Cornwall, Porthkerris.

Spinning for mackerel or pollack, Porthallow in the distance

Porthkerris is a disused quarry site on the Lizard between Porthoustock and Porthallow, take the B3083 from Helston past RNAS Culdrose then onto the B3293, past the dishes of Goonhilly Down and then onto the B3294 down into the village of St Keverne, turn sharp left after the red telephone box, and head for Porthallow... look out for a sign for Porthkerris, it has a picture of a shark and a big black arrow on it. From here the road narrows, yes narrows even more!, proceed with extreme caution, there are few passing places and driving off the road is not an option. You have to pay to park and to fish here, currently £2 parking and £1 per person fishing.

Rock ledges, Porthkerris.

At the bottom of the hill there are toilets and, in season, a snack bar. You will need to pay here, or if you are an early riser, someone will find you as you fish and collect payment from you. There is a small beach here which is used for other pursuits such as diving and swimming, fishing is done from the rock ledges which are reached by driving out to the left. Fish from any of the accessible ledges but take care when the rocks are wet. this is not a venue for small children but should be suitable for sensible older children. The rocks give access to deep water close in. Mackerel are the main sport here, and the litter left by those 'anglers', whose experience is limited to the slaughter of these fish, spoils a picturesque spot.

The 'disabled' spot.

At the far end of the car park there is a disabled wheelchair sign painted onto a block. Disabled wheelchair users will however be disappointed, access down the slope and across the rocks to a small rough concrete flat area (located behind the concrete pump house*) is not suitable for even a rough terrain chair. It is possible for persons walking with the aid of sticks and or crutches to negotiate the distance by care and patience. This spot is about the only flat spot to stand on, most of the rocks are sloping giving rise to sore ankles by the end of the day. If you are on this spot and able-bodied please give it up to someone who needs it.
Float fished fish strip or sandeel will catch mackerel, gar, pollack, wrasse and maybe a bass; bottom fishing over the rough will get thousands of wrasse, blennies and other small species with a chance of dogfish or gurnard. Congers are sometimes caught on big fish baits at night.

*The pump house supplies sea water to the new building within the car park area which processes the water to get sea-salt for the food-faddist; all salt comes from the sea, the supposed inferior salt from Cheshire mines being from the sea millions of years before man polluted it.
For your bait, the nearest place is a large angling shop in Helston, Atlantic Fishing Tackle in Wendron Street (just by a car park), that sells bait including ragworm and lugworm. Tel 01326 561640.

Tide Times for the next seven days

from 'disabled spot', but not for wheelchair users

Cornwall, Coverack Harbour

Coverack Harbour

Coverack Harbour, early morning.

Coverack is a typical picturesque fishing village on the Lizard, take the B3083 from Helston past RNAS Culdrose then onto the B3293, past the dishes of Goonhilly Down and then onto the B3294 down into the village. There is parking on the right as you enter the village and a small car park just past the harbour entrance. There are small shops selling snacks and drinks nearby, and a few cafés within easy walking distance.... The disused Lifeboat House now serves as a restaurant that has a take-away fish and chips bar. There is a beach where bass can be targeted after an easterly blow, a tiny harbour with a convenient wall to sit or lean on and a small headland where you can fish from the rocks.

The disused lifeboat launch ramp.

The water is not very deep around the harbour, float fishing will get mackerel, gar and pollack, or if you fish a bit deeper, wrasse. Use mackerel strip for most species, after dark it may attract a conger or dogfish. Worm baits will pick up wrasse, and sole and red mullet are a possibility if you fish onto the sandier patches; this is a good location for a species hunt. Some of the ballan wrasse are big, don't leave the rod unattended they are powerful enough to flip it over the wall.... I talk from experience having to grab my flattie rod as it headed seawards.

The small headland viewed from the car park. ( spot the bear!)

Like all of the rocky parts of Cornwall the sea is brim full of wrasse, you will lose some tackle but you are almost certain to catch if you use worm baits. If you cannot catch four different species of wrasse in Cornwall you haven't really tried. ( they are corkwing, ballan, goldsinny and rock cook.)

The access to the harbour is steep but wheelchair access is possible, some help will be required landing fish over the wall.
There are toilets alongside the road above the harbour, the first photograph was taken across the road from them.

There are safe ways onto the rocks by the car park, best at low tide and be careful if the rocks are wet and slippery.

For bait,
Angling shops nearby, 

Last Stop Tackle Shop, Haelarcher Farmyard, Lizard Head Ln, The Lizard 

TR12 7NN Tel  07896 290869

Bait available from Lizard Rigs who are on the A3083 at Trevelyan Holiday Homes 

TR12 7AS (look for BAIT sign on rhs when heading south.)

                    Newtown Angling Centre Newtown, Penzance TR20 9AE 01736 763721

Tide Times for the next seven days

from harbour

Cornwall, Praa Sands.

Praa Sands, western end.

Praa Sands is a long sandy beach to the south of the A394 road from Helston to Penzance. There is a pay and display car park at the western end of the beach, (with most attentive clampers employed, be careful). There is a café and toilets near the car park.The beach is used by general holiday makers and surfers during the day so fishing is best done after dark or early morning. The ground in front of the car park is generally clean although there are some rock and weed patches in which to lose tackle. The beach is mostly fished for bass so long distance casting will not be required. Turbot show up on this beach and tend to favour fish bait or sand eel, other fish can be caught, try lug or rag worm on a running leger with a smooth weight.

Praa Sands, looking east.

To get access to the eastern end of the beach drive to the village of Ashton back towards Helston and drive down Hendra Lane, it is narrow but there are a few places to park before you get to the beach. The fishing is generally reckoned to be better at this end of the beach. The ground gets rockier and more snaggy as you move towards the headland.
There are tackle and bait shops in Penzance and Helston, but the nearest is Newton Angling on the A394 in Newtown (just outside Praa Sands on the A 394 tel 01736 763721), this is a large shop selling everything you need, and a lot more. They sell a large selection of fresh and frozen bait.

Approximate Tide Times for Praa Sands for the next 7 days.

Cornwall, Mousehole Harbour.

Mousehole Harbour, low tide.

Mousehole is a quaint little harbour west of Penzance. Parking is very close to the harbour and there is a toilet block between the car park and the harbour wall. The harbour can be best fished for say three hours each side of high tide. Like all harbours, give way to boat traffic and try not to kill the children who will annoy you by jumping into the harbour near the signs saying that jumping is forbidden. Float fishing will get small pollock and mackerel, gar and scad in season. Bottom fishing will get the usual wrasse and small species near the rough ground, flounders are caught in the harbour entrance and on the clean ground. The sea is usually clear enough to see the snaggy and clean areas.

Mousehole Harbour, from the car park.

There is easy access onto the harbour arms for wheelchair users but space at areas without a high wall is limited. Bait can be got from the tackle shops in Penzance, you will pass one as you drive out from the town to Mousehole. There are toilets close by and several cafés within easy walking distance.

Tide times for the next 7 days

Cornwall, Portreath.

Portreath Beach, north coast.

Portreath is north of Camborne on the B3301 and B3300, it is a sandy beach which is popular with holiday makers and surfers, You will be restricted to fishing early or late when you will have the beach to yourself. There is a pay and display car park right against the beach with toilets, shops and cafes are a short walk away.
Fishing here is not great but good bass are caught on occasion, dogfish seem to turn up everywhere so one of these is on the cards.. The beach is sandy and snag free in the centre and quite rough ground near the harbour wall. The left hand side of the beach near the rocks is generally snag free.
There is a pier/ harbour arm here but it is closed to fishing; it is possible to fish parts of the harbour that can be reached.
There is a tackle shop in Fore Street, Redruth and one in Camborne,County Angler in Cross St ; Tel 01209 718490.

Cornwall, Godrevy Point.

Gwithian Sands and Godrevy Point, north coast.

You will find this venue off the B3301 from Hayle to Portreath, Gwithian Sands can be fished but it is usually swarming with surfers; head east from Gwithian and you will find the entrance to The National Trust property of Godrevy. If you are a member you can park here free, otherwise pay the man on the gate. The car parks are closed at night so check the closing times before heading off. The cars parked in this car park can be seen as white specks above the white building in the middle distance in the photo above. There is a cafe at the entrance and toilets at the car park.

Float fishing from the rocks at Godrevy Point.

You can fish from the beach which should be surfer-free at this point, fishing worm, sandeel or fish baits will give you a chance of bass, rays, turbot, plaice or flounders, closer to the rocks or bottom fishing from the rocks, will get wrasse or pollock. Spinning is another tactic which can work for big pollock.The ground here is sandy when clear of the rocks.

The rocks at Godrevy, looking towards Godrevy Island.

Float fishing from the rocks will get mackerel gar and scad in season, along with pollock, bass and wrasse. The rock platform is fairly easy to negotiate and is safe, in calm weather, for sensible children... but toddler type kids on the beach only. Do not fish here in rough weather, even in calm weather keep an eye out for the swells which can take you unawares especially near high tide.... retreat to a higher perch or to the beach, no fish is worth the risk of being swept away and drowned.
There are tackle shops in Hayle, one is in a market building near where the road doubles back under the railway bridge, near Foundry Square car park, the other in Fore Street as you pass through the town heading eastwards. Look for their sign on the roadside.

Cornwall, Porthleven Harbour.

Porthleven Harbour, lots of walls to fish from.

Porthleven is just west of Helston on the B3304, it is a convenient fishing spot for children and wheelchair users with easy access to many walls for fishing into the harbour. Fishing is best for three hours over high tide for the inner part of the harbour although you can fish from the long pier on the left at low tide, fishing into the harbour entrance. Parking is free alongside the harbour if you can find a spot, there is also a pay and display car park. 

The nearest tackle shop is on the road towards Penzance at Germoe, TR20 9AE, Newtown Angling Centre, which sells bait including ragworm and lugworm. 

Toilets are up a side road to your left as you walk as you walk along the village side of the harbour passing shops,a pub and cafés, others at the base of the church seen in the picture below near the start of the breakwater.

Porthleven, the inner harbour.

Float fishing along the weedy and rocky fringes of the harbour walls will get you wrasse, there are some big wrasse in here especially from the end of the long pier. Wrasse are thugs, they are strong fighters and will dive for cover when hooked, if they get into the rocks and weed you will most likely lose them.... so hold onto the rod at all times and get ready to keep the fishes head up out of the rough. If they get jammed in the rough it is worthwhile giving them a bit of slack line; they will sometimes swim out of the snag.
Small pollack are also caught, if you are prepared to lose a few weights, drop a bait straight down the wall on a simple paternoster rig, the hook length should be short and a foot or so above the weight to keep the bait up out of the weed. Keep hold of the rod ! Fish such as pout, scorpion fish and others skulk along the wall so keep your hooks small (size 2 or less) and see what is down there. Flatfish such as flounder and turbot can be caught by casting out onto the cleaner ground out in the harbour entrance. Rockling and eels, silver and conger, can be caught. Baits are ragworm for the wrasse or flounder, fish bait of any kind seems to catch anything else. Float fishing for mackerel and gar in season is popular all around the harbour. Be aware of boat traffic, they have right of way so reel in when boats need to pass. The seaward side of the long arm is very rocky and is not good for fishing, leave that area for the kids who surf the breakers that form as the swell passes over the rock table here.

The long arm of the harbour wall at low tide, note the rocky weedy fringe.

There is a long beach to the left which runs to Loe Bar, bass are the quarry along this section but fishing is only possible when the other beach users leave in the evening. Loe Bar is a fishy spot but a cliff walk/scramble is required to get there.

Angling shops nearby, 

Last Stop Tackle Shop, Haelarcher Farmyard, Lizard Head Ln, The Lizard 

TR12 7NN Tel  07896 290869

Bait available from Lizard Rigs who are on the A3083 at Trevelyan Holiday Homes 

TR12 7AS (look for BAIT sign on rhs when heading south.)

                             Newtown Angling Centre Newtown, Penzance TR20 9AE

not Loe Bar !

Cornwall, Mullion Cove.

Mullion Harbour, looking out to Mullion Island.

Mullion Cove is on the Lizard Peninsula, take the A3083 south from Helston. It is reached through the village of Mullion which has shops and places to eat. The Happy Shopper Store as you enter the village stocks some fishing equipment and frozen bait. Parking near the Harbour is possible out of season but from 1st June to 1st October you will have to use the car park and walk about six hundred yards. There are toilets on the route to the harbour, about two hundred yards away. There is a cafe at the head of the harbour. Opposite the cafe is a path down to the inner arm of the harbour wall. This offers comfortable fishing from a wide stone platform into a good depth of water at high tide, at low tide the rocks are exposed and fishing can be difficult; this venue is best fished about three hours each side of high tide. It is safe for older children but is unguarded. The rocky areas are visible in the clear water and, after the rocks there is clean ground until the taller rocks which are visible at high tide. Fishing on the bottom here produces bass, pollock, wrasse, turbot, dogfish, rockling and other bottom feeders. Float fishing will get mackerel, gar and scad in season, use a sandeel or strip of mackerel or squid. At night try float fishing with a starlight on a float or just hold the rod and feel for a bite from pollock which come close in to the wall. If you set the depth to just drag the bottom of the clean ground area you can catch turbot and other bottom feeders also. The path down is steep in parts and uneven but should be accessible to wheelchair users; access to the outer arm is more straightforward.

Mullion Harbour,The outer arm viewed from the comfort of the inner arm.

The outer arm of the harbour has a high wall which makes fishing impossible apart from a short section at the end. There are some steps at the start of the wall which allow access onto the broad sloping top of the wall from where you can cast out onto clean ground or fish the weedy gully; most definitely not for children or the faint-hearted.
Do not even consider fishing this harbour in bad weather, waves can break over the pier and recently two lives were lost to large waves. 'Freak waves' is a term used by reporters who know no better; large waves can, and do, spring up at any time in any weather, nothing freak about them at all. Be safe, be aware of danger. In storms it is known for waves to break right over Mullion Island.

Angling shops nearby, 

Last Stop Tackle Shop, Haelarcher Farmyard, Lizard Head Ln, The Lizard 
TR12 7NN Tel  07896 290869
Bait available from Lizard Rigs who are on the A3083 at Trevelyan Holiday Homes 
TR12 7AS look for BAIT sign on rhs when heading south

Tide Times for the next seven days

Cornwall, Lizard to Portreath.

Gwithian Beach, looking towards Godrevy.

Cornwall has a great many places to fish but many of them are on exposed rocky coasts and are dangerous places to be for novices and children. Many of the easy places to fish will be very crowded in the holiday season. Beaches are invaded by the surf gremmies during the day so beach angling is best done after dark.
In this section details are given for Porthkerris, Coverack Harbour, Mullion Cove, Porthleven Harbour, Praa Sands, Mousehole, Godrevy Point, and Portreath Beach, more will be added in due course after my next trip.