OPPORTUNITY ROCKS
The best time of year is upon us in North Wales. Get out there and make the most of it
Time’s right to fish in North Wales.
Heavy summer foot traffic on the North Wales rock marks is over for another year, the dark nights are lengthening, the sea temperature peaking and so too are fish stocks. Autumn spells a period of mellow fruitfulness when the rock angler has opportunities galore that no other period of the year gets close to for its overall variety, but also for the chance to catch a doublefigure fish from the shore.
In milder years, this perfect period can last right through to Christmas before winter finally sinks in her claws.
A lot of the rock marks on Anglesey’s south-facing and north-facing coast are well documented. Ty Croes, Trearddur Bay, Llanbadrig and Amlwch are all popular, as are those along the Lleyn Peninsula between Nefyn and Abersoch.
My advice is to avoid the frequently quoted marks that get heavily fished and seek out hidden platforms further away from the mainstream angling. This will mean longer walks that many anglers will frown at, but it makes a massive difference. For instance, fish such as bull huss, conger eels, wrasse and pollack are all somewhat territorial, and recent heavy angling pressure, day after day, on the easier marks will take its toll on overall fish numbers.
At the point of release, the one thing on any fish’s mind is to bolt for pastures new, and on heavily fished marks this can leave an area poorly stocked until a prolonged bad spell of weather reduces angling activity and fish get a chance to rebuild again.
FIND A TOP MARK
The process of finding a near-virgin mark is to follow the coastal footpaths to discover access to the water that isn’t easy and obvious. Take a scramble down towards water level and you’ll often find little platforms or inclines with just enough room for two anglers that others miss because they aren’t visible from above.
Most anglers look for obvious, easily seen, flat platforms that are comfortable to fish, ignoring the not so easy. For every known rock mark, there is at least another that’s rarely fished. These are the ones you need to identify and access virgin ground.
As mentioned, I want variety from my marks, so I’m initially looking for a rocky outcrop that deflects the flood or ebb tide. This creates mixed ground, usually patches of broken ground where the tide scours out the seabed, but with surrounding sand or maybe gravel where the tide flow lessens, allowing depositation of waterborne materials.
Such marks also tend to have rough ground right in under your feet that may, at range, go on to cleaner sand. Rarely, in this North Wales area, does the sand come right into the rocks you’re standing on.
Having fished together for over 30 years, my mate Clive Griffiths and I tend to work as a team when trying a new mark. We cast to different areas at varying distances and locate the rougher areas, sand, rising banks, and gravel bank. It’s by locating varied ground that we’re able to increase the variety of fish we can target by predicting their whereabouts.
The big mistake many make is to keep casting straight out and to the same distance all the time. The majority will all be casting roughly the same distance, and this is another reason why areas of ground get overfished.
Its enlightening to realise that a small area just the size of the average living room is the hotspot for a big three-bearded rockling; a sheer rock ledge always holds a conger; a deeper spot in the rough ground is where to drop a bait for a huss; a big rock pinnacle holds ling; and a certain gap of sand between rough ground is where the tope run.
In addition, the plaice never sit on flat sand, always either on a slight incline of a bank, or on sand tight to a rough ground patch. The rays move over the sand on the flood tide using the natural passage ways between the patches of stone.
If, over time, you can build up this specific knowledge, you’re going to enjoy the very best fishing the autumn can offer. It’s the old adage of “right place, right time, right bait”.
WEATHER AND TIDES
Weather is very important, and safety is paramount. Always fish in pairs, don’t fish marks that are fully exposed to open sea swells in worsening weather, and always choose a mark that offers easy and quick access to safety if the conditions deteriorate on a new tide. Make sure you have responsible people at home who know exactly where you are and what time to expect your return.
Periods of calmer weather are the most productive, whereas prolonged rough weather with big sea swells push the majority of fish further out well beyond casting range. Obviously, if you have a lot of smaller fish working tight to shore in calmer seas, then the bigger predators such as huss and tope won’t be far away.
I do, however, like some movement in the water. Hot, flat calm conditions are not as good as when there’s a breeze to ripple up the surface water and cut the light levels down.
Overcast days are better than bright sunny days, but the hours of early darkness are the best, especially if it coincides with a flooding tide.
The ideal size of the tide can obviously be mark specific, but a general conclusion is that the size of the tide is not as important in deeper water in an area where there is less tide run. Both neaps and springs will fish well. However, in shallower water, say less than 25ft, I look to the neaps when the depth is more constant to give me the best chance, and would always fish at night or in heavy overcast weather.
TACKLE CHOICE
To cover the wider area of ground, 13ft beachcasters capable of launching 6oz and a biggish bait will be needed for the larger huss, tope and congers. Use the same rods for general species fishing too, as it gives an instant option to switch rigs if a pack of tope turn up, target passing rays, or drop in close into heavy rough for the huss and congers.
To get the distance, a common reel choice is the versatile Penn 525 Mag3, but anything tough of similar size is fine. If there’s a good chance of tope, then go back in time and fish the heavier duty (now no longer available) Penn 535 or classic Abu 9000, both with the line capacity and tough gears to combat fast-running big fish. Load the 525 with 20lb line and the bigger reels with 30lb mono, plus 60lb shockleaders.
Some people fish longer European beachcasters and big fixed-spool reels, which are fine for general fishing, but usually lack the power and can cause leverage issues when after bigger rough-ground congers, huss and tope, especially if you need to steer them through heavy snags.
It’s a good idea to reduce the gear you take, enabling you to walk that bit further. Six pulley rigs for tope made with 80lb mono and ending in a 15in section of 50lb wire, total length of the rig being about 70in, is enough to form a rubbing length to ward off abrasion if the rig comes in contact with the tope’s body. The hook needs to be a size 6/0 Viking pattern. Crimp the barb down to make release easier.
A lighter pulley rig made from 60lb mono and about 60in in length, with a size 6/0 Viking does nicely for huss. If you’re after rays, drop the hook to a size 4/0.
For smaller species, such as gurnards, plaice, dabs, and anything else that comes along, I favour a two-hook loop rig with size 2 Kamasan B940 Aberdeens. They’re small enough for the tiddlers, but man enough to land a much bigger fish.
Eight rigs of each type is enough. A few spare hooks and trace line means you can rebuild a rig if required, but this is rarely necessary.
Depending on the weather, you could take a 9ft spinning rod and a 4000-sized fixed spool loaded with 20lb braid. This covers the float-fishing for the wrasse, spinning for the pollack, although I prefer to organise specific trips for wrasse and pollack.
Lead weights are heavy, so carry eight 150g breakout weights for mixed ground, but if casting mostly into the rough, then add a couple of plain leads for insurance. In more than 40 years of rock fishing, I can’t remember ever having run out.
To cut down on the amount of gear, ditch the cool box and carry your bait, cut-down bait board and small knife in an insulated cool bag that fits in a rucksack. It gives a free hand for scrambling down the rocks too. Add pliers, scissors, T-bar for unhooking, headlamp, spare bait thread, and that’s as much as I need for an all-nighter.
BAIT
If you can, catch a few fresh mackerel before starting to fish on the bottom, because fresh bait can make a real difference. If not, then use frozen. Don’t use big baits. This is for two reasons. Firstly, a smaller bait casts further and distance can be essential on some of the marks. Secondly, even major predators like huss, congers and tope, struggle with the size of baits some anglers throw at them.
For tope, a bait between 4in and 5in is plenty. They can pick this up and swallow it quickly. They will pick up and run with a half or whole big mackerel, but may not take it fully in, and this is when dropped runs occur. A good bait is a tail slice of mackerel with a half a squid bound underneath it and well wrapped to streamline it.
Bluey, with its high oil content and scent, can be a top bait in the autumn, especially if the fish are not around in big numbers because it can be left for at least 30 to 40 minutes without washing out and gives a
bigger predator time to find it. The same bait, but no more than 4in length, is ideal for huss. They will cram a big bait in, but not get hooked and then spit out the bait when they hit the surface. They can take smaller baits straight in and be struck properly to sink the hook home. A really good bait for huss is several sandeels. Cut off the heads and tails from the sandeels, mount two head-totail and tail-to-head, and then whip with bait thread to streamline.
The two-hook rig is good for experimenting. Small fish baits, such as mackerel, squid or a sandeel, work well. Rag or lug can be good, but often a peeler crab will pull out something different. Casting a crab bait tight, but not into rough ground, gets you bonus wrasse including the occasional cuckoo wrasse. Mussels can produce a different species when tight to rough ground.