are available from here. Spinning for mackerel in season, and it's one of the better places around Tralee if you're looking to feather fish in any numbers. Limited numbers of fish may turn up as early as May but it's usually the later summer months before the larger shoals arrive.

Beware of rogue swells here. Anglers have been caught out by waves/swells rushing up the platforms. Caution is advised and in no circumstances venture onto these rock marks in any kind of rough weather.

The Black Rock

Spinning from rocks on the seaward side of the Black Rock for bass. Late ebb to early flood is recommended but the ground here is really really shallow and I definitely wouldn't recommend it on a low water spring. The place will be infested with kelp beds lying on the surface and you might find it hard to get enough water to put a lure over. Middle to top of the tide seems to be a better time and all sides can fish well especially the northern side. The average size of fish tends to be on the small side however.

Weed can be a serious problem here and makes the mark virtually unfishable after any bit of a blow. Arrive at low water and you'll see the beach/bay is infested with weed and any hint of wind picks up the whole bluddy lot making spinning all but impossible. Beware also that on big spring tides (a good 4m+) you can get cut off an hour either side of high water but I've never been stranded by bringing thigh waders. Surf fishing on the main beach south of the rock with the usual - bass, flounder, dogs with the occasional ray (painted are the most common) and small turbot.

Further down the beach to the south, there is another big lump of rock sticking right out of the beach. This can be a fun days fishing (although not recommended) as you WILL BE COMPLETELY CUT OFF a couple of hours either side of high water. However this means you have access to deep water outside the surf line. Spinning and all types of bottom fishing work well here. Check the condition of the water before the tide cuts you off however as this mark can suffer badly from loose weed in the water. If you don't discover this until you're stuck out there - well then tough!

Banna Beach

Standard surf fishing here all along the beach for the usual species such as flounder, bass, small turbot, and occasional ray - particularly small-eyed. Some interesting looking banks a couple of hundred metres north of the main car park which are evident in a big surf might be worth investigating. This is a very popular beach with locals during the summer months and can get very busy even on weekday evenings. Best fished on the flood at night or if you have to fish it during the day move well up from the car parks. This strand, stretching from Ballyheigue down is often overlooked by anglers heading for the more famous surf beaches on the Dingle Peninsula which is a real pity. This westerly facing surf beach takes the full brunt of the Atlantic storms and can produce excellent results when good swells start rolling in.

Barrow Harbour

Fishing from the rocks at the entrance of Barrow to the right and under the castle for bass, flounder, turbot, ray and sea trout! That annoying stringy green weed can be a problem here though so best to stay away on really big springs. There is a nice depth of water right at you feet but casting baits out and allowing them to trot around in the current is a favourite here. Sandeel will definitely help pick out the better turbot, painted and sea trout. Further in along the main channel produces good flounder fishing in season (crab is by far the best). No exceptional fish but can be possible to come away with a good bag. The channel here also looks like it should produce bass to spinners/plugs but I've never had much luck I'm afraid. Best results have come from bottom fishing. Barrow Harbour holds large sandeel beds and it always pays to have some with you when you fish this venue. This whole area is reputed to hold tope also but I've never heard of any fish being taken.

Fenit Pier & Island

The famous Fenit Pier or infamous depending on how you look at it! All the books say "Bottom fishing from viaduct for dogfish, flatfish, ray, whiting and some bass. Conger and pollack near rocks on both sides at the end of the viaduct. Bottom fishing at extreme end and seaward side for the same. Occasional Tope, Monkfish and Common Skate have also been taken."

All true I suppose but you really will have to put in the hours to see these fish! Thornbacks, painted (to specimen) and undulates are available along the viaduct along with a few flats particularly dab. A few stingers show up here too and I know of a few anglers who target them here late on in the summer (late August/September) when the main run of these fish has quietened down in the bay. It can pay to move up and down along its length here to find pockets of ray that is of course if it's not too busy. Stick to sessions fished over the turn of the tide; high water or low. Either side of the viaduct can fish well however the majority of anglers seem to favour the seaward side facing the lighthouse. Don't let that put you off however, I have found the inside just as productive for ray (and bass after dark).

If you're after conger try inside around the boulders in the marina. Suspending a mackerel head above a float is a method that has worked well for us here - the eels don't seem to mind too much. A seriously scaled down version of this setup can be used to tackle the mullet inside here too! Plenty of gars/mackerel/scad & mullet cruising around the supports of the viaduct, while the same species of ray can also be targeted outside at the extreme end of the pier. Here the tide run can be ferocious. Spring tides see an awful lot of weed pushing through which can make the fishing quite difficult - best to stick to the viaduct on the big tides, it's a bit more manageable. Fishing after dark at the end will see you fighting your way through the straps and doggies to get at the other fish. After bass? Wait till the wee hours of the morning. I've had some nice fish here but they always only seem to arrive when the place has been really quiet for at least a couple of hours.

Having said all that the number of evenings you'll walk off the pier with anything other than a handful of dogs will be rare - very rare. Long hours and low returns are the norm unless you rate spider crabs and dogfish highly. Be warned, during the summer months this place is absolutely manic every evening of the week, walkers, walkers with inquisitive dogs, cars, general passers-by and plenty of people whacking mackerel feathers around for good measure, my advice - stay away!

The Spa

This mark really covers the shoreline from The Tankard (bar & restaurant) at Kilfenora back to the beach at the Spa.

I'll be lynched if I pick out particular marks along this stretch of shoreline but to be fair the whole area can produce excellent fishing. Best advice is to pick a big spring low water, go for a walk and fishing anywhere which gets you close to the main channel that runs near the shoreline here will produce excellent fishing. Low water spring tides are favoured as getting into the channel is the key to success here.

As far as species go the sky is the limit. Marks along here regularly produce 6 species+ a session. All species of ray, notably painted, thornies, stingers and undulates along with good bass, flounder, dab, gars, doggies and even the odd plaice. To get the best from the fishing a variety of baits are needed. Crab is definitely top of the list if you want to push the species count up and combining this with a few lug, sandeels and mackerel should give you a very good days fishing. If like me you're lazy and prefer whacking out good old smelly mackerel you should still see plenty of ray action. Fish at range for the thornies/painted & the occasional undulate but stay close if you fancy your chances of a stinger.

South-westerlies tend to push a lot of weed into this side of the bay making marks difficult to fish. Weed can be particularly bad at these times on an ebbing tide but LW and the flood might produce fishable conditions. Weedy stretches along here do produce bass to spinning tactics from mid to high water although the area "colours" very quickly after any bit of a blow.

Derrymore Strand

Another mark noted for its stingray and although you won't see many locals here the stingers definitely are. Directly below the main car park is as good as anywhere, fishing just to the right of the rocks and again stay close. A running ledger and single 4/0 at 20 - 30 yards is all you need to bag a really big one. The whole beach can fish but there are numerous patches of reef here at low water so fish middle to top of the tide if you want to stay on clean sand. During the summer months (July - September) there are lots and lots of baby stingers in the 4 - 6 lb bracket here. Some days you can see them cruising not 15 yards out and these pups are great fun on light spinning tackle.

Those patches of reef I mentioned also hold a few schoolies and it can be worth taking a spinning rod out over low water but something smaller and more slim line might be needed for the gars. If the bass don't show you'll definitely get some gars having a go. An 16gram Dexter Wedge is my own favourite.

Standard beach casting here produces the odd painted,thornie and even the odd huss (again around the car park) on calm days along with some flounder. Better bass can show up if there is a bit of surf running although this usually requires a really good blow here which unfortunately rips up a lot of weed from those aforementioned reefs.

Camp to Aughacasla

This whole stretch of coastline is pretty much unexplored and not that many anglers fish it on a regular basis. That's not to say it isn't worth a look. I've had some excellent fishing along the beaches here. Lovely mixed ground marks, with some nice sandy bays, good steep beaches all interspersed with big stretches of reef. There really is some quality stuff out here. Every road that leads down to this stretch of shoreline offers something interesting for the angler.

Expect species and conditions similar to Derrymore. Plenty of big stingers cruising around here and I've taken good fish well over specimen size. I remember fishing a particular bay here one morning not so long ago and as I was wading out to cast I was surrounded by 4 huge stingray. Getting out of the water as fast as I could I stood and watched maybe half a dozen huge fish move over that bank just as the tide started flooding. Magic! Big bass and even ones which will grab a fly along with flounder, lots of big gars and plenty of straps near any stretch of reef after dark. Fishing night tides along here during the summer will also give you the best chance of a good bull huss from the area with some running to low double figures.

The Trench

And finally another one of Tralee's more famous marks. This place is all about ray. Fishing just to the right of the stream here will produce plenty of painted and thornbacks. There's a good head of flounder and bass if you fancy dropping a second rod close in. Most evenings the place will be churning with mullet especially directly in front of the stream. A fly rod and small spider pattern allowed to drift out from the stream just as the tide starts to drop off after high water can do the trick nicely - but on the strike you'll have to be really really fast!

Further down the beach ~100-200 yards a large reef lies ~150 yards off the beach and this mark produces plenty of good size thornbacks. (Don't cast too far as that reef can be a tackle graveyard). Crossing over the bridge and travelling up the road to the car park sees distance casting from quite a height produce more ray and even a few huss I believe. Either side of high water springs are the best time to fish here. The flooding tide to high water is generally regarded as best for the beach too but some of the best fishing I've ever had from the beach near the stream has come on big spring ebbing tides of all things. The one thing I will say about here is that it can be a bit hit and miss. We've had some savage sessions here and then for no apparent reason the next night you'll go out and nothing... or maybe that's us!