While the freshwater fishing suffered during the heatwave of July, sea fishing in Wales was booming, with many of the usual summer species being in abundance – including smooth-hounds, various rays, mackerel, tope, bull huss, conger, flounder, Mullet and even blue shark. Below: Tim Hughes enjoying Monknash

Bass fishing with lures and bait and also wrasse fishing was very productive – and will continue to be so well into late summer. In mid Wales, Clarach and Abersytwyth are fishing well, plus Barmouth area up to Harlech in the various estuaries where you can expect a lot of bass and also flatties.

Some of marks on the Glamorganshire coasts fished well for bass, including on the lures thanks to the Bristol channel being clearer than usual due to the lack of rain. Below: Jake Jones with a Llantwit bass.

Talking of the Bristol channel, Jeremy Wade visited Wales for an Angling Trust event. Some great fishing was to be had on charter boat Tusker 2, with real medley of species coming to the net – including rays, conger and bass. Now is a great time to hire a skipper and enjoy some fantastic action afloat. A lot of skippers are offering inexpensive family friendly 4 hour trips with all tackle supplied, so well worth taking the family out to enjoy. Below: Jeremy Wade fishing out of Cardiff bay (on a cold early August day!)

In north Wales Pensarn is fishing well for bass, as is Hell’s mouth off the Llyn Peninsula. Off Anglesey there is plenty of action almost everywhere, including Amlwch for some nice wrasse off the rocks and Moelfra for bass.

Prospects look great for the rest of August into September – expect more of the same with summer species – especially bass and rays – to be featuring heavily in the catches. For the adventurous then a charter trip to the Celtic deeps out of Pembroke for blue sharks should be on your bucket list for this month and for the next if the calm weather holds.

Early June was tough due to the weather, but it soon improved allowing for some fun charter boat fishing. Tope started to appear in the catches, especially in Cardigan bay. We joined Epic Fishing along with Rob Hughes (below) and Julian Lewis Jones for a great day on the tope in early June. Full report can be read here.

Bream, mackerel, bull-huss and of course bass are now being caught in Cardigan bay – great fishing, make sure you make the most of it while the weather lasts!

Smooth-hounds are being caught almost all over Wales currently, with the Vale of Glamorgan area perhaps being the most productive part of the coast. Many of these hounds can run into double figures. They fight hard and provide tremendous summer sport. Rays of all species are also about in good numbers, and marks such as Monk-Nash and Ogmore deeps are throwing up rays regularly.

Pembrokeshire is producing some nice wrasse on the rock marks, often to lure fishing methods such as soft plastic jigs. This method of course also catches bass and pollack at marks such as St David’s.

Regarding bass fishing, Milford Haven Marina is fishing well for them – peeler crab being the best bait. Llansteffan beach near Carmarthen is another bass hot-spot reports of over 20 bass in a session here recently. Ogmore estuary at Southerndown is another great location – especially if fishing lures at dusk as the tide floods in. Abersoch is fishing well for bass on the Llyn peninsula. Fishing In Wales contributor ‘Daz’ is having a great bass season, fishing the Port Talbot area from the shore and afloat. He’s had a ton of bass on lures and the fly recently – one of many below!

Anglesey has been producing some fine sea fishing for a mix of species, Amlwch breakwater producing corkwing wrasse, ballan wrasse, pollack, pouting, scorpion fish and dabs to LRF lure tactics. There are also garfish and mackerel about now, good fun on lures/feathers. Pwllheli is producing a variety of species off the rock marks, including conger, huss and thornback rays. If you want a north Wales hound, Talacre near Holywell is worth a try.

July should be great for all of the summer species – especially on the charter boats. You can find all of the Charter skippers in Wales here.

May hasn’t been a pleasant month so far, wind and rain making it tricky. For those who have fished it’s been cartilaginous fish city – with rays, smooth-hound, bull-huss and dogfish featuring most frequently in the catches, with bass, flounder, conger and pollock also appearing.

Below: A selection of the species being caught all over Wales currently (pics Hayden Ross)

Along Glamorganshire and south Wales coasts Barry at the Knap has been producing rays to double figures and the odd surprise bass to nearly 6lb. Penarth pier is seeing thornback rays and dog fish. Mumbles pier has been producing hounds as well as the usual doggies. Swansea west pier has been producing big bull huss – a big drop net is an essential here. Monknash is producing rays, but you might struggle to get through the endless doggies there. Tim Hughes (below) with a Monknash ray.

Down at Pembrokeshire, Pollack are being caught on some rock marks, Joe Shaw below, caught this cracking 7lb pollack whilst fishing one of his local marks using soft plastic lures.

On the north Wales coast, Talacre and Mostyn has been producing rays, dabs and dogfish, with smooth-hounds starting to show up, although its been a bit slow. These marks however should start fishing much better when the rain stops. Holyhead breakwater is producing lots of big bull-huss into double figures, the back wall particularly productive. Any fish bait (sandeel, mackerel, bluey etc.) fished in low light conditions should pick them up. Expect also to run into conger.

All of the charter boats have been having fast and furious action – whenever the weather has allowed them to get out. Again, focus is on rays, hounds, bull huss and dogfish. Eyes are on tope for next month, as it warms up. Bass fishing should start coming into its own soon, with the estuaries and marks off west Wales and Ceredigion producing fish to bait and lures.

With travel restrictions eased in late March sea fishing activity has increased substantially, with lots of anglers hitting the beaches and rock marks all over Wales. For charter boats, confusingly, they seem to have been classed as ‘ Outdoor attractions’ (same category as theme parks) so it seems they will have to wait to officially resume operating on 26^th April.

From what we gather it was a disappointing cod season, with an absence of larger fish and numbers of codling. Of course with reduced fishing activity and no charter boats this is hard to gauge. A few codling are still coming out.

The fishing in the early spring is generally quite slow, and water temperatures are very low for time of year.  But things have picked up with plenty of rays of all species being caught, some early smooth-hounds and some large early season bass, which can be caught using peeler crab. Dogfish are out in force and are literally crawling up the rods at many of the popular marks. A few Conger have been also caught, along with some bull-huss.

Image below of a big spring bass from Llanelli area:

Good marks at the moment for a mixture of species include Witches point, Pendine sands, Ogmore deeps, Aberafan and Barry off the points. Marks at Aberystwyth, Knab rock, Monknash and Cardiff barrage have all been pretty slow. This should of course change with some warmer weather – smooth-hounds in particular will continue to build in numbers, alongside more and bigger rays. Bass fishing will be on the horizon with warmer temperatures, spots to look out for will include the Gower beaches, the estuaries of mid-Wales and Pembrokeshire.

It will be really interesting to see how the charter boats fare when they are allowed out again.

The pictures below show some of the fish being caught around Welsh coasts currently. (Image credits Foreshore Fishing Facebook page)

The winter Sea fishing started well – some really nice cod were caught in November from the shore and on the charters.

The shore fishing for the cod has really slowed down the past week or two, there is a lot of debate about why this is, including trawler activity or that the fish have moved offshore and to the other side of the Bristol channel to feed. The boats however are still doing really well for the cod, provided the weather allowed them to get out. To find a charter boat in Wales check out our dedicated page.

Cod from Tuskar 2 boat Cardiff bay.

We’ve heard of some really big pouting being caught this year – many over 2lb which is a specimen size. Robert Cole of WFSA had a great day on the pouting on a charter out of Pembrokeshire, check out the mega pouting below, proper specimens.

It’s been very mild so most summer species are still about – including rays into double figures from Cardiff foreshore area. The nice 11lb 11oz thornie below was captured by Paul Clayton of Chepstow. Blondes to 20lb are still being reported to charter boats and at the Sand spit Lavernock. A few bass are still being reported at various marks, for example at Ogmore.

Predictably there are lots of doggies about and also whiting in good numbers, especially Swansea area around the mumbles, Aberystwyth and Penarth pier. Although small these fish provide good sport. Charlotte Bullen (below) of the lady Hookers club had a good session with 17 doggies and 6 whiting at Swansea.

The Cardiff barrage has been a bit slow according to reports, although we hope this should pick up soon with some cold weather.

Winter charter boat fishing out of Milford Haven and St David’s during the calm cold spells has been very productive. Lots of species about including herring, pouting, mackerel, ling and pollack.

Julian Lewis Jones fished out of St David’s recently and had some great action winter wrecking, which is a relatively new thing. Should the weather be calm and cold it will be well worth a try. Check out the images below of Julian’s successful day with skipper Padrig Rees of Blue shark charters.

October is a great month for bass fishing. We have had many reports of great bass fishing, including multiple catches of fish on lures from the Port Talbot area by ‘Daz’ Jackson, who fishing with his son Ben has had several sessions with over 20 fish.

The area around Mid Wales has been fishing well, With Hywel Morgan fishing around Aberystwyth and Matthew Rickard (fishing guide) around Barmouth catching plenty of bass with his clients. Bass fishing will carry on for another month or two at least, so don’t hang up the bassing rods quite yet!

Image: Client of Matthew Rickard

Charter boat angling has been on fire, with big rays still being caught in the Bristol channel, as well as conger and the odd late hound. Picture below from Tusker 2 charter customer Simon Holmes with a fantastic 21.5lb blonde Ray.

Cod fishing is now underway, with some nice cod and codling showing up in the catches especially south Wales marks such as Cardiff foreshore, llantwit major and Ogmore deeps. The cracking double below was caught by Shaun Tucker at Ogmore recently.

Due to COVID-19 virus a national ‘Fire break’ lock-down is coming to Wales from 6pm 23rd October to 9th November. This is going to affect angling, since you will not be allowed to drive to fish, only walk from home if you are fortunate to be near a suitable mark on the coast. Charter boats will be closed during this time, and anglers from outside Wales will not be allowed to visit. More details can be found here.

The sea fishing in Wales in September has been fantastic with lots of fish about, including a a mixture of all of the summer species such as bream, bass, rays, smooth-hound and even some early cod. Its a great month for sea angling so make sure you get out there.

Epic Fishing trips Newquay reported over 150 bream recently, with Cardigan Sea Angling Club.

Tuskar 2 Charters out of Cardiff bay landed over 100 fish at Aberthaw including some cracking double figure rays. There are also tope, hounds and some big early cod being reported in the Bristol channel, which bodes well for the cod fishing this autumn.
The bass fishing continues to be great off the Ceredigion coast. Hywel Morgan has been fishing for them regularly using lures, and is doing well. Check out the specimen caught yesterday whilst fishing on a friends boat near Aberystwyth.

Bass fishing will be getting even better in October – its one of the best months if we have fine weather, so don’t hang up your bassing rods yet!!

Wrasse fishing off rock marks can also be good in autumn at this time of year. The lovely fish below was caught by Lloyd P of Garry Evans Tackle in Cardiff on a lure off the Pembroke coast recently.

On the mullet front, Anglers such as Darren ‘Daz’ Jackson have been catching well on the fly and using bread. Check out the lovely mullet below, caught by Daz recently off the coast near Port Talbot, part of a 9 fish haul.

Sea fishing has remained good through July and August – Smooth hounds and rays are still there to be caught in good numbers, especially off the South Wales coast at places like Monknash and Sker point. Best baits  for the hounds are peeler crab, but sandeel and squid will also work.

The National Mullet Club held a fish-in at Swansea on 8th and 9th August, which went well with quite a few caught. There do seem to be a few more mullet about this year off the Welsh coast.

Bass are now here in force – they are being caught all over Wales. August is a really good month for them, especially lure and fly fishing whenever the weather is settled. Check out the nice bass below captured by ‘Daz’ Jackson a Welsh saltwater lure/fly specialist.

Boat fishing in Wales is now back after a long lay off due to COVID (bear in mind the Welsh Government guidance) Skippers are reporting great catches of mackerel, tope, bream, rays and smooth hound. Look out for a film we made with Epic Fishing Trips Newquay in the near future, we had some great fishing out in Cardigan bay with them.

For those with a kayak now is great time to get out and try for the bass. David Hoppe has had some great sport off the North Wales coast recently using flies and lures.