SPECIES
With 30 species realistically possible in a day, you never know what’s coming next
One of the reasons we love working from the Helford is the fact that we have some really great inshore fishing close to home. We have good reefs and banks 45 minutes from the mooring, off Coverack, the Manacles, and Lowland Point, where we have caught most of the non-flat species of fish that swim in British waters. If we go round to Kennack Bay we have good clean sand in 45 to 120 feet of water where we catch many of the round species of fish plus we have marks for Plaice, Dab, Small-Eyed Ray, Turbot and Brill. The Plaice, Dabs and Ray are not too hard to come-by, the Brill and Turbot are still an exotic catch but the nice thing is, there are normally other fish to pull up when you’re fishing for them, from 3 species of Gurnard, Haddock, Whiting, and who knows what. We see the odd dory, the odd Megrim, Spider Crabs, Octopus, Squid, Codling, one Greater Weaver, Dragonets, Red Mulllet, Bass, you name it we can catch it!
Inshore or Species fishing is probably Dan’s favourite. It’s a bit like fishing as a kid again as you never know what’s going to come up next. Fishing the wrecks is good and the fish tend to be a good size, but you always have a fair idea of what’s on the end. Fishing inshore you have no idea and even when the fishing is slow and you’re just picking away on the usual Gurnardy supects, it only takes 4lb pound John Dory or a 6lb Brill to really make the day. Long drifts over clean sand in shallow water with light gear make for a really relaxing day regardless of age, experience or physical ability, and for the experienced angler, its always nice to add a new species or two to the catch list.
We keep 10 light rods with small reels and 20lb braid for the inshore fishing so if you haven’t got your own gear, dont worry about being given a broomstick to fish for Plaice. We keep loads of rigs for general species fishing and use simple but effective single-hook running ledger rigs for the flatfish. Fresh bait like mackerel or lance we will catch on the day, BYO exotic bait and ragworm for the Plaice
Different times of year see different species entering and leaving our waters. As a rule, June until early December is best for for species fishing, with the last species to arrive (Red Mullet) coming up in late October/November.
The cold winter months (January, February and March) have few species to go for and we mostly will be wrecking for Ling, Cod and Pollack. January and February are the best months to catch the really big spawning fish but be prepared to put up with a bit of weather! April sees the water just start to warm and the bait-fish returning. It can be a very good month. By May, the bait-fish have really picked up and they bring large predators with therm, from Pollack to Bass to the first of the Summer Cod. We start Plaice fishing in earnest in May; the fish start gathering up in March but the tend to be pretty skinny so we wait until they’ve fattened up a bit. The fishing generally gets better and better throughout June and into July. Sharking starts in July (maybe late June if it’s been a warm year). August is generally thought of as a slow month but we have always found really good fishing on both the wrecks and the inshore ground and most species are around so take your pick until December when the water has really started to cool again and we go back to the wrecks.
