This part of the journey will be taken in the company of John Brittain of Clifden who has a big reputation as a shark hunter. This part of the coastline has large shark and wrecking grounds barely twenty minutes outside the harbour, past Turbot Island. With this depth of water available, the bay itself has some nice marks and further afield there are some excellent beach and rock platforms. This area runs from Killary Harbour in the north to the famous Slyne Head at Ballyconneelly Bay. Mayo has a massive coastline, and three excellent centres for deep sea angling - Clew Bay, Killala Bay and Belmullet. The current Irish record Blue Shark and Porbeagle Shark records were both taken in the ocean off Achill Island. In the company of lady skipper MG Hughes, we are introduced to Clew Bay's famous common skate ground that’s slowly recovering given the introduction of mandatory catch & release (bar a new record). The deep waters around Clare Island have superb fishing. There are octopus, John Dory and pollack on the drift from the reefs around Deace's Rock and further out the Bills Rocks has a wide variety of fish on the reef. Further north the vast sheltered and shallow water bays of Blacksod and Broadhaven, either side of Belmullet are renowned as excellent locations for gurnard, flatfish of all varieties, and most types of fish. Even haddock is caught around the Erris Race where the vast expanses of storm beach offers specimen bass.

Killala Bay is home to an international two day deep sea angling competition of world renown. It routinely produces remarkable catches of fish, in terms of both quantity and variety. It also has the distinction of having recorded a massive catch of hake in the past, possibly due to the proximity of the continental shelf and very deep water. Lying to the south of Donegal bay, the local charter skippers keep a keen eye on the blue fin tuna. Sligo, home of Yeat's grave at Drumcliffe and the brooding mass of Ben Bulben mountain occupies the far shore of Donegal Bay. It offers superb beach fishing, including tope and ray off fine strands that would normally be the province of flatfish, bass are rare this far north, but what fish there are tend to be very big, and equally interesting pier fishing for dogfish and shoals of specimen mullet out of Mullaghmore and several other harbours. We sail on to Killybegs harbour that’s home to all the largest Irish midwater pelagic trawlers, and a modest whitefish fleet, but it handles many other types of shipping as well. The town is the centre of the Irish pelagic fishing and processing industries, as it specialises in the processing and freezing of species such as mackerel, herring, scad, and blue whiting. Donegal is a great fishing county, and it has recently come to world prominence for the exploits of several skippers in relation to pioneering a new Blue Fin Tuna fishery, running from Donegal Bay in the south right the way up to Burtonport and beyond. The current Irish record Blue Fin Tuna of 968 lbs was caught on a 150 lb specialist rig in 2001 and is the biggest fish ever caught on rod and line in the British Isles. Not only does Donegal have deep sea angling, there are marks from the shore like St. John's Point that deliver well over 10 species in a single day, including big pollack, codling, conger, and tough fighting wrasse. Donegal also throws up its far share of unusual catches like the cold water torsk, and it has a wealth of reef and wreck marks to fish on.

Downings used to be a significant fishing port with a substantial herring fleet. Today, however, the economy survives on tourism, and only three crab boats make a traditional living from the sea. Situated as it is in Sheephaven Bay, one of the safest anchorages on the northwest Irish coast, Downings now attracts international game fishermen, the northwest of Ireland being on the migration route of bluefin tuna and other game species. The Antrim coast is famous for big wrasse and recently a 200lb Conger Eel was trawled up by a commercial boat in the stretch between the mainland and Tory Island. Onwards to Ballycastle, which has always been a popular spot for fishing, be it in-shore, deep sea, river or lough. There’s deep sea fishing on the Straits of Moyle, while Rathlin Island is surrounded with numerous shipwrecks like the Loughgarry that lies in a hundred feet of water along the East side of the island and has always been a sure thing for seven or eight pound pollock. There are deep sea chasms where the ‘twenty pounders’ live. Go further to the Pinnacles and the really big beasts await. Fish also include ling, cod, gurnard, mackerel, collies (glashon), herring, conger, and skate.

This episode presents the ideal opportunity to explore the diverse range of shore fishing on this stretch of the Irish coast. The boat journey from Bangor to Howth will call at a range of piers, heads and harbours as it travels south. Around the pier in Bangor local fishermen catch Conger to 35lb, Wrasse in the summer, pollack, Coalfish all year and some Rockling on the bottom. On to Orlock Head where the locals fish the rocks anywhere from the top of the steps onwards for mackerel, pollack, coalfish and wrasse. At Donaghadee Pier we’ll look at the “mackerel bashers” while at Portavogie the outer breakwater is accessed from the land behind the fish market. The Admiralty Chart of Portaferry shows remarkable variations in the seabed and it’s possible to fish into 12 metres of water from the shore. Wicklow waters are home to some of the best fishing in Ireland, boasting record catches of tope, smoothhound, bull-huss, ray and spurdog in recent years. A low lying coastal plain sweeping down in an easterly direction off the Wicklow Mountains, give rise to steep shingle banks, salt marshes, and shallow sandy beaches, interspersed with an odd headland, Bray Head, Wicklow Head, and Mizen Head being the main ones. Bass, smooth hound, tope, bull huss, spurdog, ray, dogfish, gurnard, mullet, mackerel, pollack, wrasse, flounder, dab, and sea trout are caught here. Offshore grounds on this stretch of the sea are shallow averaging five fathoms (30 feet) and are swept by strong lateral tides. The seabed was home to large mussel banks, now diminished due to dredging, with the Moulditch ridge off Greystones the only area of truly rough ground. Strong tides and relatively shallow ground can create quite a lumpy sea, especially when the wind is against the tide.

Wexford sits in the middle of the "sunny south east" and the fishing ranges from the northern shore marks, famous for their smooth-hounds around the corner to the big fishing port of Kilmore Quay and the rich fishing grounds around the Saltee Islands. During the winter the boat marks on this east coast produce codling in abundance, and the various sandy banks have flatfish, including specimen plaice. To the south, in the oceanic waters, and warmer waters thanks to the Gulf Stream, the migratory blue sharks arrive in late June or July. There are innumerable wrecks, thanks to centuries long traditions of trading to Wales, France and Spain, and Wexford is becoming something of a fishing mecca for anglers. Passage East is famous for holding several species records, and there are several small, tricky-to-access coves dotted around the coast. Tramore is famous for bass. The sea off Waterford has round fish during the winter with pollack, coalfish and codling in abundance, and the various sandy banks have flatfish and large flounder. The Gulf Stream brings shark species especially further west towards Dungarvan.