A Guide To Sea Fishing In Cornwall
Read our guide to sea fishing in Cornwall to find out more about the best fishing methods and fish species in the local area. We look at Bass, Mackerel, Harbour & Pier Fishing, Rock Fishing tips.
WHY GO SEA FISHING IN CORNWALL?
Cornwall has approximately 400 miles of long, rugged North coastline, offering a skinny landmass squeezed between two parting seas. It's pretty much like an island, no matter where you go; you can partake in beach fishing or sea fishing from a boat in the water.
The gulf stream provides plenty of exposure, alongside a wide range of other factors to prove that Cornwall has some of Europe's best fishing opportunities.
Mackerel strip is offered in the millions in the summertime; it's best to fish for that species in that time. Godrevy point offers mackerel to budding and professional anglers.
Seabirds kamikaze and deep dive into bait balls no matter the size; fat pollack fish swim around ribs of shipwrecks offshore; giant eels slip and slide their way through old ship's innards, and many more species can be found.
Like any place in the world, it's helpful to understand the area and have local knowledge of the locations you wish to fish in. However, fishing in different spots can allow you to use different times and methods to achieve your dream fish, as long as you are wary of the times of the incoming tide!
Our guide will help you understand more about the many types of fishing and guided shore fishing experiences available to you in Cornwall and the most popular fish species to find. Contact local angling clubs, such as the Lanhydrock angling association or an old established fishery, such as the Oaskside Coarse Fishery or the Tindeen Fishery, if you desire further information. Ensure you know where the car park is and any essential picnic areas so that you don't go hungry on your fishing trip, alongside any self-service permits.
Key locations when beginning your fishing experience:
Godrevy Point in West Cornwall of St Ives Bay
Penlee Point
Clodgy Point
Charlestown Harbour
Gorran Haven, the fishing village
Port Isaac, another fishing village
River Fowey
Plaidy Beach
St Anthony's Head, Roseland Peninsula
Eastern Green Beach
Holwell Bay, the Southwest of Newquay
Penberth Cove
Bill's Pool Fisheries
Rosewater Lake Fishery
Larrigan Beach
Perranporth Beach
Cornwall hotels and resorts
These are in fishing villages or close to the coastline so that you have easy access to the best fishing spots:
Whitsand Bay
Watergate Bay
Carbis Bay
Carylon Bay
Widemouth Bay
Harbour & Pier Fishing
Harbour wall fishing is an excellent way to fish in Cornwall, as long as you remember that you must use smaller hooks than what you may believe you require.
It's paramount to fish slightly deeper in the water, and beach casters typically need to fish within at least 5m of the harbour or Wales pier wall alongside a little further out.
The Charlestown harbour wall has a range of species, including scorpionfish, Wrasse and rockling. Ragworm or ragworm imitation is another feature that you can use, alongside a hook no more extensive than size 8.
To successfully get the bait down, you only require a little weight, and then you must hold it there using a tight line and wait patiently for bites; these will often come in quite quickly.
It would be best to use small hooks; otherwise, you may struggle to catch. Harbour is a style of fishing that many families with young children will enjoy, as you'll attract, see and catch a wide variety of species that can help educate and entertain the young kids.
Ensure you take care of all fish you catch and return them to the water in the same condition, as many of these species are often inedible and not appetizing at all!
Cornish Fish Species
The Cod Family
Cornwall gets cod mainly in the winter months, moving throughout the estuaries, but it's best to target these species offshore.
Poor cod, whiting, common carp or large carp, pollack and pouting can be found in relatively large numbers along the shore; known as shore fishing. The more prominent specimens tend to lurk about deeper waters, so it's best to get a boat and rock marks to hook larger fish.
Bottom Feeders
Much like the rest of UK waters, Cornwall has a range of Dogfish, which can happily scoff down whatever bait you have so that you can acquire more interesting or tasty fish.
Members of the catshark species or family can sometimes get in the way when you're aiming to catch bottom feeders, such as cod, conger, plaice, flounder, ray and dab. While bottom fishing is amongst the best Cornish fishing spots, you can also find other species like Tub Gurnard.
If you wish to catch occasional rays, you'll find these in much deeper watermarks, for example, fishing from a boat in Plymouth or Fal Estuary.
Wrasse
The wrasse species is vast. Smaller wrasse species, such as Goldsinneys and Rockcooks, have begun being distributed to salmon farms due to their innate ability to eat away parasites from salmon sea trout, natural brown trout and rainbow trout.
The Ballan wrasse is a sportfish; however, they aren't the nicest to eat and are difficult to fight. Ballan is commonly caught using size eight hooks and ragworm for bait over rough ground.
They are often targeted with high-quality lure gear, thick fluorocarbon leaders and weedless soft plastics. The fluorocarbon leader can withstand being rubbed against the rocks and is incredibly abrasion-resistant.
Monofilament has a stretch that makes it quite challenging to detect any bites and struggles to cast efficiently. These hooks enable you to fish along the rough ground without struggling or snagging amongst the weeds. Such is essential for fishing in the Cornish rock marks.
Bass
Cornwall has the best fishing that you can find in the UK after Ireland. Bass tends to be the most popular species found, and it grows 26 and 1/2 in weight; however, plenty of British specimens cannot reach those sizes.
Young Bass often has dark grey spots and scoff their faces against young peeler crabs, shrimp and crustaceans.
Older specimens of fish often eat giant fish, for example, herring, flatfish, sand eel and mackerel sprats. Bass will cruise over sandy banks, searching for young crabs and peak under drop-offs for any mackerel lingering beyond the surf. They often love to eat anything that gets lost in the churn.
Mini Species
A whole range of mini species is available to catch in Cornwall, making sea angling an exciting experience.
These types of fish are often too small for mainstream sports or keen anglers to target; however, for those that are interested in different breeds, it can be a riveting time. You can discover dragonettes, gobies, topknot, blennies and scorpionfish.
Cornwall has exceptional light rock fishing (LRF) opportunities, hosting numerous events, such as species hunts and Cornish lure festivals that build the sporting community.
These methods gradually enter the mainstream, especially in Europe and Japan. You can pick up a starter rod for LFT; we highly recommend the Tronix Pro and begin catching all the weird and wonderful species that exist in Cornish waters.
Bass Fishing Cornwall:
Bass fishing in Cornwall is a great activity to take up whether you're on the North or South Coast; however, the North is considered superior as its seas consistently churn and, therefore, there's more motion. Bass are camouflaged brutal bullies that skilfully hide against the coastline's surface.
Be sure to fish just beyond the waves, whether on estuary mouths or boats along the coast. The best times to fish for large Bass is during dusk or dawn.
As for the recommended tackle, we suggest the Patchinko; it is seen as the best surface bass lure for catching this species and works wonders for various boats and kayak fishing outside the estuary from the rock side.
The most prevalent paddle tale is the French brand known as The Fish Minnow, which has skillfully designed the perfect lure for all Bass fish in the area. It offers a weedless design, meaning you achieve way less dramatic snags that could potentially ruin the state of the fish you hook.
Mackerel Fishing Cornwall:
Mackerel are what's known as an aquatic species, meaning they spend plenty of their life swimming around the open seas and fishing lakes. Species have territories they prefer to stay around and stick to; however, mackerel isn't the kind.
They tend to be around to catch or nowhere at all. When it's mackerel season, there are often vast parties of these fish, and you can expect to find your hands covered in mackerel strings on feathers at a time and plenty of scales.
Unique hacks for catching these fish include Japanese sabiki feathers instead of standard feathers that you could purchase from tackle shops, such as Rogers tackle shop.
Sabiki feathers tend to have smaller hooks which allow you to achieve more hook-ups and, therefore better chance at catching. Size 1's are often too big to catch and grip mackerel for many holiday anglers staying in Whitsand Bay, Watergate Bay or other hotel and resort locations.
Further Fishing Gear To Consider
The design also provides a natural appearance and balance, with a profile and weight that is straightforward for casting.
You can fish for this species below the surface or use your gear to bounce along the estuary bottom, making sure to adapt your methods and techniques wherever you choose to fish.
For those with a bigger budget, go for Savage Gear Sandeel; however, this style can often get lost in snags. It's a solid, efficient performer as cod and pollack fish go crazy for it.
Fishing Techniques
Rock Fishing
Rock fishing in Cornwall is another fantastic way to enjoy the coastline whilst doing an entertaining activity. It will allow you to experience rare places to go and see them in a brand-new light.
It can be a wise idea to fish over rough seas or ground as there is plenty of seabed cover to hide in.
It also allows you to ensure your bait or lure is as close to the kelp and rocks without fear of snagging. You can achieve this catch using modern weedless soft lures, yet you may also use hooks with float rigs and baits.
The Cornish coastline is beautiful, rugged and dangerous. On days when skies and seas are clearer, you can wear Polaroid sunglasses that will allow you to see the plenty of fish lurking about the kelp.
In particular, you'll discover a wide range of Ballan Wrasse if you choose these fishing techniques. Obviously, these are not suitable for night fishing or rough weather.
Drift Fishing
Drift fishing is when you drop lures down to the bottom of the seabed and drift your boat over wreckages with anchoring down. Your angler helps to successfully reel in the bait and drop it in zigzag motions to catch the eye of the fish by the wreck.
Jigging
Jigging refers to the art of sharply raising your fishing rod before the lure sinks back in your static boat.
You utilize this technique to fish for squid from your boat; however, this isn't as common as drift fishing methods. Jigging lets you sink below the water, retrieving it and repeating vertical lines.
Bottom fishing
Be sure to utilize some fixed weights and attach them to the bottom of your boat as this will help you catch species, such as rays and congers. It would be best if you aimed to use live bait or something with a distinct foul smell to attract them and then wait for a gentle tug.
Shark fishing
Shark fishing is primarily about ensuring the water is smelly and bloody enough using a chum trail that will lure sharks to your area.
Pack a shark-sized bait on a giant float so that you'll be able to get its attention; this is also known as float fishing. The most common targets that you can find are threshers, porbeagles and blue sharks.
Boat Fishing
Boat fishing is an incredible activity used to broaden your horizons, allowing you a wide range of brand-new opportunities to catch more significant and many more species of fish.
Professionals in the area highly recommend going on such trips with an experienced local boatman who can easily navigate the area.
Deep-sea Fishing Techniques
Many Cornish boat trips available often start by turning on your motor and driving the boat miles or a half-mile out into the sea so that you can reach deep water, where most of the more giant fish species tend to swim about.
The skipper can tell where the wrecks are, as these can be some of the best spots to target; many fish live near sunken underwater structures.
Looking For Sea Fishing in Cornwall?
We hope you have got some useful tips from our article, A Guide To Sea Fishing In Cornwall. If you want to experience sea fishing in Cornwall, our experienced skipper is here to show you the best locations around Looe.
Whether experienced or new to sea fishing, we can help you enjoy the trill of local sea fishing.
