Cardiganshire, Gwbert, Cliff Hotel.

From the town of Cardigan take the Gwbert Road, the A4548, along the north side of the Teifi Estuary, past The Patch Caravan Park, up the hill and along the flat towards the entrance of The Cliff Hotel.
On the left you will have great views of the Teifi Estuary and see why, with the incoming tide and banks and gullies, Poppit Sands can be a dangerous place to fish.
The road down to the hotel is private, the public road turns sharply to the right and you should be able to park on the left side of the road here. There is public access along the drive to the hotel, diagonally down across the car park and down alongside the fence to the golf course. Follow the path down to the cliff top.

Walk around the greens rather than straight across the playing surfaces if crossing the golf course. You will see, near the post on the point, a narrow path and steps down onto the rocks. There are places where you can safely stand to fish; you can either spin or float fish or cast out a bottom fished bait onto the sand beyond the rocks for a variety of different fish species.. There are gullies which hold wrasse , pollack and bass and mackerel are caught in numbers here in the summer.

Rock ledges under The Cliff Hotel.

This is not a mark for small children and can be dangerous for anyone when the sea is rough or when the rocks are wet after rain.

If bottom fishing in around the rocks you may lose tackle in the rocks or weed so take plenty of spare bits and pieces.Bait can be a problem in West Wales. Mackerel or raw king prawns can usually be bought from Tesco in Cardigan, and there is a tackle shop in Cardigan ,Castaway Tackle Shop in College Row (01239 621856 ) which sells frozen bait and live ragworm. As you go through the High Street on the one-way system you will notice a small square to the right, immediately turn left down the hill, this is College Row, there is a car park about 50 yards further on. It is advisable to phone to check that they have live bait before travelling far as supply and demand in this area is erratic.

Tide Times for the next seven days

Cardiganshire, Patch

Hoping for a flounder at 'Patch'.

From the town of Cardigan take the Gwbert Road, the A4548, along the north side of the Teifi Estuary, the road drops down to run alongside the beach at Coronation Road; at the end of the flat as the road swings up and to the right there is a boatyard on the left and a narrow lane running down to the beach. To the other side of the lane is The Patch Caravan Park. The beach is firm enough to drive on but you should be aware of how high the tide might come up and park accordingly.

The seaward side of 'Patch'.

This venue is a ridge of stone and sand formed by strong currents in the estuary, the beach to the seaward side is scoured by the tide and is fairly rough ground so some tackle loss can be expected, the upside to this is that crabs hide under the rocks and soft or peeler crabs can be collected. If you do look for crabs make sure you replace the rocks carefully as you found them. Leaving the rocks turned over with weed trapped underneath means the habitat for the crabs is ruined. Fishing a legered bait of crab or worm will perhaps tempt a bass, flounder or pollack.

The landward side of 'Patch'

On the other side of the bank conditions are quite different, the current swirls back around and deposits sand which forms a large sandbank which is exposed at low tide. Lugworm can be dug on the bank if you are feeling fit. the inlet can be waded across without too much trouble or you can walk around dry-shod. The inlet here is prime hunting ground for flounder and the mullet which can be seen cruising in large shoals, legering works for flounder and maybe a bass but float fishing is the way to go for the mullet. Mullet fishing is a black art and possibly to succeed you must sell your soul or spend years learning the techniques for this most frustrating of all fish. Just ponder, they don't get that big or occur in such numbers by being caught!
From the end of the spit you can fish into the main channel, there is a strong current for most of the tide cycle so techniques have to be modified to suit, grip leads will be needed but if there is a lot of weed even these will be ineffective; you could try float-fishing a bait with the depth set to drag the bottom or try a spinner or plug.
This is a good safe place for kids, in summer there are pontoons where the kids can hand line for crabs or paddle and explore the sandbank at low tide.

pontoons at Patch.

Approximate tide Times for the next seven days


There are no facilities at all at this venue.

firm sand and shingle

Cardiganshire, Cardigan to Aberaeron.

Low tide at The Patch, Cardigan.

This section of coast includes Cardigan Town, the northern side of the Tivy Estuary, The Patch, The Cliff Hotel at Gwbert , Mwnt, Aberporth, Tresaith, Llangranog, New Quay, Cei Bach and Aberaeron. There are plenty of other marks that can be found by hiking off along the coastal paths but these are, in the main, not suited to beginners or children. Rock marks, especially those to the north of the little bay at Mwnt, can be very dangerous places even for the experienced rock angler.