When it fishes well
First two hours of the fill is the most-cited productive window. HW for mackerel spinning. Night sessions on the outer wall for codling and dabs.
PierBeginner
Bray Harbour
Guide last updated 1 June 2026Live score checked today
You can catch Codling, Dab and Flounder here. Bring ragworm or lugworm, and fish a two-hook flapper with size 6 hooks.
Working harbour at the mouth of the River Dargle, two breakwaters and a slipway. The most accessible north-Wicklow venue for Dublin-based anglers. Fishes more like a UK LRF (Light Rock Fishing) venue than a heavy beachcaster mark, small hooks, light leads, rag baits are the productive setup. Codling, dabs, flounder and plaice are regular catches with bass appearing periodically in summer; shoals of mullet visit the inner harbour. When the esplanade is mobbed, Greystones Harbour Pier and Wicklow Head Long Rock are the open rock and pier alternatives for float and lure work.
This mark today
GoodLive right now
- WindSW 5 km/hLight
- Swell0.1mSmall
- Sea temp18°CComfortable
- High waterin 12h 27mEbbing
Primary target
Codling
Safety
See hazards belowSpecies and seasons
Target list and season windows
- BassIN SEASONApril to November (peak autumn Sep to Nov; periodic summer appearances)
- CoalfishIN SEASONSeasonal
- Corkwing wrasseIN SEASONSeasonal
- FlounderIN SEASONyear round
- Grey mulletIN SEASONsummer shoals in inner harbour
- MackerelIN SEASONJune to September (HW spinning)
- PlaiceIN SEASONspring to summer
- PollockIN SEASONSeasonal
- ShannyIN SEASONSeasonal
- Silver eelIN SEASONSeasonal
- WhitingIN SEASONSeasonal
Pack for this mark
What to bring, and the rig that matches conditions
Fishing Bray Harbour today? Bring these.
Calm enough on Bray Harbour for the flapper: two baits, two chances, no tangles if you keep snoods short. A light grip lead still casts clean on calm sand.
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Hooks
Phoxinus Aberdeen hooks 1/0
Fine wire hooks for small baits on flapper snoods. Size 1/0 suits whiting and dab.
Check price on Amazon.ieLead · pick
Plain bomb leads mixed pack
2 to 4oz bombs for pier and calm-beach flapper fishing when grip leads are not needed.
Check price on Amazon.ieLine · pick
Hooklink mono 15lb
15 lb mono for flapper snoods. Cheap bulk spool; snoods are consumables on winter pier sessions.
Check price on Amazon.ieRecommendations follow the same Wicklow-first editorial standards as the rest of the site.
Pack next
Tomorrow's conditions at Bray Harbour suit a two-hook flapper rig. A twin-snood rig with hooks that flare out from the mainline on the drop. Two baits at different positions in the water column for mixed bags of whiting, dab, and dogfish.
Practical notes
On the ground
What to bring
Baits
- Ragworm
- Lugworm
- Mackerel strip
- Sandeel
Methods
- Two-hook flapper with size 6 hooks (LRF-style)
- Light spinning rod
- Mackerel feathers at HW
- Standard ledger for night codling
Getting there
Access
Free parking on Bray seafront; harbour fully accessible on foot. The southern end of Bray beach proper, where the Loughlinstown River enters the sea, holds wrasse and rockling on weed-covered rock and occasional specimen autumn bass. Access to the beach is via an underpass from the R119.
Parking
Free parking on Bray seafront.
Hazards
Busy with public year-round; family suitable on the inner walls. Standard pier safety; live boat traffic.
Get an alert for this mark
Good day or better. Email when conditions score well
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Related guides and tools
Species, tactics, tides, and tomorrow's plan for this mark
Field note
Dargle mouth harbour, mixed LRF species, dab and flounder, summer bass and mullet in the channel.
Local insight
From the shore
Bray Harbour fishes like a UK LRF (Light Rock Fishing) venue, small hooks (size 6), light leads, rag baits are repeatedly the productive setup in SAI session reports. Bites can be in seconds and baits stripped fast, go expecting numbers of small species, not bag-fillers. Corkwing wrasse, shanny, small pollock, codling, whiting all on the same session is a typical SAI report from here. Strong species-count venue if chasing variety on a species hunt. Three location adjuncts often missed: (1) the Loughlinstown River enters the sea at the southern end of Bray beach proper, wrasse, rockling and occasional specimen autumn bass on weed-covered rock; (2) when the beach is mobbed in summer, Greystones Harbour Pier and Wicklow Head Long Rock are the open alternatives for float wrasse/pollack and lure work (Bray Head Rocks stays access-closed while the cliff walk is shut); (3) deep water offshore of Bray holds tope, spurdog, ray, bull huss and smoothhound on boat work, and is only relevant for distance casts off the harbour mouth in calm conditions. The inner harbour holds conger eels and flounder and shoals of mullet are regular visitors, under-targeted mullet opportunity.
Read before you go
Tactics · 6 min read
Bass Fishing Irish Piers: Harbour Walls That Produce
Bass from Irish harbour piers and walls: where fish hold, dawn and dusk tides, lures and baits that work on Greystones, Wicklow and east coast piers.
Read guide →Species · 7 min read
Mackerel Fishing Ireland 2026: Season, Marks and Rigs
Are the mackerel in yet? When they run in Ireland, the best piers and rock marks to catch them, and the feather rig that works. Wicklow coast conditions updated daily.
Read guide →Species · 6 min read
Winter Flounder Ireland: Beach Marks and Rigs
Winter flounder on Irish beaches, October to March. Estuary mouths, short casts, ragworm ledger rigs and the flood tides that put flatfish at your feet.
Read guide →
Nearest tackle
Where to top up
Bray town has fishing tackle shops within walking distance of the seafront.
Eric
Based in Greystones, Co. Wicklow, fishing the Irish coast since 2018
Ready to fish Bray Harbour?
Check tomorrow's plan for tides, conditions, and gear.