Mark × species · Seasonal
Dab at Five Mile Point.
Dab is a seasonal target at Five Mile Point near Newcastle. Best window on this ground: Year round. One-mile-long access road from the R761.
Quick facts
- Mark type
- Beach
- Skill
- Intermediate
- Catalogue rank
- Seasonal
Why fish Dab at Five Mile Point
Specimen smoothhound run on spring nights, the single insight justifying this mark. May ray/plaice; nursery beach the rest of the year.
A beach with more sand and less shingle than the rest of the Greystones-Wicklow shingle belt, distinct micro-geology that supports a specimen smoothhound run on spring nights (over 7 lb specimen size has been documented here).
May produces homelyn ray and plaice; summer produces mackerel close in.
Honest reality check: outside the specimen-hound spring-night window, this beach acts as a nursery for immature fish (cod, dab, flounder, whiting at ~6 inches) for much of the year.
Short: Specimen smoothhound run on spring nights, the single insight justifying this mark.
Clean sandy ground close inshore, often mixed with flounder on Wicklow surf and shingle beaches.
Spring-night smoothhound venue, the main reason to fish here, nursery beach the rest of the year.
The specimen smoothhound run on spring nights, with fish over the 7 lb specimen size documented and ragworm or peeler crab named as the best baits.
Most anglers fishing the Wicklow shingle in spring chase bass on the surf, but Five Mile Point's softer sand profile produces specimen-class hounds in the dark.
Set expectations honestly outside that window: this is a small-fish nursery beach for much of the year (cod, dab, flounder, whiting all at ~6 inches).
Season and tide
At Five Mile Point, Dab is worth targeting in Year round. Coast-wide, Dab runs Year round (peaks February to March and November to December autumn through spring on clean sand).
Wider mark season: Smoothhound: May to October (specimen-class >7 lb on spring nights with ragworm and peeler), Bass: April to November (peak autumn Sep to Nov), Homelyn ray: May (peak), Plaice: May, Mackerel: June to September (close in), Flounder: October to March (nursery), Cod/dab/whiting: nursery class for much of year
Tide guidance here: Falling tide pattern for the shingle belt. Spring-tide nights for the specimen hounds. Worm/spoon for plaice in May.
Two hours either side of high water. Any time of day or night.
Fishable phases: first-flood, mid-flood, high, first-ebb, mid-ebb. Peak: mid-flood, first-ebb.
Tactics on this mark
Fish short with two-hook flappers or simple ledgers, occasionally twitching baits along the sand to draw in inquisitive fish during the flood and around high water.
Pulley rig at distance (hounds); Two-hook flapper (flatfish); Worm/spoon attractor (plaice in May); Light spinning (mackerel)
Gear: open beach. Facing E.
- Running ledger or two-hook flapper
- Size 2 to 4 hooks, dab have small mouths
- Short hooklinks keep baits on the bottom
- Pulley rig at distance (hounds)
- Two-hook flapper (flatfish)
- Worm/spoon attractor (plaice in May)
- Light spinning (mackerel)
Baits and lures
Dab baits and lures: Ragworm; Lugworm; Harbour ragworm; Sandeel strip.
What this mark typically holds: Ragworm AND peeler crab (the documented best baits for the spring hound run here); Lugworm; Sandeel (mackerel).
Ragworm AND peeler crab (the documented best baits for the spring hound run here); Lugworm; Sandeel (mackerel)
Access and ground
One-mile-long access road from the R761. Parking limited at the end. Beach access then via the dunes.
Parking: Limited at the end of the access road; arrive early on quality conditions.
Safety: One-mile road from the R761; parking limited. Standard shingle-beach safety.
Nearest tackle: Wicklow town or Greystones tackle shops.
Nearest town: Newcastle. Skill level: Intermediate.
Size and identification
Typical shore size: 100 to 250 g from East Coast beaches. Specimen class: Fish over 400 g are very good shore dabs.
Small oval flatfish, light sandy-brown upper surface with a distinctive curved lateral line above the pectoral fin (the best identification feature). Rough to the touch on the upper surface. Eyes on the right side. Much smaller than plaice or flounder.
Tip: Dab respond well to a moving bait, occasionally retrieve a foot or two and pause. In match fishing, dab are a reliable points scorer and teams actively target them alongside whiting. On quiet sessions when the bigger species aren't showing, a single ragworm on a size 4 Aberdeen is rarely ignored.
Irish shore context: record class around 0.74 kg.
Same-mark companions
Other ranked targets on the same mark include Smoothhound, Bass, Homelyn ray, Plaice, Flounder, Dogfish. Open those pair pages or the full mark guide when you want a multi-species session.
Live ranked advice for Five Mile Point updates on the daily plan. Pair this page with the Dab species guide for coast-wide season bars and conservation detail.
Conservation
No current restrictions; keep only what you’ll eat fresh.
Guide conservation label: No Restrictions.
Confirm current bag limits and closures on the Dab species guide and /learn/rules before retaining fish.
Other species at Five Mile Point
Full mark guide lists all 12 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.