Mark × species · Secondary target

Whiting at Bray Harbour.

Whiting is a regular secondary target at Bray Harbour near Bray. Best window on this ground: October to April. Free parking on Bray seafront; harbour fully accessible on foot.

Full mark guide Whiting species guide

Bray Harbour, Wicklow shore fishing mark

Mark type: Pier
Skill: Beginner
Catalogue rank: Secondary target

Why fish Whiting 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.

Open sandy and shingle beaches and harbour channels in winter, following whitebait and sandeel shoals inshore.

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, Whiting is worth targeting in October to April. Coast-wide, Whiting runs October to April (peaks February to March and November to December on shingle beaches and pier channels after dark).

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 fishing is most productive from October to February. Tides around high water and for two hours either side are the most reliable period. Cold, clear nights after a settled spell often produce the best bags.

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

Tactics on this mark

Fish multi-hook flappers at distance on calm winter nights around high water, using small hooks and modest baits to build bags quickly.

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.

Two or three hook flapper or paternoster
Size 1 or 1/0 Aberdeen hooks
Light mono hooklinks, whiting have good eyesight in clear water
No large baits, whiting mouths are small
Two-hook flapper with size 6 hooks (LRF-style)
Light spinning rod
Mackerel feathers at HW
Standard ledger for night codling

Baits and lures

Whiting baits and lures: Ragworm; Lugworm; Sandeel; Mackerel strip; Worm 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: 200 to 500 g from shingle beaches and piers. Specimen class: Fish over 1 kg are good shore whiting.

Silver-white with a dark lateral line and a distinctive dark spot at the base of the pectoral fin. Small mouth, slender body. Often confused with pollack, the dark pectoral spot is the key distinguishing feature. No barbel under the chin (unlike codling).

Tip: Greystones South Beach has hosted European and World Shore Championships partly because of its winter whiting fishing. The key is long casting in calm, clear conditions, whiting stay further out when the sea is flat. After a good blow they come within easy reach. Multiple hook rigs catch multiple fish, three-hook flappers are the match angler standard.

Irish shore context: record class around 2.32 kg (shore).

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 Whiting species guide for coast-wide season bars and conservation detail.

Conservation

Bag and size limits apply; take only what you’ll eat.

Guide conservation label: Bag Limit Applies.

Confirm current bag limits and closures on the Whiting 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.