Plaice at Bray Harbour.

Quick facts

Mark type

Pier

Skill

Beginner

Catalogue rank

Primary target

Why fish Plaice 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.

Clean sandy ground with shell and gravel, slightly deeper than typical flounder marks; Brides Head adds worm or crab over sand patches between rocks in July to August for plaice and dab alongside the spinning species.

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, Plaice is worth targeting in spring to summer. Coast-wide, Plaice runs March to September (peaks May to July on clean sand and shingle. Five Mile Point fishes best early in the season for plaice on worm or spoon, Kilcoole and Greystones South fish well on calm warm days with plaice inside about 30 yards, and Silver Strand holds fish close in around high water.).

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.

Two hours either side of high water. Spring tides push plaice onto shallow feeding grounds. Warm calm days in April to June can produce fish at any state of tide over clean sand.

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

Tactics on this mark

On Kilcoole, Greystones South and Five Mile Point use the shingle-belt falling-tide pattern for much of your fishing, but still work the close-in plaice window after easterlies or flat warm spells, when fish hold inside about 30 yards and take worm or spoon in May. At Silver Strand expect plaice May to September, with the best of it close in around high water. Wicklow Head and Brides Head want crab or worm fished onto the sand pockets in mid-summer rather than long-range casting alone.

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.

• Running ledger with a 12 to 18 inch hooklink
• Two-hook flapper to cover ground
• Size 1 or 2 Aberdeen, light wire hook to present worm naturally
• Attractor beads above the hook, orange and red are plaice favourites
• Two-hook flapper with size 6 hooks (LRF-style)
• Light spinning rod
• Mackerel feathers at HW
• Standard ledger for night codling

Baits and lures

Plaice baits and lures: Ragworm; Lugworm; Sandeel strip; Ragworm and mussel 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: 400 to 800 g from clean sand with shell patches. Specimen class: Plaice over 1.5 kg are excellent shore fish.

The most distinctive flatfish on the Irish coast, upper surface is brown with vivid orange or red spots, each with a pale border. Eyes on the right side. Smooth skin with a row of bony knobs along the lateral line above the head. The bright orange spots are unmistakable.

Tip: Plaice respond well to a moving bait and to visual attractors. Thread a few orange or red beads above the hook on the hooklink, plaice are visually attracted to colour. On clean sandy ground, casting and slowly retrieving covers more ground and produces more bites than fishing static.

Irish shore context: record class around 3.84 kg.

Same-mark companions

Other ranked targets on the same mark include Codling, Dab, Flounder, Mackerel, Pollack, Coalfish. 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 Plaice species guide for coast-wide season bars and conservation detail.

Conservation

Managed under EU rules with size limits; return undersized fish carefully and minimise handling time.

Guide conservation label: Bag Limit Applies.

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

Other species at Bray Harbour

• Cod
• Dab
• Flounder
• 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.