Guide last updated 1 June 2026Live score checked today
You can catch Grey mullet, Flounder and Bass here. Bring bread/flake or ragworm, and fish a float-fished bread or flake.
The freshwater channel from Broad Lough / Vartry Estuary meets the sea under a railway bridge, on older maps marked as 'The Breaches'. The single most under-targeted specialist mark in the Wicklow geography, the Eastern Regional Fisheries Board guide explicitly notes mullet 'well over the specimen weight of 5 lb' present, with 'little attempt to catch them'. Flounder concentrate at the freshwater interface; sea trout pass through on their run; bass at dawn/dusk on the outlet.
This mark today
GoodLive right now
Primary target
Grey mullet
Safety
See hazards belowTarget list and season windows
What to bring, and the rig that matches conditions
Fishing the drop at The Breaches (Vartry Outflow), so the paternoster holds baits at set heights for pollack and coalfish. A light grip lead still casts clean on calm sand.
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Slightly larger Aberdeen for mackerel strip and sandeel on pier paternosters.
Check price on Amazon.ieLight bombs for pier paternoster fishing. 1 to 3oz covers most Wicklow harbour walls.
Check price on Amazon.ieLight mono for short hooklinks and mullet-style finesse; also usable for 12 lb paternoster snoods when doubled.
Check price on Amazon.ieRecommendations follow the same Wicklow-first editorial standards as the rest of the site.
Pack next
Tomorrow's conditions at The Breaches (Vartry Outflow) suit a simple paternoster. A vertical rig with two dropper hooks on short snoods above a fixed lead. Presents baits at set heights off the bottom for pier pollack, coalfish, and mixed species.
On the ground
Baits
Methods
Access
Long walk in from either Kilcoole (north) or Newcastle (south). The railway bridge with the freshwater channel is the singular landmark. No road access mid-beach. The pool behind the rail line is sheltered from open-sea conditions and fishes when the open beach does not.
Parking
Limited; Kilcoole station or Newcastle area as starting points.
Good day or better. Email when conditions score well
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Species, tactics, tides, and tomorrow's plan for this mark
Vartry outflow specialist mark, specimen mullet and flounder, groundbait and finesse tactics required.
From the shore
The Eastern Regional Fisheries Board guide points straight at this mark: 'Some of these fish appear to be well over the specimen weight of 5 lbs but to date there has been little attempt to catch them. Time spent fishing for both of these species may be well rewarded'. Two tactical points: (1) the pool BEHIND the rail line is sheltered from open-sea conditions and fishes on days the open beach is unfishable; (2) flounder concentrate at the freshwater/saltwater interface at all tides, not just slack, this is reliable winter fishing. Sea trout pass through in season; bass work the outlet at dawn/dusk on lures. Modern reports of the specimen mullet fishery are sparse, so the ground is genuinely unworked. SAC/SPA status (Murrough Wetlands) means quiet behaviour matters.
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Wicklow town or Greystones tackle shops; specialist mullet bread/groundbait is BYO.
Eric
Based in Greystones, Co. Wicklow, fishing the Irish coast since 2018
Check tomorrow's plan for tides, conditions, and gear.