North Devon, Ilfracombe Harbour

The top deck of the pier, note the tall post on the left on the lower deck.

Ilfracombe is on the north Devon coast, when you arrive you will note that the locals are not fond of direction signs.... there are small brown signs for The Aquarium and Harbour but they are easily missed. There is a large car park adjacent to the harbour wall so you can fish near to your car. There is a cheaper car park back at the head of the harbour.
There are toilets at the entrance to the car park and a tackle shop nearby, back up the road you came in on, follow the road round to the left and the shop is a short distance down that road on the right, (Variety Sports, 23 Broad Street, Ilfracombe, Devon EX34 9EE). Note, Apr 2016, this shop looks as if it is closing down, for sale sign and irregular opening hours. There is another shop High Street Tackle, 153 High Street, Ilfracombe, Devon EX34 9EZ 
There are plenty of shops, cafés and pubs nearby for food and drink.

The lower deck at low tide.

The tides here are typical of the area, big. The water comes up a long way and can catch out the unwary..... the weed growing on the wooden posts on the lower level is a clue to what happens later in the tide. You can only fish the lower section for a couple of hours before and after low tide, less or not at all in rough weather.

This is a venue that can be fished with light or heavy tackle, big baits cast out towards Wales from the end of the lower level can catch you a conger, more likely to catch a dogfish, but conger are regularly caught here. Fishing light close in can result in many species that are attracted by the cover provided by the pier structure and submerged obstructions, it is snaggy however and you will lose some gear. Fish with hook lengths and lead links of lesser breaking strain than the mainline so that you can pull clear of the snags, fine wire hooks that bend such as the Mustad Nordic Bend are good in these situations. Size four are about right for general species hunting close in. Ragworm is the most used bait but fish baits will catch as well.
Fishing further out puts your bait out onto a generally sandy bottom with some weed clumps and other snags, there is not much tidal flow so grip leads are not necessary to hold bottom.
Float fishing near to the pier can be productive, when last there ( Mid October ), there were gar, sand smelt, coalfish and a mullet caught on fish strips fished at depths of up to twelve feet or so. Fishing out onto the sand gave small whiting, sole and a small conger eel

Tide flooding the lower level.

The pool that is enclosed by the pier can be fished; an angler fishing here had a silver eel later in the tide.

Note the post referred to in the first picture caption !

Fishing from the rocks is possible at low tide but be very aware of the advancing tide, the rocks in the picture above offer no refuge from a swell or a bigger tide.

Tide times for the next seven days for Ilfracombe

Easy wheelchair access and no distance casting needed makes this a good venue for a disabled angler

easy level access to railed promenade on top level sloping ramp to un-railed lower level.

Bristol Channel, Blue Anchor.

Blue Anchor, Looking east.

The area known as Blue Anchor takes its quaint name from the pub at the Watchet end of the beach. It is a high tide mark and can be found on the back road from Watchet to Minehead. It is fishable for a few hours either side of high water from the sea wall or the beach to the west. There is car parking on the landward side of the road or alongside the seaward side of the road for much of the venue. There are only a few places where there is access to the beach so fish have to be retrieved by use of a drop net, risking a loss by lifting the fish up by hand-lining or 'walking' the fish along the wall to an access spot. A large portion of the wall is unfishable due to the rock armour placed under the wall, this makes it next to impossible to land a fish.

Blue Anchor Beach, east towards 'Broken Wall'

A good selection of species can be caught from the wall or from the beach. Dogfish seem to be ever present with cod and whiting in the winter. Large conger eels are quite common; also taken are pouting, thornback rays, small eyed rays, bass and rockling. Small turbot sometimes put in an appearance. Baits used here are ragworm or lugworm , squid and fishbaits, ( if you are feeling energetic it is possible to dig lugworm from the beach ), sensible people buy them from Westcoast Angling in Watchet, ( 53 Swain Street TA23 0AG Tel: 01984 634807) or Minehead ( a kiosk on the harbour wall ) . There is a shop and café just inside the entrance to the caravan park which sells frozen bait and has a selection of basic tackle bits and pieces.
There is a toilet block about halfway along the bay and a café at the western end where there is also a station serving the steam railway.
At the eastern end of the beach there are some reefs which are exposed at low water; the locals who are aware of the dangers, local weather conditions and tides fish these reefs. Do not attempt to fish here, there is a real danger of drowning. Near the reefs are patches of soft sinking sand which are dangerous enough before you get out onto the rocks.

updated 17th August 2010

Tide times for Minehead/Blue Anchor for the next 7 days

from wall only

Bristol Channel, Dunster Beach

Dunster Beach, looking east towards Minehead, low tide.

Dunster Beach is reached by turning off the A39 to the east of Minehead, there are brown information signs that lead you through the village over the railway line to a large pay and display car park and picnic area. There is a kiosk selling drinks and snacks in season and there is a toilet block at the western end of the car park. This venue is a shallow water mark and can only be fished for, at the most, a couple of hours each side of high tide; best on the biggest tides. It produces the usual dogfish, rays, small conger along with the occasional bass with cod and whiting in winter.The ground is fairly clean shingle and sand so tackle losses should be minimal... in any case, if you wait an hour or two you can walk out to get it back.

Dunster Beach, looking west.

To the west there is a chalet park which is private, stay to the car park area or take the coast path if you want to fish further west. This is an area which can be surveyed at low tide to look for likely fish holding features like gullies or rough ground patches. The locals head off to the west of the car park to their favoured marks.

Nearest tackle shops are West Coast Angling at Minehead, 01643 705745 (a kiosk on the Harbour ) or in Swain Street, Watchet 01984 634807‎, there is a shop at the caravan park at Blue Anchor which stocks a small selection of tackle bits and pieces and frozen bait.

Tide times for Dunster for the next 7 days.

Bristol Channel, Porlock

Porlock Harbour, West Porlock, low tide.

Porlock Harbour is a quaint little harbour at West Porlock to the west of Minehead. Follow the brown information signs and just keep heading west until you run out of road. There is a pay and display car park with toilets and there are pubs and a shop at the harbour. To the east there is a long stone bank pushed up by the sea. This is rough ground fishing, the bottom is sand with rough patches. This venue can be fished at all states of the tide but you will need a long cast to get onto the sand at high tide. At low tide you will have to walk out onto the rocky and cobbled beach where getting a firm footing can be difficult, boots with ankle support are recommended.

looking east, the harbour entrance behind the wooden groyne.

To get to this beach walk over the footbridge that spans the harbour entrance, walk past the front of the cottages and over the stone bank onto the beach. The water here is bluer than at Minehead which indicates that the sea has deposited much of the silt it had been carrying further up the channel at Minehead and beyond. This means that fish that prefer clear water,such as mackerel and gar, are caught here by float fishing or spinning in the summer.

Porlock, looking west.

The anglers in the photographs are fishing a match and are from the Westcoast and Watchet club, they were busy catching dogfish when I was taking these photographs. Thanks to the guy, in the second pic with the yellow bag, for the local advice.
Many different species are possible here that are not often caught further up-channel, pollack and bass are regulars, bream sometimes and even trigger fish at times. The channel regulars, dogfish, thornback rays and congers are the staple species with cod and whiting in the winter.At high tide mullet find their way into the harbour and frustrating hours can be spent trying to catch one.
Bait for general beach fishing can be ragworm, lugworm, squid and fish-baits, nearest tackle shop is back in Minehead; Westcoast Tackle on the Harbour or their other shop in Watchet.

Tide Times at Porlock for the next 7 days

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Burnham on Sea, Somerset.

Burnham on Sea, looking north towards the Lower Light.

Burnham on Sea is muddy, sticky slippy mud, and is not a place for children. The beach is shallow and the tide run can be fierce on the bigger tides. There is quite often weed in the water that has come down the river, This beach is usually fished from low tide back up to high and then only on the smaller tides, Be prepared to move your kit back frequently as the tide marches up the beach at quite a pace. Watch out for the tide coming behind you if you are near the boating pool; it won't be deep enough to be a danger but you will get your boots full. You can park along the sea front road, and go down onto the beach; or drive on through the town to Trinity Rise or Allendale Road and walk ( or rather tiptoe through the dog poo) down the paths to the beach. These paths will bring you out to the Lower Light which is the white object in the photo in the distance.
Distance casting is not always required here, fish such as flounder, bass, eels and sole can be close in looking for food disturbed by the incoming tide. Cod and congers are the main target here, at times it can be difficult not to catch a conger. Dogfish are also present in numbers. Best baits are ragworm, squid and fishbaits. A technique that can score is to tie a big hook above a small hook, the small hook is baited. When a whiting is hooked, leave it wriggling, this will attract a conger and the big hook should deal with the conger as it takes the livebait. A thirty centimetre whiting is just a snack to these eels. The one below is about seven kilo, they come much bigger than this.

A cross conger, in the mud, in the dark, in the rain; it has taken a whiting livebait

Be careful when unhooking these congers they have teeth and attitude, they bite !

At high tide on the big tides it is possible to fish from the sea wall, south of the slipway on the Esplanade and around towards the Sailing Club.

There is a webcam positioned to look towards the Pier, which in reality is just an amusement arcade on stilts over the beach. Tackle shops are Thyers by the mini roundabout in Highbridge . There was a tackle shop in Burnham on Sea but I cannot confirm if it is open now.

One more tip, I use a kid's plastic sledge to transport my gear across the mud; and it provides a platform out of the mud to put stuff when you are fishing. It is easy to move back with the tide using the sledge. People do look at you a bit funny when you take the sledge out of the car though.

Minehead, Somerset

Minehead Harbour Area, from an old map about 1910

Minehead is on the Bristol Channel and, as at Watchet the water is coloured by the run-off from the rivers that feed into it and is usually red brown in colour. The water is seldom clear here and as a consequence there is not much difference between daylight and night fishing. The beach which is most fished is Gasworks Beach, the gasworks, long since demolished, is marked on the map; the site is now a car park and toilet block.

Gasworks Beach, looking west.

The beach here is what the locals call Somerset sand, that is cobble stones big enough to break your ankles when walking over them.... be careful, the beach is not suited to small children, The ground here can be snaggy so be prepared to loose some tackle. Heavy gear is used here, currents can be fairly strong ( very strong at the end near the harbour wall on the ebb tide) and there is often weed in the water. I would normally use a strong beachcaster with 18lb mainline with a long 40lb leader.The Pier shown on the old map is long gone too, some of the base remains as snags on the seabed. The beach is steep and the pebbles give way to clean sand with the odd rock and snag at low water. If you go past the bus shelter to the west the ground gets much snaggier. This is one of the few marks locally that can be fished all through the tide.
Gasworks is a place to catch conger from the shore along with whiting and cod in season, thornback ray, pout, the always present dogfish and the occasional pollack. Baits used here are rag or lugworms, squid and fishbaits; frozen sandeel is favoured for the rays.
Bait, tackle, a decent cup of tea, and good advice can be got at the kiosk shop at the start of the harbour wall.

Minehead Harbour.

People fish from the harbour wall, you can see anglers starting to fish as the tide reaches the harbour steps at the end. getting a big fish up is a bit of a problem however.
The beach to the east of the harbour along Quay Street,is rough ground giving way to cleaner sand as you move east, this beach is not much fished although some good cod have been caught near the Red Lion.

A dogfish, about 60cm long, on 'Somerset sand' on Gasworks Beach

If you are feeling fit, you could hike off westwards along the coastal footpath, eventually you will reach 'White Mark' which is a rock with a white patch painted on it out near Greenaleigh Farm. This originally was a lichen covered rock that sailors used as a mark showing where sandy ground for anchoring was located. The ground here is cleaner, and is a noted mark for rays and smoothound. To the east of the town there is the Butlins Holiday camp,beyond is a coast path which leads around to the 'golf course', this is a favoured mark for cod; fished a couple of hours each side of high on the bigger tides.

Watchet Harbour, Somerset

Watchet Harbour, Bristol Channel, Somerset

Watchet is a small town on the Somerset coast facing Wales across the Bristol Channel. There are signs directing you to the Harbour and Marina. Drive down through the town, around a sharp left hand bend (Marina and slipway on your right) at a short distance on the left is a pay car park. You can walk onto the Harbour wall by going through the archway by the side of the pub opposite the car park.
The Harbour dries out at low tide, you can fish from up to four hours before and after high tide on neap tides and three hours before and after on spring tides. It is a good idea to walk out on the harbour wall at low tide and have a look at the sort of ground you will be fishing over. If you have wellie boots you can go down the steps at the end of the wall by the lighthouse and walk around the end of the wall and onto the ground you will be fishing when the tide comes in. If you keep your eyes open you can usually find some lost tackle to salvage.
The water in the Bristol Channel is affected by the run-off from the rivers that feed into it and is usually red brown in colour. The water is seldom clear here and as a consequence there is not much difference between daylight and night fishing. The ground here can be snaggy so be prepared to lose some tackle. Heavy gear is used here, currents can be fairly strong ( very strong at the end on the ebb tide) and there is often weed in the water. I would normally use a strong beachcaster with 18lb mainline with a long 40lb leader so that a fish can be lifted up the wall. Long casting is not required as some very big fish are caught close in. Target species here are conger eels, cod (in winter), whiting, dogfish, pout, thornback ray and the occasional pollack, flatfish or bass. Baits are fish-baits, squid, ragworm and lugworm. There is a tackle shop in the town West Coast Angling, in the main through road, Swain Street, at the top end of the town near the station.

Shops, cafés, pubs, car park and toilets are a short walk away.

The first section of the harbour wall has an elevated pavement along the wall you can fish from here only when the tide is well up, a freshwater inlet from the stream that flows through the town enters the sea here, there is a flat area to fish from over the wall, At the end of this section are steps down at the corner, this is a favoured spot as the high wall here can give some shelter from the wind.

Watchet Harbour, elevated pavement and steps at the "Corner"

The tide run and currents get harder as you go towards the end as does the 'snagginess' of the bottom. You should not fish from the end of the harbour wall as you can endanger boat traffic, however many people do when the weather prevents boat traffic or at night. If you catch a big fish there is the problem of getting it safely up the wall, use strong line for the first 40' or so, climb up onto the wall hand-line the fish up and hope, get a drop-net, or try to manoeuvre the fish to the steps at the end of the wall on the harbour side.

Some nice fish can be caught inside the harbour where lighter tackle can be used. A few people float fish for mullet here with good results.
The harbour is a great place for catching prawns in a baited drop net in late summer and autumn along with legions of shore crabs. Crabbing can be interesting as dogfish and congers can be caught on crab-lines here. Spider crabs are not found in this part of the Channel. The huge tidal range of the Bristol Channel means that the water can be a looong way down or very deep depending on the state of the tide, it is not a safe place for young children. In stormy weather the spray can wash up over the wall and give you a good soaking, as this photo shows;

It's not always sunny when I go fishing ! Spray at Watchet

But when the rain stops......... a pot of gold

If you get bored with fishing there is a steam railway that runs through Watchet, from Bishops Lydeard near Taunton to Minehead.

Tide Times for Watchet for the next 7 days
Outer wall too high, fishing into harbour only
Updated 17th August 2010

Bristol Channel, North Devon, Somerset and South Wales

Sunset over Hinkley Point, from Burnham on Sea.

Some Bristol Channel marks of the Somerset coast are Porlock, Minehead, Dunster Beach, Blue Anchor, Watchet, Burnham on Sea, Weston super Mare, Clevedon.

Further west into Devon there is the harbour at Ilfracombe

updated 24th Oct 2010 Ilfracombe added