Whitsand Bay, St David's Pembrokeshire

A westerly facing beach with rocky headlands at either end. The beach is mostly clean sand and patches of fine shingle, and though shallow at first, a good cast finds deeper water as the beach drops away quickly.

Like many local beaches it is popular with tourists by day, and with surfers all year round, meaning anglers are wise to mainly fish at night, which is when the best of the fishing is anyway.

The beach carries a huge surf in windy conditions and winds over force 4 can be very difficult to fish, often with big rafts of weed, but the fishing can be excellent in winds of force 2 to 3.

SPECIES
A noted bass beach producing good bass from late March through to June when the bigger fish move back offshore. They return again during August in rough weather with the peak time for big bass fishing occurring September through to Christmas.

April to June sees thornback and small-eyed ray caught, with a few turbot and plaice. Tope are occasionally hooked at night in June during calm seas. July and August can be slow, but flounder, dabs, bass and dogfish show.

September sees whiting appear, with the better dabs arriving in October. Some codling are caught from November through January, mostly 2 to 3lb fish, along with coalies and the odd big flounder.

BEST BAITS
Stick to crab or sandeel for the bass, with lug and squid good baits for the later year fish. Cod take lug baits, with the dabs, plaice and flounder keen on rag or lug. Sandeel is the best small-eyed and turbot bait, with mackerel or squid for the thornbacks.

TACKLE
You need the option of long range here and the ability of big leads to grip in the surf. Choose a 5to 6oz beachcaster with 15 to 18lb line and 60lb shock leader. Carry grip leads up to 6ozs.

A two-hook clipped up rig gets extra range for the bigger whiting and flatties, but also try a three-hook flapper rig in closer, especially for the coalfish. The bass, codling and rays all require a clipped down one-hook rig with either a 3/0 or 4/0 hook.

GETTING THERE
Take the A40 from Fishguard or Carmarthen towards Haverfordwest, then the A487 for St David's. On the north side of St David's take the B4583 straight to Whitsand Bay.