GETTING THERE
Take the A497 from Porthmadog. Look for a Haven Holiday Camp on the left and the road to Abererch lies about three miles further on. It's a left turn with a signpost for a railway station and a caravan park. Follow the road down and you come to a caravan site. Just before the Caravan Site, which is a private road, there is a car park on your right. The path to the beach lies through the dunes just to the left of the caravan park entrance.

Alternatively carry on towards Pwllheli, and just as you approach the town look for the marina access road to the left over the bridge. Go down this for 400-metres and there's a small car park on the left. This gives access to the north end of Abererch beach.

The beach, at its northern end, backs up against Glan-y-Don Point, which houses the local boat yards and Pwllheli Marina. This northern quarter is sheltered from the prevailing southwest winds, but takes on a good surf in southerly and south-east winds.

It is comprised mainly of clean sand and fine shingle, but there are some small patches of boulder covered in weed at longer range, which can claim the odd lead. The boulder patches are more prevalent after heavy storms when the sand has been displaced.

All sizes of tide produce fish here, but the spring tides produce the best fishing, with the hour before low water and all the flood tide fishing well, especially if there's a gentle southerly wind to put up a few surf tables. The beach carries a lot of weed just after storms and can be difficult to fish.

In calm weather, the sea gets very clear here and night fishing is by far the best bet. Like most local beaches it is popular with holidaymakers in summer.

Summer species include, spotted rays, black bream, bass, flounders, dabs, eels and gurnards, with a few thornbacks taken at very long range from the middle of the beach. Occasionally stingray is reported. In winter, whiting, dabs and dogfish dominate, with the odd good flounder.

TACKLE & BAIT
Distance is not always important here with the flounders, bass, whiting and dogfish coming in close, but for getting the best out of the mark distance casting helps, so go for a 5-6oz beachcaster, 6500 type multiplier, and you'll get away with 12lb line for maximum range. Leads need to be 5oz, both release wire type and a few plain for the shorter casts.

For general fishing in the summer, go for a one hook clipped down rig for the rays with a 1/0 or 2/0 pennel rig. The black bream are best targeted with a two-hook rig clipped up with size 6 Aberdeen hooks, but a wishbone can better in calm seas. A plain two or three-hook rig takes any fish in close with size 2 Aberdeen hooks a good all rounder. In a surf, fish a one-hook rig with a 14in hook trace for the bass with a 2/0 to 4/0 hook.

Top bait here is sandeel. It takes just about everything, any time of year and is especially effective for the dogfish. Crab works well for the bream, but so to does strips of squid and mackerel, also ragworm. Lug is the best all round winter bait, but tip off with fish for the better whiting and dabs.

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