[Ben price]

<font color='#000000'>I am new to boat fishing just recently bought an uptide rod and reel have all of the kit that I use for beach fishing tried in side the heads of Milford haven but only caught Dog fish, polock, mackerel and gurnard. is there any way of finding out about some marks inside the haven that are good to fish from? Or do you know of any? I have the chart but what do I look for on there to find a fish holding areas. Have any of you fished on Turbot bank what do you usually catch on there?</font>

 

[fishing_fanatic]

<font color='#0000FF'>The turbot bank is pretty explanatory, you catch turbot there as well as rays, the odd flatfish and loads of dog fish providing that no one has trawled it recently.

Try by Thorn island for ray (on the side closest to the lifeboat station).

The Gulf jetty is good for codling and whiting during the summer, fish in the deep channel just in front of it and by the side.

Inside the old esso jetty is also good for ray.

You could try St Annes reef for pollack, the odd cod, conger and mackerel. you can either anchor over it and bait fish or drift across to it from the pole that marks the shipping channel. Try red gills and hokkai&#39;s.

You can fish for bass across from the old power station the best place is near the marker boy that looks like a sled or try fishing around the cleddau bridge area.</font>

 

[fishing_fanatic]

<font color='#0000FF'>Oh yeah on the turbot bank look for the area of higher ground on the chart for some reason this is where the fish seem to be. If you know that the bank has been trawled recently dont even waste your time going there.

Fishing just off freshwater west also produces some good ray.</font>

 

[Ben price]

<font color='#000000'>Do you ever catch bass on turbot bank? My mate had a few on a bank around that area he used live sandeels</font>

 

[fishing_fanatic]

<font color='#0000FF'>Im not entirely sure as I have never caught any there myself, but wouldnt be suprised as a lot are caught off Freshwater west beach. Live sandeel are excellent bait for both bass and turbot and if you can get hold of some you should have a good days fishing so long as the bank hasnt been trawled.</font>

 

[Ben price]

<font color='#000000'>What baits and rigs did you use of turbot bank? Is it ok to anchor on there? How can I find out if it has been trawled? Do you know if there are any other species that I am likely to encounter? What is the best bait for the ray? &nbsp;
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Many thanks</font>

 

[fishing_fanatic]

<font color='#0000FF'>Mackerel, king ragworm and sandeel seem to be the best baits. The rig I usually use is just a flowing trace with a zip slider attaching the lead to the main line. Use a good strong 4/0 or above hook on at least 40lb line. You can anchor on the bank as there are no restrictions. Try asking in the local tackle shops as they might know.

As for bait for catching ray fresh mackerel or crab seems to work quite well and it may be worth trying a couple of king rag as well. You can dig a good days supply from Dale beach, thats if the diggers havnt hammered the beach again.</font>

 

[Ben price]

<font color='#000000'>When did you last fish off the bank? Do you know of any one that has had a bass off the bank/
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; thanks</font>

 

[fishing_fanatic]

<font color='#0000FF'>Last summer, I cant really remember any one I know catching one off the bank but there is definately a good possibilty of catching them there. If you want bass go up the haven towards hook and lawrenny. Or fish in the Goose race between skokholm and skomer using live sandeel for the bigger fish. If you do decide to fish the goose race be very careful of the tide and make sure you leave before the tide starts to come in as it can be very dangerous if you dont know the area. Dont even think of venturing in there unless you have a large and powerful engine to get you out of any trouble that may arise.</font>

 

[Ben price]

<font color='#000000'>Would a redgill be just as effective as a live sandeel as they seem difficult to get hold of if they would be ok what size and colour would you recommend?
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;thanks</font>

 

[fishing_fanatic]

<font color='#0000FF'>A red gill would be fine for drifting over the reefs and wrecks and &nbsp;for the bass. I would say black and orange are the most effective colours, Im not to sure about the size try a 100mm red gill or bigger, but your best bet is to either find out what size the sandeel are in the area your fishing or bring a selection of sizes with you and see which one is the most effective. Im not too sure how effective they would be for turbot, but you should have some success with bass and pollack at least.</font>

 

[fishing_fanatic]

<font color='#0000FF'>If you &nbsp;feather near St Annes reef you can actually catch large launce sandeel eel on shrimp rigs and all you need to do is keep them in an aerated tank until you get to your destination.

Last year my mates dad lost a big cod fishing between the pole and St Annes head that was caught on a red gill.</font>

 

[Ben price]

<font color='#000000'>Thank you for the help. Is the reef in between the two shipping channels is it ok to anchor the Dale side of the reef as I do not want to loose my ancor in the rocks. I was looking on the chart for st annes reef and on there it had middle channel rocks is this the reef?</font>

 

[fishing_fanatic]

<font color='#0000FF'>Middle channel reef is the one marked by the black pole. St Annes reef is on the outerside of the headland, facing directly out to sea, fish about 200-300 yards away from the headland, it can get pretty hairy there on big tides so pick them carefully. If your on about channel reef it doesnt matter where you anchor so long as you are not not directly in the channel. If you want to anchor over rocks use an anchor made out of relatively springy metal, a grapple anchor would be the best made out of light steel rods bent into the appropriate shape.</font>

 

[Ben price]

<font color='#000000'>I will try these marks next time I am out they sound very good. Where in lawrenny is the lawrenny bar the one that sea angler magazine fished over what bait did they use and what species did they catch? have you ever fished over it? is Wild cat any good from Neyland?
Thanks ben

ps do you know what month and year the sea angler magazine wrote the article on The Lawrenny bar

Thanks again</font>

 

[fishing_fanatic]

<font color='#0000FF'>There was an article in Sea Angler, I think it was last year around may, not sure though. I dont know about "Wild Cat" but I can recommend Overdale Charters or Sabre Tooth, they both sale from Neyland Marina and are excellent boats with excellent skippers. I can only recomend these two as they are the only ones I have had a trip with.

I cant remember what bait they used up Lawrenny but when me and my mates go up there we either troll rapala&#39;s or we use king ragworm and some times lugworm.
If you cant or dont have the time to dig the ragworm try Milford Angling Supplies as Craig has the best worms in the area, with Anglers Corner coming in a close second.

Bass is the main target species anywhere up river and they are in great numbers, mostly schoolies but there is a fair share of decent sized fish to be had. Hope this helps.</font>

 

[Ben price]

<font color='#000000'>what species did you catch on the trips from Neyland and did you go a long way off shore? Did you catch fish in great nembers? Thinking of having a crack for some cod on my birthday</font>

 

[fishing_fanatic]

<font color='#0000FF'>When I went with the Overdale, three summers ago we caught a deck load of fish including reef cod, mackerel, pollack and conger.

At the time we fished a place called the hats and barrels and its quite a fair steam out. Im not to sure about you going on a codding trip, what boat are you planning on going with as the area is not that prolific for cod.</font>

 

[Ben price]

<font color='#000000'>A boat from Neyland Id like to target cod but if I cant then I cant I saw them coming back off the catermaran at the bottom of the lower basin one of the people on the charter had a polack that he said went a shade under 7lb he also said they caught conger, huss, dogs and mackerel was it a catermaran that you went out on?</font>

 

[fishing_fanatic]

<font color='#0000FF'>I dont think that she is a catermaran, Im pretty sure that she is a single hulled boat as I remember seeing her up on the marina wall for maintenance last summer.

You will definatley catch pollack, if you have your own boat and want to catch pollack try the left hand side of Skomer there are some monsters there and you can pull them up three at a time using feathers.</font>