Regular north west sea anglers might have already been to fish off Cleveleys beach, just outside Blackpool. The main promenade has been rebuilt in recent years and offers a brand new stepped revetment down the the beach, where angling takes place at high tide, and of course off the beach at low tide.

Just past the end of the new development, heading onto the northern end of the town and a shingle beach, is where you will find the majority of sea fishing and the regular competitions, organised by West Coast Tackle. There are pegs marked out on the sea wall, such is the regularity of the events, which draw sportsmen from all over the UK to some large matches.

If you fancy a spot of sea fishing at Cleveleys you might want to check out the website all about the place, www.visitCleveleys.info. It’s privately published by a local company and shares local information, views and all kinds of quirky stuff, and welcomes contributions from readers. Send in photos of your catches, or the views you take while you are there and see them on the site. During the course of this Spring, www.visitCleveleys.info is all set for a major redesign, and also to be joined by interlinked sites that cover the rest of the coast.

Thanks go to Jane (the managing director of a local Fleetwood based agency) for writing this article, who not only helped redevelop the new Cleveleys website but also lives within spitting distance of the beach front – not that I’m jealous you understand…

For a change, and because the weather has been truly dreadful recently so we’ve not been out, this post is by Daniel P. and gives a brief overview of the sea fishing potential in the rest of Cardigan Bay – thanks for the post Daniel.

If you’re a keen angler, the UK has some of the best spots to go fishing. Wales, in particular, has miles upon miles of beautiful coastline which are ideal for the keen fisherman. Cardigan Bay in North Wales is a great area to try sea fishing. In this article, we’ll be looking at the best places to go fishing in Cardigan Bay and how to make the most of your time there.

Let’s begin by looking at some of its many beaches, where you can catch Bass, Mullet and Cod in winter, and the many rocky shores where Pollack, Wrasse, Mackerel and Conger lurk.

Tresaith Beach is a sandy beach between Aberporth and Penbryn and is a good place to spot Seals and Bottlenose Dolphins in the water. It is named after the River Saith, which ends in a waterfall over the nearby cliffs and offers two beaches for beach casting and shore fishing. The first is the main sandy beach and the second is a rocky beach found by going under the waterfall. Be careful of the tides. The beach is a good place to catch Mackerel and it’s best to fish at night during the summer months when the tourists aren’t swimming in the sea. There is also a cafe, a first aid post, a corner shop for essentials and The Ship Inn pub, which serves some great grub.

New Quay (Cei Newydd) has another great beach for the fisherman. A popular tourist town, thousands of visitors flock here every summer, attracted by its sandy shore. There are lots of café’s here and boats are available if you want to fish in the Irish Sea. The pier wall is a good place if you’re after Conger Eels, and the rocks are great if you’re after Mullet and Bass. Be careful around the rocks since they can get very slippery. If you don’t have any luck with fishing, there are some wonderful pubs here. The Wellington Inn serves some great locally caught seafood whilst the Penwig has a great range of beers to try.

Mwnt is a sheltered sandy cove owned by the National Trust. There are a few steps to get down, so be careful. The fishing here is ideal for beach-casting and fishermen have reported catching Dogfish, Mackerel, Pouting, Pollack, Tompot Blenny and Fivebearded Rockling. There aren’t many facilities here, though, just a cafe and toilets. Dogs aren’t allowed here, so be aware.

Llangrannog Beach is another good area for fishermen. The spectacular Ceredigion Heritage Coastal Path leading right to the beach produces some wonderful views. There are plenty of mackerel to be caught off the rocks and nearby Ynys Lochytn offers opportunities for crabbing and the odd Bass. There are lots of pubs in Llangrannog and a convenience store.

If you are interested in catching Sea-Trout, try the Dyfi estuary near Aberdyfi. Boat fishing is illegal in the area because it is a nursery area for fish, so return any young. Flounder and Mullet can also be found in the brackish waters. Note that the area is popular among tourists in summer, so it’s best to come at a quiet time in autumn or winter.

There are lots of opportunities to catch some wonderful fish in Cardigan Bay. Always remember to be responsible and release what you’ve caught. Look after the environment and be rewarded for years to come.

Written by Daniel P who works for Wish.co.uk - find out more about their short break experiences here

Our annual September visit to Anglesey coincided with some truly horrid weather this year – payback for a beautiful 2 weeks in July maybe. In fact it was so bad that our first nights sea fishing was cut short, the wind and associated weed was so bad that even huge leads couldn’t keep the baits in the water for any length of time. It doesn’t look it in the photo above but trust me, it was horrid.

Saturday, according to the weather forcast didn’t look so bad so we arrived about 2 hours before high water and made our way to the small ‘bay’ formed by the bend in the ‘river’ between Holy Island and Anglesey proper. There were a lot of anglers fishing the beach to our left but with the tide racing in and out on such a flat beach it can be a bit of a hassle moving all the time, and since we were on holiday, we wanted something easy.

Actually we always fish this spot – it’s been good to us in the past and once again it didn’t let us down. As normal there wasn’t much action during the flood and realistically the weed was a bit more of a problem than we anticipated but we wanted to get there early to get our favourite spot.

Once the tide started ebbing the weed vanished and fishing began in earnest. An hour into the ebb my rod gave the tell tail bend, which just kept going, and I struck into what was obviously a good fish. It put up a fair scrap in the surf but eventually a lovely female Small Eyed Ray was beached, weighed at 9lb 3oz, photographed and returned to fight another day.

Unfortunately that was the only fish of the weekend and once again the weather came down, making fishing impossible for the rest of our trip but after a few days on Anglesey even the weather can’t stress you out.

A wonderful island with great fishing which we will continue to visit as long as we are able, in fact we’re already planning next years visits.

The last time we went boat fishing was in October 2008 off the West coast of Ireland where it was apparently flat calm – flat calm in the Atlantic involved a 4m swell and we were both sick and didn’t catch much except a lovely Cuckoo Wrasse for Wendy, so now we don’t do much boat fishing and are firm believers of keeping something solid under our feet. Wendy even gets sea sick even standing on a pier…

I do have a few mates who have small (and not so small) boats who fish all along the coast of Lancashire, Merseyside, down into North Wales and around Anglesey and the one thing they need to be able to rely on is a good engine.

Honda invented the world’s first 4-stroke outboard engine in 1964 and have recently launched a new campaign featuring documentaries covering how people use their new Honda C4 outboard. The latest follows Ben on a night fishing trip where he uses luminous lures to catch many different species.

More information on the Honda documentaries can be found here, where as well as seeing how other people use Honda products you can take part and maybe be featured in the latest documentary.

Post Sponsored by Honda

Once again we took our 2 week summer break on Anglesey where we intended to do a bit of walking and sea fishing. The weather was exceptional and we managed to get out and about on every day we wanted too, some days though we were so relaxed even fishing seemed hard wrok – I know – even I was amazed but Anglesey does that to you, you turn up and all the worries in the world just vanish as the island casts a spell upon you.

We tried a few new locations this time round, some completely new to us, others where we’d been before but never fished.

The first was Sandy Beach where, if the conditions are right, either Bass can caught (if there’s a surf) or Smooth Hound (if it’s mirror calm). Both times we were there it was neither rough nor flat with only a slight breeze making very small waves. Neither of the target species was caught but we managed a few Dogfish which saved the blank on our first sea fishing venture of the holiday.

We tried another beach just South of Sandy Beach but again the conditions weren’t in our favour and only a solitary Dogfish was landed.

Our next session was at a well known venue near Anglesey Race Track, Ty Croes where, after having a chat at Valley baits we were prepared for the mark we knew being occupied (which it was) so we tried a new one a bit further South known as Three Points (I think). This mark was very shallow compared to the favourite Ray hotspot but I managed a few Mackerel from the fast tidal waters about 80 meters out while Wendy got a few Pollock on float fished Ragworm closer in. What made this particular trip special was a pod of Harbour Porpoise ‘fishing’ about 100 meters off the rocks – we sat for a while and watched the experts, the fact we hadn’t landed anything spectacular completely forgotten.

Afon Alaw Tidal Lagoon

A venue I’d found while looking around our maps was a tidal lagoon where Afon Alaw flows into the bay formed by Penrhos on one side and the Gorad rocks on the other. We saw plenty of Mullet cruising around but even after chatting to the local experts we still couldn’t catch any, either on float fished Ragworm or fly fishing a sand shrimp type lure. We tried all sorts but they just wouldn’t take any notice of what we were doing – they’re there though and next time we’ll be a bit more prepared.

Once again we tried an early evening stint from the Gorad rocks where we fished from a couple of hours after low water for two hours – any longer and we’d have been stuck on the rocks. We’ve always been told to bottom fish Ragworm here but the crab activity meant the baits were stripped before the fish could find them. The most exciting time was just sa the water started to flow, you could see the fish breaking the surface so while Wendy tried a few plugs I again tried the fly rod with a sandeel pattern. We both had a few follows but no hooks ups – it was good fun though and a great way to spned an evening.

A new venue for us was Porth Aels, West of Aberffraw, where the water was so clear you could easily see to the bottom of the gulleys we were fishing into. We caught a few Wrasse, Ballan and Corkwing as well as a very plump Blenny and spent a very pleasant afternoon baking in the sun watching the floats bob up and down in a mirror calm sea.

This is an area we intend to explore a bit more and it looks to have huge potential for both Wrasse, the bully boys of the rocks and Bass as they chase the bait fish into the shore.

Apparently the bay you walk past where there is ‘the church on the rock’, St. Cwyfan’s Church, is full of Mullet on calm evening so again – somewhere new to try in the future.

We had a few walks, nothing to strenuous and spotted a few likely haunts for Mullet or Bass but mainly we either fished, relaxed or fished and relaxed – perfect.

Inland Sea - perfect Mullet hunting area

Once again we stayed at Ty Cristion which was excellent and as we were fishing mostly on the North or West side of the island we got most of our baits from Valley Baits with a bit we collected on our way through to the cottage coming from Menai Angling – both excellent shops with good local knowledge.

So… did we have a good time?

You’re damn right we did, Anglesey never fails to deliver no matter what the weather does and this time we had truly amazing weather, caught a few fish and even got a bit of a tan.

Plans are already hatching for our next visit in a few months for our annual Small Eyed Ray hunt…

After eagerly watching the weather and ordering 20 peeler crab and 20 black lug from Blackpool Angling Centre on Wednesday I woke up Saturday morning to find the wind hadn’t died down as expected and with the Westerlies blowing onto the Lancashire coastline the chances of catching a Smooth Hound sea fishing from Cleveleys, between Blackpool and Fleetwood, was slim at best.

But I’d got the bait and armed with a few extras from the freezer we made our way to the beach to be greeted by a surf that could only be described as ‘Bass like’. Good job we’d brought the lug, maybe a fish was on the cards after all.

After a bit of trouble initially with our two hook rigs getting tangled in the surf we both elected to fish single hook pulley rigs, armed with a 2/0 wide gape hooks, Wendy using Black Lug, me with Black Lug on one rod and Crab on the other.

Casting over the weed that the wind had brought into the shallows we left our baits for about 15 minutes before changing, any longer than that and the tide would have washed out any scent. It was getting a bit difficult to tell a bit from the movement of the rods due to the waves but suddenly there was a  thump on Wendy’s rod and a small Bass was landed, her first this year.

As high tide drew closer the wind did drop a little until on the ebb you could just make out some calmer water past the breaking waves.

I fired out a crab into what I hoped was a weed free zone, into this smooth water and left the other rod closer in, hoping for a Bass from the surf, then it happened, a bite that in no way could be mistaken for a wave. I wound down onto a solid weight, fish on! The line started kiting to the right and then I saw it in the last of the waves – a Smooth Hound! Carefully I lifted the rod high to avoid the weed and at that moment it went weightless as the fish either let go or wasn’t hooked properly.

I was gutted! To miss a fish is one thing, to actually see it then it get away is almost heart breaking.

Shaking I baited both rods up with crab and launched my baits into the same area as before, this was to be the last cast as the tide was ebbing quickly now and soon there wouldn’t be enough water to fish into to make staying any longer feasible.

Fifteen minutes later it was all over, no fish for me this time so I packed away one rod while leaving the other out as long as possible. Wendy had packed up a few minutes before as it was getting a bit chilly now but as I wound in the last rod I felt a slight weight on the line and as it got closer in again it started going right.

Odd, this doesn’t seem heavy at all I thought, and then it broke the surface, the world smallest shark…

Yes, once again fishing during the summer on the Lancashire coast I had caught a tiny Tope, I think they’re getting smaller.

When you consider these fish, a top UK predator, can grow to over sixty pounds in weight this one was minute, it must have been one of this years young. After a quick photo (I’d shouted to Wendy to witness my fish…)  I slipped him back into the sea to start his reign of terror and after packing up and checking that we’d not left anything behind I made my way up to the car.

So, not a total disaster by any stretch, out of a lot of anglers on the beach that evening I only saw our two fish landed and although they were not the weeks target it was great to be out and we’d made the best of the weather we’d got.

Young Tope - I'm sure they're getting smaller...

With the gear only just cleaned from our Anglesey visit the weather looked spot on for a touch of sea fishing at Formby Point, Merseyside. The strong Westerly made for some impressive looking surf as I arrived on the beach to meet up with Kev and Chris, Kev had already had one small Bass and Chris a Flounder of 1lb 9oz so things were certainly looking hopeful.

Unfortunately for me that’s all they did, look… Even with the freshly pumped Black Lugworm that Kev supplied I couldn’t manage a single fish not matter if I cast far out or close in and the only other fish landed during the session were a couple more Flounder.

It may actually have been too windy although that does seem a bit unlikely for Bass, a fish that’s hunts in the surf, but we think the main problem was the speed the tide raced in with the wind behind it. It didn’t really give us much chance to fish the gully’s that run along the beach as we were constantly on the move as the tide flooded.

A smaller tide would give you more time to fish the (hopefully) more productive areas on a beach that is otherwise a featureless expanse of sand.

Warning: The tide races in here and all along the North West coast, take waders and be careful of the gullies filling up behind you – it is not a beach I’d confidently fish on my own unless I was going for a high water down session.

After the thankfully non-eventful journey down, unpacking more gear than would supply an Amazonian expedition and a trip to the local supermarket to stock up on food and beer we decided on an easy venue for our first nights sea fishing, hoping for Bass and armed with some fantastic peeler crab as bait from Menai Angling we arrived at Cemyln Bay a couple of hours before high tide.

The wind was a bit unpleasant and it looked like everyone had the same idea as us as Cemlyn is fairly protected from the weather. The fishing wasn’t great to say the least but we managed a few dogfish, no Bass this time…

The following few days we gradually ‘turned off’ and proceded to soak up the sun and think of nothing more taxing than ‘what shall we have for lunch?’ The weather was fantastic so we just relaxed for a few days, making the most of it.

Tuesday was a day for fishing though so with the wind in the East we elected to try a rock mark called Ty Croes, where the Anglesey race track is. On arriving at the car park there were a few cars there already but stupidly we made our way down to the rocks only to find all the available spots taken – I’m sure there are more but we don’t know the Ty Croes area well enough to find them. Plan B was put into action, go back to the cottage, chill out some more then fish Broad Beach, just South of Rhosneigr a couple of hours either side of high water into darkness.

This proved to be a great move, as we were entertained the whole evening by a contant stream of dogfish. Not the target species until I spotted the classic bang of a Bass bite on the rod I was fishing with peeler crab relatively close in and reeled in my first Bass of the year. At about a pound and a half isn’t wasn’t a monster and it swam away safely to terrorise more tiny sea denizens.

We also managed to catch a few whiting but by about midnight we’d had enough and happily made our way back to Bodedern.

The following day dawned bright and cheery once more so it was another one of those chilling out days, it’s amazing how doing nothing but relaxing can tire you out…

We did go for a stroll around Penrhos Beach and found a couple of likely looking marks to try during our summer visit as well as finding an old boat house, complete with rusty rails leading down into the sea. It must have been here ages but was long abandoned and was now just a remnant of ages past.

Thursday the weather turned a bit unpleasant but we couldn’t complain and continued to do more relaxing…

Friday was to be our last full day on Anglesey so after picking up some more peeler crab bait from Valley Baits and having a chat about likely venues we made our way to Cymyran Bay where, instead of walking over the dunes to the sea we went right and fishing a pool in the ‘river’ that separates Anglesey from Holy Island. The tide blasts through this channel and we would only get a a couple of hours either side of low water to fish it but it was worth a try.

Fishing down to low water we got a few bites but nothing to get excited about but once the tide turned and we moved ‘up’ the ‘river’ a bit to stop being cut off the place went nuts. Although we didn’t connect with anything, and I’m not entirely sure why, we both had some thumping bites for at least an hour, after than the weed and tide became too much of a problem. Why couldn’t we connect with the fish? Maybe the hooks were to big for a bait, maybe weed masked to points – I’ve not idea – but we’re definitely going back either armed with crab again or, after being to actually see the fish on the surface, armed with the fly rods and some Sandeel ‘flys’ as hopefully by summer thats what the Bass will want.

No fish from this venue but damn – it was exciting…

Saturday dawned with mixed weather so we packed the car and had lunch at the refurbished cafe at RSPB South Stack where the cliff top flowers are stunning and the cliffs are covered in breeding sea birds of all types.

Once again Anglesey didn’t disappoint and we came home relaxed, a little sun tanned and with a few fishy stories, we’ll be back in a couple of months and we’re looking forward to it already…

In typical sea fishing style after a beautiful day on Saturday I arrived at the Venue know as Rossall Hospital nr. Fleetwood and it was chucking it down. As this beach is very exposed the gullies change location so while I was waiting for the rest of the BLAS crew for our 3rd match of the season I had a quick look up and down the stretch of beach we’d be fishing.

The best of these gullies was already occupied but looking North I spotted a likely looking spot so once everyone arrived I made my way to where I remembered seeing the break in the sandbank – remembered because in the short time I was waiting the sea had completely covered the sand and was breaking against the shingle.

Eight of us fished this match, the first leg of the beach cup, and it was hard going – at least for me.

Although there was a good surf on, a Bass like surf, no Bass showed – we didn’t expect any as it’s a little early but it would have been nice. The main species that was coming out was Dab and Flounder but the only thing I was catching was a few rays of sun.

Although the sun made me feel a bit better Tom, fishing a few yards North of me after having a bit of trouble with his reel came over for me to witness his Dab – I was pleased for him – at least a little bit…

The tide was ebbing quite quickly now so, using just Black Lug to try and keep my bait streamlined, I launched a bait as far as possible. Needless to say the cast went a bit wrong as these things always do when you’re under pressure and as Shacky called ‘all out’ I wound in thinking of my first ‘blank’ of the season only to find a fat Three Bearded Rockling firmly attached to my rig with half a large Black Lugworm down its gob. Possibly the greediest fish in the sea but I’ve never been so relieved to see that little Rockling.

As well as Dab, Flounder and Rockling an undersized Plaice was caught. Everyone caught something and had a good natter so once again thanks go to the Blackpool and Layton Angling Society guys for a great morning and hopefully I’ll do a bit better at our second visit to Fairhaven in a couple of weeks.

Not a wave in sight - lets hope the fish don't notice...

Sunday dawned bright and clear and although I’d been out the night before and lost an hours sleep due to the clocks going forward I arrived at the chosen venue, Fleetwood Channel, in plenty of time for the 2nd BLAS sea fishing match of the season.

Nine of us fished into the estuary channel of the River Wyre a couple of hours down to low water and a couple of hours back up again using predominantly peeler crab as bait with the odd try of Lug, Mackerel or Squid.

Once again I was first in with a fish, a plump little Flounder of 33 cms which went safely back then, as per last week, I had to wait ages for a second while people either side of me caught but eventually I did catch another Flounder of 31 cms which was a relief – I was starting to think that I was only being allocated one fish per match by the sea fishing gods.

A few other species were caught such as Codling (all undersized), a Plaice (again undersized) and a Long Spined Sea Scorpion (I think) of 20 cms. Almost everything was caught using Peeler Crab which seems to be the only bait of worth at the moment.

Flat calm on the River Wyre estuary looking towards Knott End

Great weather, good company and some fish – if there’s anything better I’m not sure I know what it is…

While chatting we did notice a bottle floating by and when it was washed up next to us we found it was a genuine message in a bottle, with a wax sealed cork. After struggling to get the paper out we found a note written by someone called John on 25/9/10 and thrown in the sea at Aberystwyth – which is an ‘up the coast’ journey of about 175 miles.

Not a genie in a bottle but still, a little bit different.

Next week proper beach fishing from Rossall – time to break out the long range stuff.