Coalfish fishing in Ireland

Howth East Pier is the open-water side of the harbour: a public pier mark with deep wall edges, rougher pier ground, summer mackerel crowds and enough year-round variety to justify its own entry rather than folding everything into one generic Howth page. Published Dublin Bay shore notes consistently point to mackerel, pollack, coalfish, whiting, dogfish, codling, conger and grey mullet, with the east arm better suited to spinning and wall work than quiet flatfish ledgering. The setting is accessible and familiar, but it is still a working harbour edge with tourist pressure, seals, boat movement and seasonal crowding.

Balscadden Bay is the more rock-and-gully side of Howth, close enough to the village to be practical but less forgiving than the harbour piers. Published reports around Cat Rock and Split Rock point to pollack, coalfish, wrasse, mackerel, codling, conger and dogfish. Structure and variety are what make it worth the walk, and the rock ground rewards a careful approach on the way in and out.

Poolbeg South Wall is the industrial Dublin Bay classic: a long walk to the red lighthouse through harbour-edge landscape, with published shore patterns for summer mackerel, pollack, coalfish, mullet, whiting, conger and occasional bass. It deserves a thick access note because access, port traffic and wall structure matter as much as species. It is not a charter or hot-water-outlet page, so confirm industrial access rules on the day.

Loughshinny is a small north Dublin harbour, pier and slipway mark over mixed ground, best treated as a compact tidal session rather than a big all-day venue. Published patterns include summer mackerel on high water, plus coalfish and codling in autumn night conditions, with flounder possible over cleaner patches. The mark is accessible and familiar, but it is still a working coastal harbour with a tidal pier, slipway activity and Fingal rule uncertainty. The honest appeal is a manageable pier session when tide, season and local activity line up, not a guaranteed deep-water destination.

Dún Laoghaire East Pier is the classic beginner-friendly south Dublin pier: paved, public, DART-accessible and deep enough along the outer wall to make summer spinning and feathering realistic without specialist shore knowledge. Published harbour patterns support mackerel, pollack, garfish, coalfish, wrasse and grey mullet, with the seaward rocky side carrying the more interesting lure water. It is easy to reach, but not empty or wild. The pier is also one of Dublin’s busiest walking routes, so the mark has to be fished as shared public infrastructure rather than as a private platform.

Killiney Beach is the south edge of the Dublin coast: steep shingle and sand in Killiney Bay, railway behind, deep water close enough to matter and published patterns for bass, flounder, codling, coalfish, mackerel, dab and dogfish. It feels closer to a Wicklow shingle beach than Sandymount does, but it stays in the Dublin scoring region with Port tide timing.

Dollymount Strand is the broad Bull Island beach option: firm sand, big sky, room to move and a published pattern for bass, flounder, dab, dogfish, coalfish and winter codling. Evening autumn tides are the classic published pattern, but the mark is also shaped by Bull Island reserve rules, birdlife, walkers, wind and the need to read channels rather than just cast far.

Coliemore Harbour is a small Dalkey shore mark with big surrounding context: harbour wall, rocky edges, Dalkey Sound, boat traffic and island water nearby. Published notes support codling, pollack, coalfish, conger, mackerel, whiting and dogfish from the shore, but this page deliberately excludes boat drifts, island landings and private foreshore shortcuts. It is a compact public harbour mark.