Holyhead Breakwater
Holyhead Breakwater. Love it or loathe it. When searching for information about HHBW there are scores of people complaining about rubbish and the stink of urine in places. If it wasn’t for that it would be an almost perfect venue. I’ve seen it first hand, I have also seen the fish it can produce on its day. If you can, (I’m not preaching) take a bit of extra rubbish back with you, I would be gutted if Stena restricted access because of this.
The venue reported the first showings of Mackerel anywhere this year on the forums (2018), I checked it out and it was producing, not masses but they were there. Winter it is home to shoals of Herring, Dec 18 into Jan 19 is no exception. Sabaki rigs or smaller feathers are all you need to land them.
You have two options to fish, the inside or outside wall, either way you have a bit of a walk dependent on where you want to fish. Its 1.5miles to the end, its the longest breakwater in the UK. That said I have seen good size Huss, Wrasse, Doggies..well pretty much everything come out just as you walk onto the breakwater.
The back of the wall facing out to sea is a tackle graveyard, huge boulders and rocks right up against the wall. I haven’t fished it myself but I am told there is all sorts down there and some good size fish too if you can get them off the bottom quick enough. Pulley kennels and a quick retrieve are a must.
The inside of Holyhead Breakwater is quite the opposite, a sandy bottom that gripper leads can sometimes just slide through. I haven’t been snagged or lost tackle yet which is always a bonus whilst fishing the inside.
Its 236 mile round trip for me but I definitely think its worth the trip, did my research into the mark first and I was off. OK, first two times I failed miserably. Not blanks but poor sessions, armed with my favorite and trusty black lug and Mackerel. Nothing to black lug and doggies obliging to mackerel. I didn’t mind as I always make sure the weather is decent when I go and for me it’s not always just about fishing.
I take the kids and they use their drop nets and little crab traps, most of the time they out do me species wise. That is why I like the breakwater, the opportunity for multiple species. The drop nets come in handy for 3 reasons:
1. Increasing your species hunt count
2. Free bait – prawns and crabs 🙂
3. Keeps kids entertained if you take them
On my 3rd visit I shook things up a bit, I was not sure if I should even bother but one thing repeated over when ask the obligatory “had out?” Pretty much everyone who had caught was using Ragworm, was that the secret?
This time I was armed and dangerous and was planning on catching. On the way down the breakwater I met a guy named Paul with his wife Tina. He was literally fishing 50 metres from the start and straight down the side.
As I got talking to him I recognised the Sunny Rhyl fish species hunt card and we got chatting, could have met a nicer more helpful fella. He showed me what he was doing down the side. Literally a couple of small Sabiki Rigs with half-inch sections of rag worm on, the weight just off the bottom. He was catching Wrasse, at this point I had never even seen one.
Paul, Notbad on the forum, he spurred my interest in fishing. It opened up a whole new section of the sport for me and the kids. Check it out HERE, the forum is full of information and they are a great group of like minded people.
That was it we were off fishing, 2 rods out and 1 down the side. We couldn’t stop catching down the side so I dropped one of the big rods down the side too. Not just wrasse but all sorts of little fish, sea scorpions, blennys etc. On the main rod we had the usual doggies, whiting and spider crabs.
Up towards the end of Holyhead Breakwater things get a bit more varied, a known hotspot is facing the green buoy. The odd Thornback, Smooth hounds, Gurnard and even octopus are on the menu.
I fished a charity night match at the end of March this year with a friend. He came third with a little strap Conger. He’s adamant his bait needed to be as far out as possible (big piece of Mackerel). My advise was to flick it over the ledge thats about 6-8 metres out and boom.
A few lobsters came out that night too.
I have marked two less well fished areas of the Holyhead breakwater map below, the entire length and both sides can be fished. The breakwater is literally only a 35 minute drive from the Britannia Bridge crossing.
Species available: Not exhaustive
Cod, Whiting, Thornback Ray, Smoothhound, Pollock, Dogfish, Bull Huss, Conger Eel, Bass, Ballan Wrasse, Corkwing Wrasse, Scorpion fish, Blenny, Spotted Goby, Mackerel, Herring, Sand Smelt, Gurnard and many others
You can pick up a few spider crabs in summer, Lobster and Octopus can be caught too at times.
www.winniesworms.co.uk is located in the town centre for fresh / frozen bait and anything else you may need. Phone ahead to order Rag Worm as he sells it as quick as he can dig it. Great fella and it’s a proper family business.
Parking area – clicking the below link will open google maps and give you sat nav directions directly from you phone 🙂
https://goo.gl/maps/8jg4ShmhEm72
Holyhead LL65 1YF
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Check out our online shop at www.halenfishing.co.uk Terminal tackle of all types and sizes, if you can’t see it just ask and we will try and stock it. Check out the the home page on here for any promo codes.
