Dab at Magheramore Beach.

Quick facts

Mark type

Beach

Skill

Intermediate

Catalogue rank

Secondary target

Why fish Dab at Magheramore Beach

Surf-shared cove. Honest reality: dogfish-dominated beach. Bass potential off the south rock shelf in calm conditions.

Small surf cove (~1/4 mile across) between Wicklow Head/Silver Strand and Brittas Bay, with a rock shelf and deep-water coves on the south (right) side.

Predominantly a surfing beach (Brittas Bay Surf School operates here), honest catch profile from local SAI reports is 'medium-size dogfish in numbers, not much else'.

The south rock shelf has tactical bass potential on lures in the right conditions but the tide rip makes bait fishing difficult.

Short: Surf-shared cove.

Honest reality: dogfish-dominated beach.

Bass potential off the south rock shelf in calm conditions.

Clean sandy ground close inshore, often mixed with flounder on Wicklow surf and shingle beaches.

Honest dogfish beach, bass only on the south shelf in calm conditions, do not expect a busy session.

Magheramore is more of a surfing beach than a fishing beach, the honest catch profile from local SAI reports is 'loads of medium-size dogfish and not much else'.

Do not oversell it.

The south rock shelf has tactical potential for bass on lures in the right conditions but the tide rip makes bait fishing difficult, in those conditions, lures are the only practical approach.

Better treated as a 'tried it, here is what happens' piece on the site than a feature mark.

Season and tide

On Magheramore Beach the catalogue season for Dab is Seasonal on this mark. Coast-wide, Dab runs Year round (Autumn through spring on clean sand).

Wider mark season notes: Dogfish: year round (the dominant species in honest local reports), Bass: April to November (peak autumn Sep to Nov; off rock shelf on lures, conditions-dependent), Flounder: October to March, Mackerel: June to September (off rock shelf), Pollack: small fish off rocks

Tide guidance for this mark: Standard surf-beach windows. Tide rip on the south rock shelf is significant, fish around it on lures rather than bait in those conditions.

Species tide and time pattern: Two hours either side of high water. Any time of day or night.

Catalogue fishable phases: first-flood, mid-flood, high, first-ebb, mid-ebb. Peak phases: mid-flood, first-ebb.

Tactics on this mark

Fish short with two-hook flappers or simple ledgers, occasionally twitching baits along the sand to draw in inquisitive fish during the flood and around high water.

Standard ledger from the beach (dogfish dominant); Lures off the south rock shelf (bass, conditions-dependent)

Gear class for this mark: general shore. Facing ESE. Confidence MEDIUM.

• Running ledger or two-hook flapper
• Size 2 to 4 hooks, dab have small mouths
• Short hooklinks keep baits on the bottom
• Standard ledger from the beach (dogfish dominant)
• Lures off the south rock shelf (bass, conditions-dependent)

Baits and lures

Dab baits and lures: Ragworm; Lugworm; Harbour ragworm; Sandeel strip.

What this mark typically holds: Lugworm; Ragworm; Crab (incidental).

Lugworm; Ragworm; Crab (incidental)

Access and ground

Access via the Bellvue Farm gateway off the coast road between Wicklow and Arklow, gravel driveway with big black gates. Documented as one of the worst access roads in the area. Small car park overlooking the cove. Surfers use the same access (Brittas Bay Surf School operates here). Lane is privately owned. Two more small beaches further down the same road per OS Discovery Series Map 62, local-knowledge dependent access.

Parking: Small car park at the end of the lane.

Safety: Very exposed; check forecast carefully. Rock shelf currents. Beach is shared with surfers, surf school activity affects daytime access.

Nearest tackle: Wicklow town tackle shops.

Nearest town: Wicklow. Skill level: Intermediate.

Size and identification

Typical shore size around 100 to 250 g from East Coast beaches; specimen class from about Fish over 400 g are very good shore dabs.

Small oval flatfish, light sandy-brown upper surface with a distinctive curved lateral line above the pectoral fin (the best identification feature). Rough to the touch on the upper surface. Eyes on the right side. Much smaller than plaice or flounder.

Tip: Dab respond well to a moving bait, occasionally retrieve a foot or two and pause. In match fishing, dab are a reliable points scorer and teams actively target them alongside whiting. On quiet sessions when the bigger species aren't showing, a single ragworm on a size 4 Aberdeen is rarely ignored.

Irish shore context: record class around 0.74 kg.

Same-mark companions

Other ranked targets on the same mark include Dogfish, Bass, Flounder. Open those pair pages or the full mark guide when you want a multi-species session.

Live ranked advice for Magheramore Beach updates on Today's plan. Pair this page with the Dab species guide for coast-wide season bars and conservation detail.

Conservation

No current restrictions; keep only what you’ll eat fresh.

Guide conservation label: No Restrictions.

Confirm current bag limits and closures on the Dab species guide and /learn/rules before retaining fish.

Next steps

Live ranked session advice for this mark sits on today's plan. Rules and bag limits: learn / rules.