Species profile
Shanny fishing in Ireland
Shanny on Wicklow harbour walls for LRF anglers: light gear, soft plastics and where they show around Bray and Greystones.
Quick answer
Shanny on Wicklow harbour walls for LRF anglers: light gear, soft plastics and where they show around Bray and Greystones.
In season
Typical size
Conservation
LRF fish; size is secondary to the sport on light gear
Season on the coast
Peak and catchable months on the Wicklow shore.
Peak Jun to Aug · catchable Jan to Dec
- Peak
- Catchable
- Off season
- This month
Where they live
Harbour walls, rockpools and kelp edges fished on ultra-light LRF gear.
What to use
Isome and soft plastics · Tiny metals · Small ragworm pieces
How to fish them
Fish light from harbour walls with drop-shot or jig-head soft plastics. Shanny are an LRF by-catch and target at Bray and Greystones rather than a bait-angling mainstay.
Optional detail
Kit, marks and more
Bait sourcing, starter gear, Wicklow and Dublin marks, related guides. Expand when you need the shopping list or mark directory.
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Get your bait
The bait that works here comes off the shore, not out of a box.
Ragworm is dug, not bought, if you want it at its best. Estuary mud and sheltered harbour ground hold both king rag and harbour rag.
Dig the last two hours of a spring ebb, work one small patch rather than a wide area, and backfill what you turn.
How to dig, keep and hook ragworm →Kit that keeps collected bait fishable
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Bait elastic thread
Binds soft collected bait to the hook so it survives the cast.
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Vented bait box
Keeps crab and worm alive and separated on the way home and back out.
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Insulated cool bag
Collected bait dies in a warm car. Cold and dark buys you a day or two.
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Chest waders
Low-water crab and worm ground means wet feet and cold gullies.
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Bait scissors
Cuts crab, worm and fish bait cleanly without mangling it.
Suggested gear
Starter searches matched to tactics above
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Light spinning combo
Short, soft outfit that makes a 15cm fish worth catching.
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Size 8 fine wire hooks
The largest hook a mini species can actually take.
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6lb mono
Light enough to feel a small fish take in shallow water.
Wicklow marks
Dargle-mouth working harbour. LRF-style mixed-species pier; codling, dab, flounder and plaice with summer bass and mullet.
Sheltered marina pier, ideal for families and beginners. Good wrasse, pollack, mackerel and an established autumn squid fishery.
Deep-water working-harbour pier. Pollack, coalfish, winter whiting; rare connection to autumn shore-tope traffic on big distance baits.
Related guides and tools
Marks, tactics, bait, gear, and the daily plan for this species
Read next
Shore Fishing for Beginners: Ireland Start Guide
Start shore fishing in Ireland with one rod, one rig and a safe beach mark. Honest gear, bait and tide advice for your first sessions on the Wicklow coast.
Bass Fishing Wicklow: Best Marks, Baits and Tides
Where to catch bass on the Wicklow coast: the beaches and rock marks that produce, the baits and lures that work, and the tides to fish them on.
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.
Irish Shore Fishing editorial
Written and checked on the Wicklow coast.
Target shanny on the daily plan
Ranked marks, species windows, and gear for the Wicklow shore.