"Sea angling is catching fish from the shore or a boat using a rod and line, which is different to commercial fishing which uses nets and longer lines.
North Wales has long been a haven for sea anglers, from either the shore or afloat; the fishing opportunities for novices and expert anglers are endless.
The north Wales coastline is littered with different types of sea bed, ranging from rocks, reefs, sand banks to mud flats and shingled areas, all this together with quickly accessible wrecks.
The Irish Sea has an abundance of both deep and shallow wrecks which play host to many different species of fish; being part of the shipping lanes into Liverpool, over centuries now ships caught in severe storms or sunk during World War II have been lost in these seas.
With such varying seas, it is understandable why north Wales draws in both the fish and the anglers who seek them.
Anglesey is famed for many of its beaches and rock marks that offer a variety of fish species through out the year. Famous marks include Raven's Point, White Beach, Tŷ Croes, Holyhead Breakwater, to name only a few. Fish on offer include wrasse, pollock, rays, huss and tope, whereas the beaches around Colwyn Bay and Llandudno are famed for their summer bass catches and winter codling fishing with marks around Mostyn often producing specimen plaice and flounder.
For the boat angler, the seas around north Wales offer wide and varied fishing grounds. The many wrecks lying in the Irish Sea are easily accessible to the fleets of charter boats and the fishing around these sunken vessels regularly produce pollock, cod and coalfish well into double figures and many of the wrecks contain catches of ling and conger.
Inshore fishing gives anglers the chance to catch tope, huss, spurdog, pollock, bass, bream and gurnard. A good day afloat around the coast can see up to 20 species of fish coming over the gunwales.
Who's in charge?
The Welsh Federation of Sea Anglers (WFSA) was formed in 1955 and is the governing body of Sea Angling in Wales. The WFSA are members of the Sea Angling Liaison Committee of Great Britain and Ireland (SALC).
Most angling clubs in Wales are affiliated to the WFSA and benefit not only from the awards and trophies that are given by the Federation, but also from the efforts of the hard working committees who arrange major angling events at national and regional level. The Federation fights for member clubs where access to, or fishing from, facilities are threatened.
The WFSA also works with many different authorities involved with the protection of our seas.
I'm also on the Welsh sea angling team - six out of seven of the team are from north Wales and we came fourth out of 19 nations in the world championships in 2005."
your comments
Mike Flynn
Wales narrowly miss out on senior gold in the home nations held on the shores of Aberystwyth, youth team secure a brillant gold medal in their section, junior anglers suffer a defeat despite winning the first day , all anglers who attend on behalf of Wales did exceptionally well.
Mon Jul 13 12:10:32 2009
dom from pwllheli
fish for bass off the rocks and on my orkney use live prawns by the butlins holiday resort. very good there for bass
Wed Jul 8 14:00:38 2009
niall barker from betws y coed
not many mackeral from the boat yet this year and they seem smaller, lots of small whiting still around.
Mon Jul 6 09:37:59 2009
Steve Bach of Bethesda
I'm new to sea fishing and heard of caim, White beach, mackrell rock, but haven't got a clue where they are or how I get there.
Wed Jul 1 09:18:15 2009
Mark C
Can anyone tell me some good bass marks on Anglesey?
Tue Jun 30 12:54:06 2009
Phill Kettle, Staffordshire, England
I fished off the shore + sea walls at Hen Golwyn (Old Colwyn) in July 2007 and caught loads of mackerel on lures + spinners using very light tackle (10ft spinning rod and 8lb line). Shoals of little whiting were literally hurling themselves onto the rock sea defences to escape the shoals of mackerel.Are July and August always the best months to hit the mackerel cos' I'm really looking forward to going there again very soon and maybe catch the odd bass or mullet too?
Thu Jun 25 09:21:23 2009
John Price, Warrington
I used to fish in my boat often off the north Wales coast until my wife was taken very ill 3 years ago. I want to start fishing again now off Trefor in July. Can I still arrive with my boat, pay for the day and launch it down the ramp?
Mon Jun 22 10:56:38 2009
les,sheffield
I am on holiday at Malltraeth in early July and would appreciate any info on estuary/rock fishing in immediate area, not too demanding!
Tue Jun 9 10:33:25 2009
Luke from Caernarfon
fished inbetween caernarfon and felinheli today and caught 2 dog fishes in about 5 minutes, obv dogfishes are not for eating, but i think the fish will be coming in, in the middle of june now, so i'd try out the menai straits area's
Mon Jun 1 09:39:06 2009
Peter, north Wales
At this time of year what type of fish are there around and what baits are best in this part of north Wales i.e Caernarfon, Anglesey, Menai Strait? I have been over the past few weeks trying some local spots with lug, pealer, but not getting any luck.
Web team: Peter, try some of the websites in our angling guide.
Tue Apr 14 09:39:25 2009
Mr Oliver, Old Colwyn
Fishing in north Wales has hit an all time low. I fish a lot here and I've never seen it so bad. All the sea anglers I speak to say the same, even the local fishing shop has cancelled boat trips due to the lack of fish being caught. Two years ago it fished OK - plenty of whiting coming in on the night tide. We fished three marks - Conwy, Llandudno and here in Colwyn, lots of differant baits, but no fish, the bait came back just as it was cast. There have been countless reports of trawlers coming close in from three years back when I saw a trawler so close in I could see the men working, but nothing is done. I was told by Sea Life Centre staff the young fish don't have a chance. Our shoreline is at war and our fishing is paying but as always nothing will happen till it's too late. As for the sea anglers licence, I would pay if laws were set to change and protect our shorelines and set up farms as in game fishing and coarse fishing. We are losing something really big here, but still we look away!
Tue Mar 24 10:18:49 2009
cheyne , porthmadog
Where is the best but closest place to fish around Porthmadog?
Tue Feb 17 09:27:41 2009
Karl Nicholls, Wirral
Where are the pigeon holes at the Great Ormes and how do you get there?
Mon Jan 5 09:22:09 2009
Dafydd from anglesey
where's the best place to catch sea bass on anglesey? i only do makrel fishing at the moment & want to try a diffrent form of fishing.
Tue Jul 15 10:26:19 2008
James, Y Felinheli
Definitely the best place for rock fishing is Caim beach by Penmon on the south-east side of Ynys Mon.
Thu Jun 19 09:36:28 2008
dave liverpool
where are the best places for rock fishing and parking my car on anglesey?
Mon Jun 16 10:50:54 2008
Thomas Keegan, wirral
We travel from the wirral to fish anglesey and north wales coast every weekend. We like to fish the north of the island for a wide range of fishing day and night. also there are several good charter boats from holyhead such as my way and spindrift - very enjoyable and great fishing to be had all over
Fri May 9 10:34:14 2008
Ian Macleod, Southport
I am a scot who fishes in Wales, Caernarfon bay in fact. The scenery, esp of the Rivals, Er Eifls, is something else, magificent is one word that I can think of yet, I very seldom hear about it on your web site. The road is a bit of a pest coming in to Trefor but having said that, it will be great when it is finished. Ian Macleod
Mon Apr 21 11:02:47 2008
John Anglesey
There is a good selection of charter boatsat amlwch port Anglesey for all types of fishing ' well worth a look
Mon Apr 14 10:24:28 2008
Peter Bowdler Leigh ,Wigan
I don't know if many of you are aware that DEFRA are trying to bring in a licence to go sea fishing? This includes shore fishing. They say it would help fish stocks. I phoned them to ask how this proposal will have any effect on stocks and they mooted that there could be improvements in fish sizes. in my opinion they should go back to pre-EEC agreements over the Irish Box where this area was closed to all commercial fishing for three months to allow all spiecies to breed and grow. So if you don't want a licence imposed get your consultation document and write to DEFRA to say NO. Get them to control foreign trawlers, the sizes of trawlers in these waters and where they fish to protect all species.
Mon Feb 4 10:01:25 2008
Zaf , Manchester
Llandudno pier is always popular for safe fishing but there is another good spot. On the Great Ormes Head there is a rocky but a dangerous spot called Pigeonholes. Been there on Saturday morning, within the two hours caught two doggies, three whiting, and a 2kg bass. I had to come back because of very strong wind on that very steep rocky beach.
Mon Nov 12 10:16:40 2007
Paul from Blackpool
Could you tell me the best rock marks near Trearddur?
Mon Oct 8 15:14:51 2007
Mike flynn
Response to Stuart angelsey has many areas to catch Mackeral all are subject to the weather many of the tackel shop will no the hot areas , however for your assistance , I list a few early in the year Porth dafarch, known as mackeral rock as early as april , then on to ty croes late june to sept, the eastern areas include the Rnli area at moelfre , white beach and Caim for those who like a walk ,Penmon point can also be productive but prffered on the low water as tackle loss can be high if you are unaware of the rocky outcrops
Mon Sep 17 10:37:42 2007
Stuart, St Helens
Can you please tell me a the best areas in and around Anglesey for catching mackerel and bass from the shore. It needs to be a safe location for children. Also what is the best time of year for catching these species and what is the best tackle/baits for catching them on?
Mon Jul 16 10:01:04 2007
gareth - menai bridge
Anglers may like to know there is a tackle shop in menai bridge that is open early mornings every day of the week for your bait and fishing advice and they also do rod and reel repairs.
Mon Jun 18 09:44:11 2007
Keri Pickering
Wonder if you could help? From a young age being taught about the sea and being taken out to catch our Mackerel tea, can you tell me if the Mackerel numbers are on the demise, in the sea off North Wales - and if they are then why? Tried looking into this, but finding it very hard to get any facts or figures to prove it either way.
Fri May 4 10:45:42 2007
Alan owen from Aberffraw
After fishing for years around anglesey and always endeavouring to find new spots, i took a chance with a mate and found a new spot near the lookout post in rhoscolyn where I have caught many ballan wrasse up to 5lb and was lucky enough a year ago to catch a shore rockling that weighed 17 and a half ounces and have sent away for a welsh record. Just goes to show that taking chances on new spots sometimes pays off.
Tue Mar 6 09:42:19 2007
Martin Davies, St Louis, MO, ex Llangoed
White Beach, Anglesey, all time best fishing beach. obscure and hard to find which makes it all the better. As a boy in the earlier 60s my friends I would fish off the rocks there. There is a nice combination of large rocks (boulders actually), left over from an disused quarry with large sandbanks just beyond them. then there are the large tides.
I began my fishing career with a landline bought from a shop in Beaumaris. with it I caught crabs and slow-witted fish. I soon migrated to a 6 foot spinning rod and could cast much further so my harvest increased dramatically we would catch a variety of species. Various flat fish... dogfish, sea bass, whiting and mackerel.
I would keep my catches alive in buckets then take them around to nearby homes in the Glan-yr-afon area just before dinner time and sell them for a shilling a piece.
In the winter we would fish for flatties with mussel flesh or sandworms as bait, although that somehow it wasn’t as much fun. I can’t wait to come back to Anglesey to fish.
Fri Jan 26 11:16:03 2007
What exactly is there to catch in the seas off North West Wales? Gethyn Owen from Anglesey gives us the low down on sea fishing in the area.
