Cod at Bray Harbour.

Quick facts

Mark type

Pier

Skill

Beginner

Catalogue rank

Primary target

Why fish Cod at Bray Harbour

Dargle-mouth working harbour. LRF-style mixed-species pier; codling, dab, flounder and plaice with summer bass and mullet.

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.

Deep harbour channels, pier-wall snags and the Greystones to Wicklow shingle belt in winter, anywhere young cod gather around tidal flow and coloured water after a blow. Codling is the usual Wicklow shore size class, not a separate target species here.

Dargle mouth harbour, mixed LRF species, dab and flounder, summer bass and mullet in the channel.

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 pollack, codling, whiting all on the same session is a typical SAI report from here.

Season and tide

At Bray Harbour, Cod is worth targeting in October to February. Coast-wide, Cod runs October to December (peaks November to December on night tides at piers and shingle marks. Most Wicklow shore fish are young cod, or codling, rather than larger specimens.).

Wider mark season: Codling: October to February, Dab: October to February, Flounder: year round, Plaice: spring to summer, Mackerel: June to September (HW spinning), Bass: April to November (peak autumn Sep to Nov; periodic summer appearances), Grey mullet: summer shoals in inner harbour, Pollack/Coalfish/Whiting: autumn to winter, Corkwing wrasse and Shanny: year round on light gear, Conger: occasional inner harbour

Tide guidance here: 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.

Night sessions on piers and the shingle belt from late autumn through winter. Wicklow Town Pier fishes the channel flow windows, and Bray Harbour produces on the fill and through the night on the outer wall. Check the mark before committing to one tide rule.

Fishable phases: low, first-flood, mid-flood, high, first-ebb, mid-ebb. Peak: mid-flood, high.

Tactics on this mark

Run strong ledger or pulley rigs with worm or crab cocktails after dark. Wicklow Town Pier fishes the last two hours of ebb and the first of flood in the channel, while Bray Harbour produces on the first two hours of the fill plus night sessions on the outer wall for codling and dabs. On Kilcoole and Greystones South the shingle belt favours a falling-tide edge for general fishing, but check the mark before committing to one tide rule.

Two-hook flapper with size 6 hooks (LRF-style); Light spinning rod; Mackerel feathers at HW; Standard ledger for night codling

Gear: pier wall. Facing NE.

• Strong ledger or pulley rigs with worm or crab cocktails
• Fish after dark, when codling are most active
• Scale your hook and bait size to the mark you are fishing
• Two-hook flapper with size 6 hooks (LRF-style)
• Light spinning rod
• Mackerel feathers at HW
• Standard ledger for night codling

Baits and lures

Cod baits and lures: Lugworm; Ragworm; Crab baits; Mackerel and squid cocktails.

What this mark typically holds: Ragworm; Lugworm; Mackerel strip; Sandeel.

Ragworm; Lugworm; Mackerel strip; Sandeel

Access and ground

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.

Safety: Busy with public year-round; family suitable on the inner walls. Standard pier safety; live boat traffic.

Nearest tackle: Bray town has fishing tackle shops within walking distance of the seafront.

Nearest town: Bray. Skill level: Beginner.

Size and identification

Typical shore size: 1 to 3 lb codling-class fish from pier channels and shingle beaches. Specimen class: Fish over 5 lb are notable from the shore on this coast.

Robust cod family profile: barbel on the chin, three dorsal fins, two anal fins, lateral line curving above the pectoral fin. Shore fish are usually codling-sized and can overlap with coalfish and pollack in poor light, use barbel, fin count and mouth shape.

Tip: Most Wicklow shore cod are young fish, or codling, so take conservation and size rules seriously and watch for the coloured-water windows after a blow.

Irish shore context: record class around See the IFI records. Most Wicklow shore fish are young cod, or codling..

Same-mark companions

Other ranked targets on the same mark include Codling, Dab, Flounder, Plaice, Mackerel, Pollack. Open those pair pages or the full mark guide when you want a multi-species session.

Live ranked advice for Bray Harbour updates on the daily plan. Pair this page with the Cod species guide for coast-wide season bars and conservation detail.

Conservation

Stocks fluctuate; keep only smaller eating fish and return larger spawners where possible.

Guide conservation label: Bag Limit Applies.

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

Other species at Bray Harbour

• Dab
• Flounder
• Plaice
• Mackerel
• Pollack
• Coalfish
• Whiting
• Wrasse

Full mark guide lists all 16 catalogue pair pages.

Next steps

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