Penrhos on Anglesey as the tide floods

We’ve just returned from a couple of weeks sea fishing, walking and generally relaxing on Anglesey, one our favourite places to unwind. We stayed in a cottage at Ty Cristion which as usual was excellent and as the schools hadn’t broken up was very quiet so when we needed to just sit in the sun and watch the Buzzards circling overhead or read, our rest wasn’t shattered by the screams of “can we go to the beach now” from hordes of kids.

To say the weather was unkind would be a slight understatement as halfway through our break Anglesey and the North Wales coastline was battered by winds of up to 84mph and more rain in a couple of days than usually falls in an entire month but we still managed to get out a couple of times to wet a line, as the saying goes.

One of our favourite beaches on the island is Broad Beach (Porth Nobla) just South of Rhosneigr, where we fished a couple of hours either side of high water in darkness hoping for a Bass.

The sea was was almost flat, for once, and although it looked like weed may be a problem it only became an issue as you wound back in to re-bait.

Unfortunately no Bass were showing even though we tried every bait under the Sun (or Moon) – ragworm, sandeel, lugworm and crab, and it was looking like even Wales’ most infamous denizen of the dark, the Dogfish, wasn’t going to play until Wendy managed to land a small one then proceed to repeat the feat not much later while I was still staring at my motionless rod like a fool. Finally, about a half hour before we packed up, I managed my own Dogfish – not the target species but a fish is a fish and anything is good when you’re a bit desperate.

We had a few more trips out to various places including Penrhos to fish from low tide up, using ragworm to tempt a Bass but on this occasion even though we saw the odd small fish splash about near the surface the Bass were not to be tempted – outsmarted by a fish – again…

Before the chaos that the wind brought we had a quick go at Fly Fishing in the inland sea, a large tidal lagoon that separates Anglesey from Holy Island and although our skills and techniques are definitely improving the fish weren’t impressed and obviously found something better to eat rather than a hook covered in feathers and fluff.

Wendy snares a Three-bearded rockling at Cemlyn Bay

Another of our favourite beaches is Cymyran Bay, on the North West side of the Island, this beach has been fairly good to us in the past but our timing was off and we arrived at low water and looking back at it there really wasn’t much depth to the water. We’ve been told (local knowledge is everything) that the state of tide doesn’t really matter here, it’s more to do with the time of day as the Bass move in as the sun sets.

This was not to be and we’re now convinced it needs to be fished over high tide into darkness.

The Dogfish were quite obliging once the sun set and Wendy managed a couple of other species; a Five-bearded Rockling and a larger Three-bearded Rockling (her first) so although my tally was more Dogfish a new species was caught and a pleasant evening was spent watching the sun set over the headland.

And then the weather arrived and the fishing went on hold. In fact everything to do with outside went on hold for a few days until the sky cleared.

The wind had made the West coast beaches almost un-fishable due to the amount of weed in the water and the rains made rock fishing a little dangerous as the paths were now slick with mud so we spent the rest of our break going for walks around the island.

We didn’t get anything like as much sea fishing done as we’d hoped and for once never did any fishing off Anglesey’s  rock marks but we did, as always, have a great time and there’s always next time…

Plas Cymryan - Is this the most perfect place to live?

We spend the last weekend of September on Anglesey searching for Small Eyed Rays and any other denizens of the deep we could find.

Unfortunately no one told the fish that our reason for being on the island was to catch a few of them and the two times we ventured out we didn’t even have a bite – let alone manage to land anything of substance. As it was we weren’t that bothered, we just needed a little break before the mayhem that is the run up to Christmas and if you can’t relax on Anglesey there is something wrong with you.

Perfect bait placement - now where are the fish?

As well as trying at Cymryan we had a go for Bass in the inland sea, which is the large body of water separating Holy Island from Anglesey proper but the only fish we saw were a few small Bass or Mullet jumping wherever our baits weren’t.

So that’s it for Anglesey this year – we’ll be back chasing Bass in the spring but until then it’s eyes to the weather as we hope for a few winter storms to bring in the Cod up here in Lancashire.

Looking Across the Inland Sea Towards Holyhead

The weather forecast was great with occasional showers and a light wind blowing onto the beaches we intended to fish as we arrived for our final sea fishing trip to Anglesey this year. We were staying at Ty Cristion again and after unloading the car and settling in I made a quick phone call to Gareth of fishing4u.co.uk and we set off for a secret mark well known to the local lads for big Bass.

Unfortunately it must have been so secret the Bass failed to find us but we did manage to catch a couple of Silver Eels each – not the target species but at least we caught, and we were treated to a magnificent sunset looking towards Holyhead.

Cymyran Bay - A Fine Surf

Saturday – today was the day to get serious. The wind was blowing onto Cymyran Bay beach, behind RAF Valley and we arrived to see a perfect surf.

We both cast out some lugworm baits about 60-80 meters into the waves and the wait began. And we waited and then waited some more. We changed baits constantly and tried a few Ammo frozen Sandeels but the only thing making the rods move was the wind and the surf.

It was one of those situations where you know there must be fish there but a surf beach is a huge area for any fish to find your bait amongst all the other tasty morsels washed out of the sand.

Cymyran - A Fine Place to Live

Today the Bass just weren’t playing. It did give me a good excuse to take a couple of photos of the house right on the edge of beach. What a fantastic place to live!

After about an hour of no action Wendy suggested we move a little nearer to the house and fish into the bay formed on the bend of the river between Holy Island and Anglesey.

Small Eyed Ray from Cymyran

I’d seen a report on one of the fishing forums of a large ray being caught here the previous weekend although I wasn’t sure exactly where on the beach so a quick change of tactic followed.

To say this proved to be a good move would be a huge understatement. We were only casting our frozen Sandeels about 60 meters into the calmer water when after about 1/2 an hour Wendy started reeling in.

She went quiet – a sign something was up! Then the rod arched over as she brought to shore her first ever ray. It was a male Small Eyed Ray and went to the scales at 5lb 8oz. She then proceeded to repeat the feat with two more at 5lb 2oz (female) and a huge female fish of 8lb 10oz.

I was starting to get rather alarmed by now. Don’t get me wrong, I was happy for Wendy as all of our fishing is a team effort but now I wanted a fish, any fish.

And then it happened. The rod gave a little twitch, then another and then arced over as if it was never going to stop. I struck into the fish and knew instantly it was a big one.

And a Small Eyed Ray For Me

Rays don’t generally fight much but they are hard work to pull through a rolling surf. As soon as it sensed the shore it started to fight back but I wasn’t letting this go even if I had to jump into the sea after it.

Wendy helped me beach another beautiful female Small Eyed Ray which weighed in at an amazing 9lb 7oz.

We stayed for another half an hour but left as darkness fell. What a day!

The following day we intended to do a bit of rock fishing but the forecast was for rain so like madmen we went back to Cymyran.

The surf was a little higher and it rained almost constantly for 3 hours but this didn’t seem to deter the fish although it did test our waterproofs to (and past) the limit.

The tally for Sunday was; Me – 2 Smalled Eyed Rays (at 4lb 8oz and 6lb 10oz) and a couple of small flounder, Wendy – 1 Small Eyed Ray at 5lb 2oz and a small Plaice.

Another fantastic day – who says anglers are mad?

South Stack, Anglesey

Monday came far too quickly, it’s amazing just how quickly you can relax on Anglesey and we didn’t want to go home so we went up to South Stack.

We ended up staying there for a couple of hours; reading, watching the sea, having a stroll then having lunch.

A perfect way to end an amazing weekends sea fishing where Wendy caught her first ever Ray after 2 years of trying then proceeded to catch 3 more, and I caught my biggest ever (by a long way) shore caught fish. Anglesey – what an fantastic place.

Cymyran, Looking Between Holy Island (left) and Anglesey Proper (right)

Plan F was Cymyran Bay, behind RAF Valley. The road to the beach is, to say the least, a little bumpy, but the end result is worth it. Cymyran Bay is almost unknown to most people and hence was almost deserted when we got there.

We made our way to the deep channel between Holy Island and Anglesey proper and cast in our large crabs baits. We know the Bass cruise this channel when the tide turns so we waited in anticipation. Unfortunately thats all we did, wait, wait and wait some more.

Incoming Tide, Cymyran

Eventually the incoming tide pushed us of our spot so we moved back a bit but by then the current was to strong and the weed was becoming a problem so all in all Sunday was not a very fishy day at all.

But who can complain with the scenery Anglesey presents at every turning. I’m sure this spot will throw us a fish or two eventually but that will have to wait until next time…