Mark × species · Secondary target
Shanny at Bray Harbour.
Shanny is a regular secondary target at Bray Harbour near Bray. Best window on this ground: Year round. Free parking on Bray seafront; harbour fully accessible on foot.
Quick facts
- Mark type
- Pier
- Skill
- Beginner
- Catalogue rank
- Secondary target
Why fish Shanny 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.
Harbour walls, rockpools and kelp edges fished on ultra-light LRF gear.
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, Shanny is worth targeting in Year round. Coast-wide, Shanny runs Year round (peaks June to August summer LRF sessions on harbour walls).
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.
Daylight LRF sessions on harbour walls, especially in summer.
Fishable phases: low, first-flood, mid-flood, high, first-ebb, mid-ebb. Peak: mid-flood, high.
Tactics on this mark
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.
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.
- Drop-shot or light jig-head soft plastics
- Tiny metals and Isome-style baits on ultra-light gear
- Two-hook flapper with size 6 hooks (LRF-style)
- Light spinning rod
- Mackerel feathers at HW
- Standard ledger for night codling
Baits and lures
Shanny baits and lures: Isome and soft plastics; Tiny metals; Small ragworm pieces.
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: 8 to 15 cm from harbour walls and rockpools. Specimen class: Larger fish around 20 cm are notable on light gear.
Small blenny with a blunt head and continuous dorsal fin. Common on harbour walls and in rockpools, chased on LRF gear.
Tip: Bray and Greystones harbour walls are the practical Wicklow shanny marks. Keep the leader light and work slowly along the wall face.
Irish shore context: record class around LRF fish; size is secondary to the sport on light gear.
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 Shanny species guide for coast-wide season bars and conservation detail.
Conservation
Return carefully; small rock-pool fish are easily stressed out of water.
Guide conservation label: No Restrictions.
Confirm current bag limits and closures on the Shanny species guide and /learn/rules before retaining fish.
Other species at Bray Harbour
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.
NEXT STEP
Open the full mark or species guide.
Pair pages assemble mark and species catalogue facts for this ground. Depth sessions live on today's plan.