THE WOODEN GROYNES AT MACHROES
Leave Abersoch heading for Sarn Bach, then to Bwlchtocyn where you turn left for Machroes and follow the signs for the car park. You should fish in front of the wooden groynes.
On spring tides there’s a deeper, lowwater gutter and the fish go through it west to east. Also try just to the left of the furthest groyne, where the water starts to deepen a little.
This spot offers a little shelter from the westerly winds, and is less prone to weed in bad weather. It’s a great spot for big bass in the autumn, and at night can produce mixed catches of dogfish, dabs, whiting and flounders.
Calmer nights in summer produce occasional spotted rays at long range, but the bulk of the fish will be no more than 60 yards out either side of low water. The last two hours of the ebb can see fish in close, but the best fishing is for the first three hours of the new flood tide, especially at night if low water falls in the dark.
Though not a regular catch, this mark has a history of providing occasional sizeable turbot to 3lb, typically either in April or May.
TOP TIP: For the bigger spring turbot, fish a running leger rig with a 30in hook trace baited either with a sandeel or a belly strip of mackerel. Cast into the surf tables and let the bait move with the tide by choosing a lead weight light enough for wave and tide pressure to move the bait in a slow inshore arc.
BAIT: Razorfish is good in the autumn and winter for flounders and bass. Lug works well all year, as will mackerel strip. A sandeel tipped with a small square of mackerel is good for spotted rays.
BEST TIMES: Stick to the bigger tides climbing up to the spring tides.
GROUND: Clean sand here, with deeper gullies.