Pembrokeshire, Porth Clais

Porth Clais harbour, from the cliff path to the west of the inlet.

Porth Clais, sometimes written as Porthclais, is a picturesque inlet with harbour a short distance from St Davids. The road to Porth Clais is signposted from the main roundabout in the centre of the city (anywhere else I would have written village, such is the size of this city), turn down Goat Street.
There are two car parks at the head of the harbour, one owned by the Harbour Trust and one, adjoining but further away, owned by The National Trust*. For anyone used to parking charges in Southern England, £2 a day comes as a pleasant surprise. There are toilets in the National Trust car park and a kiosk that sells ice cream, drinks etc alongside NT souvenirs.

The Harbour wall at Porthclais.

There are rock ledges which offer access to deep water for float fishing for bass, wrasse and pollack; these are not for the faint hearted, take local advice before you venture down the cliffs; there are climbs well known to the keen rock-climber so the going is not likely to be easy.
Access to the harbour wall is to the eastern ( left ) side of the inlet along a well defined narow path that climbs up and along the top of the low cliffs and descends by a steep slope and steps onto the broad flat wall.
The water can be crystal clear, as can be seen in the photograph above, and the rock fringes to the inlet can be seen under the water, ideal territory for wrasse and pollack. There is little tidal flow within the inlet so float fishing is a leisurely affair,use a small strip of silver mackerel belly as bait, or a head hooked ragworm. Letting the float drift down the right hand side near the rocks should get results although you will need to look out for other harbour users, kayakers and small boat users have right of way through the entrance.
There are a great many small fish to be caught along the wall, drop a small hook baited with ragworm among the rocks and weed and very soon a blenny or small wrasse will be on it. Large wrasse can also be caught close in, along with small pollack. The ground further out seems to be mainly snag free sand and ideal ground for flatfish; after dark should see dogfish or maybe bull huss moving in. Some nice bass are caught here, try an early morning session when there are fewer people and boats to spook the fish. Light tackle can be used here, distance casting is not required and a light rod can be used for spinning, float fishing or legering.
The venue is safe for children above toddling age, there is no railing to the wall but the inner wall should provide plenty of crabbing opportunities to keep them occupied.

As with most fishing spots in West Wales, buying bait can be a problem; there is a tackle shop in Haverfordwest, County Sports at 3 Old Bridge, Haverfordwest SA61 2EZ, tel: 01437 763740. They have a range of frozen baits and stock live ragworm. It would be best to phone and order ragworm as supplies can be erratic.

There is a shop in Solva, just down the coast, ( Bay View Stores on the left as you go down the hill into Solva) that sells fishing tackle and frozen baits and is open until 7 or 8pm.

OTHER LOCAL VENUES ......Newgale.......Fishguard

Tide Times for the next seven days

* note, being in Wales you may not recognise the wording on the NT sign, luckily the NT Logo looks the same in Welsh, there is free parking for NT members

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

Pembrokeshire, Solva

Solva, rock mark.

Solva is a picturesque inlet on the A487 between Haverfordwest and St Davids. It is popular for boating and has a busy quay area. There is a free car park at the head of the inlet and coast paths lead out to rocky headlands on each side. There is a toilet block in the car park and another at the quay which is on the right hand side of the inlet along a level path, wheelchair access is as far as the Quay. Shops and cafés are a short walk away and there is a shop, Bay View Stores up the hill towards St Davids on the right, that sells fishing tackle and frozen baits and is open until 7 or 8pm.

Solva, at the seaward end of the mooring inlet.

Fishing near the moorings is difficult when there is boating activity and crabbing or fishing the fringes for flounder is about as much as is possible. Local children head out along the coast path to the right and a short way along there are paths down to rock ledges from which a few anglers can fish. There is rough ground so tackle loss may be expected. Restricted space for casting means scaling down to a spinning rod rather than a beachcaster, pollack and bass will take a spinner or plug worked along the creek edge or out into the deeper water. Float fishing can be employed for bass, wrasse, pollack, and mackerel in season.. Paths lead out to other rock marks on the headlands but this is not recommended for children or beginners.

Worms can be dug here at low tide but do not dig around the boat moorings and backfill any holes. Crabs can be found in the weed and under rocks, the small hard-backed crabs can be hooked through at the base of a leg and float fished for wrasse.

Tide times for Solva for the next 7 days.

as far as the Quay only

Pembrokeshire, Saundersfoot Harbour

Saundersfoot Harbour, Inner wall.

Saundersfoot ( pronounced Sandersfoot by the locals ) is to the north of Tenby, just off the A477/478 and the B4316.
It is a convenient spot for children and parts are accessible to wheelchair users. The harbour dries out at low tide so check tide times for fishing here. Parking is right alongside the harbour wall and toilets, shops and cafés are a short level walk away. 
The easiest fishing is from the inner wall casting onto clean sand. A long cast is not needed, fish come very close to the wall. Dogfish, flatfish, bass and other bottom feeding fish are caught along with mullet, mackerel and gar in season to float fished mackerel strip.
In the Autumn there are usually plenty of Tub Gurnard to be caught and sometimes smoothhounds although they are likely to be small pups.
Squid, mackerel or sandeel will take most fish. 

Very light tackle and size 6 or smaller hooks dropped down the wall or by the rocks will get blennies, watch out with these they have sharp teeth and they are not averse to giving a nip as you get the hook out.
There is a wall dividing off a small section at the back of the harbour, this wall is usually crowded with people catching crabs.

Saundersfoot Harbour, the outer wall.

The outer wall has a stone and concrete apron which can make fishing from here difficult when retrieving tackle or landing a fish. At the end of the wall at the round section there is a vertical drop to the water which makes that section the favoured spot. Summer fishing spells mayhem here as people will come and fish from the apron under where you are trying to fish from the top. There is access at the start of the wall onto a small beach which can be fished on a rising tide although at high you will be forced back onto the steps.

At most times light tackle and smooth leads can be used, there is not much tidal current.

Razor fish and black lug can be got from this beach at low tide on spring tides by those who know how to get them.

Bait including ragworm can be got at Tenby, Tenby Angling within the Old Market Hall which is on the High Street * ( edit. June 2015, I heard that this has now closed ) or at Pembroke Dock

updated Mar 2012 local Tackle Shop now closed, ref deleted.

Tide times for the next 7 days

Inner wall only, see top photograph.

Pembrokeshire, Tenby Harbour.

Tenby Harbour, rising tide.

Tenby Harbour dries out at low tide so is fishable only a few hours either side of high tide. The venue is comfortable and easy to fish and would enable wheelchair users to access fairly deep water over a low wall. Parking is a long walk away, as you arrive at Tenby take the road out towards Saundersfoot, then take the road signposted North Beach and Hospital. There is a large car park signposted on the left at the bottom of a hill (Hospital sign is more visible.) You will have to walk along the top prom, down steps or slopes down to the lower prom and around to the Harbour. At high tide it is possible to fish from this prom, and, out of season from the beach. The beach is clean sand apart from a patch near the visible large rock. There is disabled parking near the harbour entrance.

Tenby Harbour, The low section of wall.

As with most working harbours you may not fish the inner harbour. Boats have right of way so do not cast from the end into the area used by boat traffic. Long casting is not required from here, the fish are as likely to be close to the wall as a long way from it; bottom fishing will get a variety of fish, dogfish, flounder, dab, whiting, bass, gurnard and other species. Summer season brings mackerel, garfish and the crowds. Float fishing is the most sporting way of catching mackerel, catch only as many as you need , mackerel die after being handled with dry hands or a cloth so if you have enough, stop fishing for them and go back to bottom fishing. This is a venue suitable for children although there is either a long drop to the water or deep water depending on the state of the tide. Crabbing can be done in the inner harbour. All the usual facilities, shops, cafés etc. are a short walk away.

Butlers Horse Rocks

If you walk around to the right as you walk down the slope towards the harbour wall, following the sign for The Lifeboat station, you will see some stone steps leading down to a small rock platform. This goes by the quaint local name of Butlers Horse. Why I don't know. There is only room for three or four people to fish from here and you will be fishing over clean sand for the same species as from the harbour wall.. The current can pull quite hard around this point so grip leads will be needed at some states of the tide.

Rocket Rocks or 'The Bandstand' at low tide.

Further around the headland, it's quicker to approach from the other side past the Museum and Gallery, you will come to 'The Bandstand' mark which the old local I was chatting to called Rocket Rock..... and just as he didn't know who Butler or his horse were, he didn't offer an explanation for this name. From the path you will need to carefully climb, slide, tumble or fall headlong onto the rocks below. Fishing is said to be good from here at night, I haven't personally fished here, I'm too old for this climb, slide, tumble or fall headlong business.

There is a tackle shop close to the harbour but you may have to travel to Pembroke Dock, Raven Trading on the small industrial estate before entering the town, to get livebait of any sort.

Tide times for the next 7 days

Harbour Wall only

Pembrokeshire, Newport, The Parrog

Behind the Boat Club, on The Parrog.

This is a popular spot for crabbing from the wall; the car park and toilets are a short walk away. The tidal pull is very strong through here and it is fishable only at high slack water if using legering techniques. Spinning is possible, casting into the main tideway although weed in the water can make this method tiresome. Bass, mullet and flounder make their way in and out of the estuary through this narrow channel.

You can get frozen bait for crabbing from a shop by the garage workshop in the village. At low tide you may find peeler crabs in the weed at the base of the wall. Lugworm can be dug out on the flats but do not dig near boat moorings and backfill any holes.

.Evening on The Parrog with tide tide creeping in.

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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Crabbing, Crab species.

A common shore crab.

If you go crabbing then the shore crab is the crab you are most likely to catch, its colour varies from brown, green and sometimes orange or red. The crab changes its shell periodically as it grows; the shell does not grow so the crab sheds it and grows another. If the crab is just ready to pop off its old shell it is called a peeler crab ( because you can peel off the shell and the leg coverings). Peeler crabs make good bait for most species of fish, they usually hide under stones and weed at this stage as they are vulnerable to predators. When the shell comes off there is a short period before the new shell hardens, the crab is now a softy or jelly crab and is also excellent bait. You are not likely to catch peeler or soft crabs, you have to hunt them out at low tide. Wrasse and other fish will eat hardback crabs with no bother, some cod are found to be stuffed with them when gutted.

A Velvet Swimming Crab.

As you can see, the Velvet Swimming Crab is a much more handsome fellow than the shore crab. It is covered in a velvet coat that catches the sunlight to make varying colours. The legs are flattened as an adaption to help it swim in the water. These are not as common as the shore crab but they nip just as hard, and they are usually very aggressive...

Stage one in picking up a crab.

Use your index finger to press firmly enough on the crab to stop it scuttling away. Not too hard or you will damage the crab.

Stage two in picking up a crab.

Having got the crab pinned down, place your middle finger and thumb on opposite sides of the shell and pick the crab up. He cannot get at you; if you are a child you can now terrorise little sisters, mothers, grannies etc with the crab, but remember it is a living creature, not a toy. Don't harm it and put it in a bucket and/or put it back in the sea at the end of your crabbing expedition.

Spider crab

This spider crab is about 40cm across and they grow much bigger, you will need a big bucket to keep these in. This example has lost a claw, this is quite common, it will grow a new one eventually. Spider crabs are vey docile compared with other crabs. The shell is spikey and uncomfortable to hold. Spider crabs nip off hooks and make bottom fishing nearly impossible during the summer along large stretches of the south coast. They are edible, most are exported to the continent if caught commercially.

Squat Lobster (Munida rugosa)

You may find a funny looking crab-like creature with very long claws and long antennae, this is the squat lobster. These grow a body about 10cm long but you are likely to catch specimens very much smaller.

.Hermit Crab

The Hermit Crab does not bother to make a shell on its body, it makes a home in a suitably sized whelk shell or similar and must find a bigger shell at intervals as he grows out of each shell. The crab will draw himself right back into the shell using his armoured claws as a defence. This crab makes a top bait for many larger species of fish and for this purpose can be removed easily from its shell by immersing it in fresh water.

There is another common crab, the Edible crab, when I can catch one in a drop net I will post a photograph.

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Swanage, The Banjo Pier

The 'Banjo' Pier, Swanage.

This short stone pier is located opposite the Junction of Victoria Avenue with the seafront. It forms the storm-water outflow from the road drainage system so in times of heavy rain there will be a lot of fresh water entering the sea here. This can attract flounders looking for food washed in by the fresh water. 
The water off here is shallow and the tide recedes from the end on spring tide lows but a wide range of fish are caught from here, with bass being the prime target. Other species caught are various flatfish, small rays, pout, rockling and dogfish. It can be worth putting out a popped up fish strip* if there are any gar or mackerel about.
Mullet are often seen shoaling in the shallows to the side of the pier but are seldom tempted to take a bait.
The sea bed is clean sand with very few snags although sometimes after an easterly blow there will be 'banks' of weed formed. 
Some big spider crabs can be caught from here, a nuisance for anglers but fun for the kids. If a child is wanting to catch a fish then a scrap of worm on a size 6 hook dropped down to the base of the wall will most often result in a Shanny, the Common Blenny or a small Wrasse 
Safe for children, toilets, cafes, takeaways and car parking a short walk away.

* a pop-up rig... a running ledger trace perhaps 3 or 4 feet long with the addition of a small float ( usually a 12mm floating bead or two ) a few inches from the bait to 'pop-up' the bait into mid water and away from the crabs; this rig does not work well in strong tidal flows as the drag of the current forces the float down to the bottom.

Crabbing.

Crablines, safe type and traditional

Catching crabs is a good introduction to fishing for small children, even the most fretful ankle-biter seems to quieten down when crabbing. You will need, crab line, a bucket that will contain your crabs ( in seawater) for boasting purposes, a long handled net, some bait.... bits of fish, squid pieces, bacon fat and rind all work well, crabs are not fussy eaters. You can buy crab lines from tackle shops and gift shops in any seaside town, these have a line on a winder, a weight, one or two wire booms each with a short length of nylon line and a small hook. A safer and altogether more successful outfit is this; a small drawstring bag of the type used for some washing machine tablets, string and a pebble from the beach to weight the bag. Place some fishy gunge in the bag with the pebble, tighten the drawstring, attach a length of string and there you have a perfectly safe and effective bit of kit for the ankle-biter. The crabs will get tangled in the mesh of the bag and will be most reluctant to let go.

The technique will have to be learned; drop the rig down the side of the wall or pier, wait for a while and gently, gently pull the line up hand over hand with no jerking which will cause the crabs to drop off. As soon as you can, position the net under the crab so that if it lets go it will drop in the net.
Change the water often on hot days and keep the bucket in the shade if you can as warm water will cause the crabs some distress. You will have to learn how to pick up a crab ! They are fiesty creatures and the bigger ones can give quite a nip. Place your index finger on the back of the crab, you may have to distract it with your other hand while you do this; you can then gently press the crab down on its belly with that finger to stop it moving off, then place your thumb and middle finger one on each side of the shell. You can then pick it up whilst it scrabbles about clutching at thin air with its claws. Remember that crabs walk sideways.
There are several different species of crab that you may catch, shown here, the most common is the Shore crab which is green or brown and usually quite small. The Spider crab is a large spiky backed crab with long thin legs, these crabs are right girly things and don't try to nip you like the other types do and usually don't even bother to try to get away. Another type is the Velvet Swimming crab, this type has flattened rear legs to help it swim instead of crawl, then there is the Edible crab and these are sometimes, if you are in the right place, big enough to take and eat. The legal size for taking crabs varies according to the area you are in, usually about 10cm (4") across the shell.
If you are using a line with hooks it is always possible that you will catch a fish, usually a rockling, blenny, pout or similar but occasionally a biggy is caught, A lad had a bass of a couple of kilos in West Bay Harbour last year and I have seen a dogfish and a conger eel caught in Watchet Harbour on a crab line. Another lad caught a dead body on his crab line at West Bay in 2008 but that's another story.