MAN-MADE MAGIC
As structures where many anglers begin their fishing, breakwaters, jetties and piers all offer superb opportunities
How to fish piers, breakwaters and jetties.
One of the first man-made structures I fished, when I was about eight, was the quay wall in Whitby. I remember catching small coalies, dabs, tiny whiting and codling in between the boats. I soon learned that most of the fish were either under the shadow of a boat or tight into the wall.
When we moved to Wales, my chances to fish man-made structures were suddenly limited due to lack of transport. My nearest ‘proper’ pier was more than 40 miles away, while the harbours locally mostly dried up either side of low water.
As a result, I came to fish breakwaters, piers and jetties quite a bit later in life. In some ways, that was a good thing because I already had a basic grounding in what to look for and try. I still made the same mistake most do, in that I headed for the farthest seaward point of any structure and put my full weight behind the cast for maximum range. This inconsistentat-best tactic cost me a lot of fish until the penny dropped and I realised I needed a far more logical approach.
It raises the question, though – if you’re new to fishing man-made structures, how do you read the ground features when they are hidden underwater, what fish are where, and how best can you fish them for immediate success?
Although most breakwaters are constructed to better protect the more exposed harbours, they can be used to create new anchorages across semi-sheltered bays.
The big advantage is, they are likely to be increased in size and shape over the next few decades to help combat rising sea levels. Equally likely is they’ll be constructed in much bigger numbers, too, all around the UK and Irish coast, to better protect coastal communities at risk from potential coastal flooding, but also to act as restrictive barriers to protect properties and agricultural land further inland. This could mean more opportunities for sea anglers.
Breakwaters are sometimes made from tetrapods, basically four-limbed star shapes of concrete that interlock to form a construction base that allows water to flow around it, helping to dissipate its force and protect the main breakwater construction.
The other main breakwater build is to use large chunks of rock or concrete that loosely fit together to form the foundations. A flat concrete walkaway is then added on the top. In both cases it leaves holes below the water line that become home to a wide range of fish.
Because breakwaters are used to create shelter by breaking the force of bigger seas, you’ll often find that there is heavy, rough ground extending well beyond the foundation of the breakwater on the main seaward side. Some of this is man-made, some of it created by the scouring-out action of the sea swell. Such ground is the obvious place to target congers, bull huss and cod.
If you want consistent fishing, seek out the roughest ground you can (where other anglers won’t fish) and target this area. The fish tend to become much more territorial here and will be available in better numbers. This especially applies to huss and congers. You’ll also get the occasional good pollack on both bait and lures because this ground is often neglected and they get a chance to grow bigger.
The inner side of the breakwater usually has much cleaner ground due to the tide and sea swell being more restricted. Longer-term sediment depositation also has an effect. Often, it is fairly flat. Sometimes you’ll find rising sandbanks created by boat channels or tidal action, and these can produce plaice and maybe rays. Beyond a few dabs and whiting, though, that’s all you’ll commonly catch by casting out to this ground.
INCREASED OPTIONS
The options increase massively once you realise that the bulk of the fish are tight in among the holes in the tetrapods and rocks. You’ll catch fish by locating the base of the rocks and dropping your baits here. Bigger offerings will find conger eels, but it can be a difficult job to stop them getting back into their holes and breaking you off.
Big ballan wrasse live in the holes between the rocks too, and these can be drawn out by
float-fishing worm and crab baits over the top of the submerged rocks, but again this is hit-and-hold fishing, albeit very productive.
A huge number of smaller species, such as goldsinny, corkwing and rock-cook wrasse, small pollack, small coalies, shannies, a multitude of gobies, sand smelts and sea scorpions, to name a few, plus rarer species such as topknot and leopard spotted gobies, can also be caught inside the rocks. This is the territory of the LRF angler fishing lighter 6-7ft rods with 8lb braid and light hooklengths ending in smaller-sized hooks between 12 and even size 20, depending on what you’re targeting.
Look for deeper holes between the rocks and concrete and drop the bait into these. The knack is to fish light with just enough weight to keep the bait gradually moving as the sea swell pushes between the rocks.
React quickly to bites when they come, and keep the fish coming once hooked. Top baits are tiny bits of ragworm, maddies, or tiny slivers of mackerel or squid.
Another good tip when checking out a breakwater is to look for any constructional angles or directional changes in its length. These will deflect the tide a little and create seabed configurations that provide a more varied habitat for a wider range of species.
Also look to fish down the side of ladders set into the concrete wall, as these again give protection to smaller fish. The ends of breakwaters deflect the tide, and this often produces a current of tide flowing past, which will be a hotspot for bass, garfish and mackerel hunting for sandeels.
In some areas of the country, breakwaters are formed from old rubble, some of it excavated from bomb sites. Others are just waste stone. These get covered in mud, sand and weed and tend to lay across the tide or are positioned to deflect the force of the tide. Often, they are only accessible on the bigger tides. These can be snaggy, but they are good for cod in winter and bass throughout most of the year.
TACKLING CONCRETE AND STONE JETTIES
These are not designed for protection from the sea, but are usually positioned in semisheltered areas to give loading access to working boats, often in small bays adjacent to rocky cliffs or outcrops or inside estuaries.
They can be constructed by positioning rocks for the foundations, with concrete poured over the top. Others are simply concrete, poured in a huge slab over natural ground rock.
This creates a different configuration to breakwaters, as the sea swell is less aggressive, although still powerful enough to keep the ground close to the pier or jetty wall free of accumulating sand. What you will find, though, is that such areas see healthy weed growth just out from the concrete wall and this is great ground for congers, codling, wrasse, as well as a host of small wrasse and mini species.
Float-fishing a piece of ragworm or a section of peeler crab can be deadly for the wrasse amid the weed, but fished as a bottom bait on smaller hooks it can account for more than a dozen species taken in a day.
Something I’ve learnt to my advantage is that as boats manoeuvre to come alongside, their propellers create a downwash that stirs any sediment or silt, but also attracts fish to feed on displaced food items. When fishing boats clean down their decks, bits of dead fish and bait gets washed over the side to provide a food source. Fish also like the shadow of a boat’s hull in brighter weather and for protection from predators, so try flicking baits right under any moored boats.
If you cast around with a lighter lead weight and feel the ground outwards away from the concrete, you’ll normally find that the feature goes from solid rough to mixed rough, then on to patches or areas of clean sand.
In shallower water, say up to 15 feet, you’ll pick up plaice, flounders and dabs on these. In deeper water over 20 feet, there’s a chance of rays, typically thornbacks (see page 78), but in the west possibly spotteds and the occasional blonde. These are also top spots
for dragonets when you fish small fish baits on size 14 hooks. A sandeel always works well on this sandy ground.
Sometimes the kelp or weed extends much further out into deeper water, and this is where you need to float-fish a whole sandeel. Let the float come around with the tide, or occasionally twitch it back a few inches. This will attract pollack, coalfish, and the occasional big ballan wrasse. A whole prawn also works well under a float.
Fishing from jetties can be more sensitive to tide timing than the generally deeper breakwater venues. If the water shallows at low water to around 10 feet, then anticipate the last two hours of the ebb tide to be slow. Expect a flush of fish to appear when the depth starts to increase after the first hour of the flood. These are the fish that have moved out as the water shallows, but instantly reappear as it gets deeper. Usually, most of the flood tide and about half the outgoing ebb will fish fairly well, though the most consistent fishing is on the flood.
GET THE BEST FROM PIERS
Piers are completely different to both breakwaters and jetties, although some are made of stone and these should be fished in a similar manner to breakwaters. A percentage though, rely on metal or wooden leg supports, and are man-made extensions reaching out to sea with an open area between the legs. Their design, seen all over the world, lets the sea pass roughly parallel with the adjoining coast and under the pier without undue restriction.
A typical feature of these open-to-water piers is that as the tide flows through the gaps between the support legs, it scours out a deeper channel that exposes rocks, mussel beds and patches of shingle. Either side of this gutter it is clean sand, or mixed sand and shingle. This is where a lot of anglers miss out by not being aware of this often-unseen, deeper gutter.
Any food barrelling along with the tide gets washed across the sand then falls into the deeper gutter, concentrating a larger amount of food that holds in this deeper water.
If you always fish the side where the tidal flow is hitting, then your bait, if dropped close in with a lead weight just light enough to move it when lifted, can be trotted down into the gutter where the bulk of the feeding fish will be.
Typical species are coalfish, flounders, dabs, whiting, codling, bass, and even plaice. The best rig is a long 3ft flowing trace armed with either two smaller size 2 Aberdeen hooks for the general species with worm or fish baits, or a single 3/0 to 4/0 hook for the bass and codling with lugworm, mussel or crab the best overall baits.
Remember to note exactly where the main leg supports go into the sand. The passing tide will scour out deep holes around them and these will see cod, bass, flatfish and coalies work through as food gets deposited here.
These under-pier gutters fish well if there is constant water in them. Do not be put off by gutters that almost dry up as the tide reaches low water. I used to fish just such a place and found that, even though there was dry sand either side of the gutter, both bass and flounders followed the early tide that pushed along the gutter. I often caught early bass in just a few inches of water.
Another good feature to seek out is immediately downtide of the pier where there may be a built-up sandbank. If so, this can sometimes drop away at a steep angle on the seaward side. Letting baits trot over and down this bank edge can be deadly for bass and flatfish in summer, and in winter for codling, whiting and flatties. Fish this from the downtide side of the pier using a lead weight just light enough to bounce downtide.
Too many anglers fish the easy way, casting too far from the side the tide flow is leaving. This often puts your baits on to
clean featureless sand with very few fish evident. Unless you know there are good ground features at range, such as undulating sandbanks in deeper water or, better still, rough ground, I wouldn’t waste time or bait fishing at range over flat featureless sand.
Being able to visualise what lies underwater when fishing breakwaters, piers and jetties, as well as having an understanding of what species are likely to be where and which ground features they favour, is 80 per cent of being successful when fishing man-made structures. Baits, rigs and tackle only account for the last 20 per cent. Position yourself right and target the species in front of you and the results can be magic. ■