Port of Call: Holyhead

Most anglers’ associate Holyhead town with the ferry port and its daily sailings to Dublin and Dun Laoghaire in Ireland, but its long been a charter fishing port as well as being popular with shore anglers fishing the famous breakwater and other local marks.

The port was home to the British Rail Shipyard famous for building the “nations” ships, these being the Cambria after the Roman name for Wales, the Hibernia after Ireland, the Scotia after Scotland and the Anglia after England.

Holyhead was also a busy port during wartime being a staging post for army, navy and air force personnel and was an occasional target for the Luftwaffe during the early period of WW2.

The post war period saw the town lose the shipyard plus other port related work and experience a low period, but the development of the fast A55 road across Anglesey to Holyhead from the Britannia Bridge over the Menai Straits, improved ferry port facilities and the inception and ongoing development of the new marina has recently rejuvenated the town, which is now ideally situated for easy access from the high population areas of the UK’s northwest and Midlands.

The boats here have a wide variety of seabed feature to work with, chief amongst them the reef ground around The Skerries to the north, numerous inshore and offshore wrecks, clean ground fishing, mussel beds inside Holyhead Bay, as well as rough and broken ground feature off Trearddur Bay to the south. There is also good fishing just out from the Breakwater. This varied ground feature is a main asset for the charter boats meaning steaming times are minimal but the species count high.

The fishing is also 12 months of the year, only February being classed as a slow month, but still producing plenty of whiting, dabs, dogs, coalfish and pollack.

With the Isle of Anglesey jutting out in to the Irish Sea it also means that the boats can get shelter which ever way the wind is blowing and lose fewer days as a result. Strong winds from the south sees ground inside Holyhead Bay still fishable, with northern quarter winds coming over the land giving calm conditions on the southern Trearddur Bay side.

RODS, RIGS & TACTICS
Just three rods types cover virtually all the inshore fishing here. A 12lb class rod around 8ft is ideal for working artificial eels over the reefs for the pollack and coalies, also for the smaller species such as dabs and whiting over cleaner ground.

A 20lb class 7ft to 7ft 4in rod is the main choice for general fishing over the rougher ground for the tope, huss, reef conger, smoothound and tope, though some anglers prefer the more versatile 4-8oz uptide rod as it gives a bit more sport during the fight.

Ideal reels are 7000 sized multipliers loaded with 15lb and 20lb line, or a 9000 size carrying 20 to 25lb line.

If you do any wreck fishing, then a 30lb rod and reel combo will cover you for general conger fishing too, plus any deep water work. Braid is a good bet too as the tide runs around here can be fast.

Carrying a good variety of rigs is an advantage. You need tope traces made from 5ft of 250lb mono, preferably clear, on a sliding ledger rig, but also use a tough 60lb shock leader to the reel line to avoid abrasion from the tope’s rough skin. The same rig does for the conger, but shorten the trace to 2 to 3ft.

General rigs tend to be long boom drift rigs using coloured beads and spoons, usually about 4 to 7ft long with two to three hooks on. A good tip here for general fishing is to keep the hook sizes down to size 1 or 2 Aberdeen’s, a good sharp pattern such as the Kamasan B940. The smaller hooks catch you more species.

Lighter sliding ledger rigs with 40lb hook traces target cod, smoothound, small ling and suchlike. Flying collar rigs with 10ft to 15ft of 15lb to 18lb clear line for the trace are the best bet for working the artificial eels and shads for the pollack and coalies.

Baited feathers and shrimp rigs are also good “searcher” rigs worked tight to the seabed for whiting, codling and wrasse. Pink feathers work especially well hereabouts.

Carry leads between 4ozs and 1lb, plus a few larger ones, as in places the tide run can be fast. It also pays to use a weak link to sacrifice a snagged lead and reduce the overall numbers of rigs lost.

TOP BAITS
As with any fishing, a good selection of bait types can improve the catch on the day. Must have baits are ragworm for the general species and the wrasse, squid for the huss, rays and conger, mackerel for pretty much everything, and for the smoothound peeler crab. Lug is not that good a boat bait locally, but will take the wrasse and codling.

It’s also worth carrying a few packs of frozen sandeel. These can be fished hard on the seabed for the rays, but also fished on a light flying collar rig to target the pollack and coalies. In winter the sandeel can also pick up bonus cod when other baits are struggling, especially on the marks closer to shore.

A favoured bait for the rays, huss and conger is a squid/mackerel combo. The squid is the main bait mounted on a two-hook pennel rig, but then add a 2” x 2” square lash of mackerel cut from a fresh fillet of mackerel. Simple, but very effective.

Another good combo bait here is the squid mounted as before, then add three of four fat king rag leaving the tails of the rag to wriggle freely. This can take the odd smoothound, but is more effective on codling, dogfish and huss.

The best way to target the wrasse here on the drift over mixed broken ground is to use a flowing two-hook rig below a plastic boom, with a flashing spoon and series of coloured beads and sequins, adding just a section of king rag to the hooks.

IN SESSION
Our skipper was local born Gethyn Owen, skipper of the 32’ Aquastar “My Way” working out of Holyhead Marina. Gethyn has fished these waters since a small boy, so knows all the ins and outs. He’s also been a member of the Welsh boat team and enjoys both competitive and freelance angling. He’s achieved a boyhood ambition becoming a charter skipper and his local knowledge and superb attitude when looking after his customers has seen him rapidly rise through the ranks to be one of the most popular skippers on the North Wales coast.

Two lads David and Peter from St Asaph in North Wales, Pete from Chester who took the prize for the best laid out tackle box on the day, a husband and wife team Paul and Michelle Walker from Winsford, plus three local Anglesey lads were the crew for the day and all regulars on the boat.

Still on the marina pontoon the first cuppa of the day and a box of biscuits met our intrepid anglers as gear was stowed aboard and rods and reels tackled up.

The weather forecast was causing a little concern as the Met Office were giving force 4 occasionally 5, backing northwest to northeast. Gethyn figured it would be a little lumpy out west, so elected for some good ground on the south side of Anglesey towards Trearddur Bay.

Pushing out beyond the breakwater and heading south towards South Stack Lighthouse there was a fair breeze blowing and already the wind was backing more northeast and gusting. Turning the corner past South Stack though and getting in the lee of the land the wind was a little easier and the sea calmer.

Mackerel were the first requirement, so several drifts were made with the feathers to get the day going. The mackerel though, having been thick just a week before, had thinned out with the swinging winds and were hard to come by at first. With around 30 in the box though, the fishing proper could begin.

First off the intention was to drift some productive mixed ground for wrasse and other species, but the wind was too strong and the drift too fast for effective fishing, so Gethyn decided on a change of tactic and to get the anchor down on a mark further out. Target species were huss and tope with the chance of a smoothie. The recent best smoothound had been a cracking starry of 21lb 9oz aboard “My Way”, which got everyone really concentrating.

A few doggies found the baits first, but it wasn’t long before a series of small huss to 5lbs came aboard. The fishing was consistent, but the fish not what Gethyn was expecting, so he up anchored and headed for a new spot.

Again it took a little while for the fish to find us, a mix of dogs and smaller huss at first, then one of the local lads got in to something that pulled back a lot harder. This was a better huss around 8lbs followed by another at the back of the boat about the same weight.

Gethyn looks after his anglers making numerous cups of tea and coffee during the morning, but the sizzle of sausages and bacon suggested a good lunch was on the menu, and the tray of butties that found their way on to the deck didn’t last long.

Fish were coming in steadily, then more excitement on the port side of the boat with a fish that took off then fought hard directly underneath the boat. This turned out to be a cracking spurdog around 12lbs neatly netted at the boat side by Gethyn. More dogs, small huss, pollack and whiting made up a mixed bag before several more good huss, with one around the 9lb mark maybe bigger, found their way over the gunnels.

For the last couple of hours and the wind now backed more in to the north, Gethyn wanted them to have a crack at the wrasse again. The drift was gauged and set up nicely between two convenient pot buoys.

Straight away everyone was getting bites. Smaller ballan wrasse to start then Pete from St Asaph’s rod bent hard over as a much better wrasse headed for the bottom. This was a fish around 3½lbs and was to set the standard on the wrasse with a series of bigger fish giving everyone good sport.

Michelle was fishing at the stern and was fighting it out with an obviously good fish that didn’t want to concede defeat. This turned out to be the best wrasse of the day and was a cracker close to 4lbs.

It was great bunch of anglers aboard the boat and all had a cracking day, the highlight being the wrasse for most with light tackle giving maximum sport. Like all good skippers Gethyn was hoping for more, but conceded the day was hampered by the strong swinging wind which made conditions more than difficult.

SKIPPERS TIP
Gethyn’s top tip to anglers coming aboard “My Way”, and in fact any charter boat anywhere in the country, is to spend a phone call and have a proper chat with your skipper just before the trip.

Get an idea of what species and ground feature you’re likely to be fishing for. Ask about rigs and hooks sizes, also baits and have a clear idea of how your day might pan out. Being well prepared is the secret to all fishing and though the tip is a back to basics one it remains one of the most important contributors to a successful trip.

He also likes to see anglers carry a range of rigs and be adaptable on the day, something top anglers do as a matter of course. Simple little changes like hook trace length and boom positions can have a massive effect on your overall catches hereabouts. In a nutshell, don’t be afraid to experiment if bites are slow.

FISH PLANNER
The spring starts in March here with a good run of dabs and some late whiting over the Mussel beds inside Holyhead Bay.

Tope appear from late April, but the biggest fish, some over 70lbs, appear in August with late tope right in to October. The smoothound show in mid May and stay right through until mid July, the odd ones turning up later.

Gurnards, Wrasse, whiting, pollack and coalies, plus a few cod are present all year round, but the wrassing is best between June and August. Best of the pollack is off South Stack in June time.

Huss show all year, but peak in numbers and size during October and November.

Conger run to 40lbs or more and though present all year fish best either side of Christmas.

After Christmas target the dabs and whiting.

Mackerel show from late April and stay in to late October, with a good run of herring sometimes showing in June.

CHARTER BOATS
Boat: My Way Skipper: Gethyn Owen Tel: 01248 716315 E-mail: Gethyn@goangling.co.uk also www.goangling.co.uk

Boat: Spindrift Skipper: Gareth Williams Tel: 01407 765160

Boat: Bad Boys Skipper: Mel Smith Tel: 01407 831224

TACKLE SHOPS
Winnies Worms, Williams Street, Holyhead. Tel: 01407 760303

Tref’s Tackle & Bait, 1 Stanley Terrace, Holyhead. Tel: 01407 769892

Ken Amsbury, Trearddur Bay Tackle, The Post Office, Trearddur Bay. Tel: 01407 860300

WHERE TO STAY
Lots of varied accommodation is available in and surrounding Holyhead. Look on the Internet at www.holyhead.com for good B & B’s, or just search “Hotels in Anglesey” for a whole list of accommodation options.

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