Bigbury Bay, South Devon
Bigbury bay is a huge bay which consists of many beaches and rock marks, and is located just 10 miles to the east of Plymouth.
The rock marks in this area are fished on a regular basis by local and travelling anglers, but the beaches are fished much less. This is not because of a lack of fish or poor fishing, but because of the unknown! Most anglers stick to what they know best…
The main target species in this area are big bass and small eyed ray. Many other species can and will be caught, but as winter draws close and the water temperature starts to drop, these are the areas where you might just pull your personal best of the above two species!
Warning – Parking can be found easily near all the marks in the form of beach car parks, but roads to and from these areas are narrow and winding! During holiday season there will be increased traffic, the water will be full with bathers, and big channel swells will attract surfers from all over the South West! Fishing will be best if you stick to early mornings, evenings or overnight!
1. Bantham
Upon arriving at Bantham you will find the dead end road leads into a small beach car park. A short walk from the car park through the sand dunes will bring you on to one of the most beautiful beaches south Devon has to offer! This is bass territory and is a local hot spot. The river Avon winds its way up the west side of the beach and empties into sea creating eddies and rip tides making it the perfect territory for bass to ambush their prey!
Live sand eel fished on a running ledger flicked out amongst the surf and tide will be your best chance of a bigger fish, whilst lug worm fished hard on the bottom using a 2 or 3 hook paternoster will provide all the schoolie fun you require!
2. Bigbury
When you arrive at Bigbury you will immediately notice an island which divides the beach in two. On the east side of the island you will find the river Avon and Bigbury main beach.
Bigbury beach follows the same characteristics as Bantham but during the late autumn/winter season change over many big bass fall to large fish baits in this area.
Fish big peeler crab baits in the mouth of the river on the flood tide and on the main beach overnight, use whole squid mounted on a pennel rig or a mackerel head mounted on a large single hook for the big beauties!
3. Bigbury Corner
To the west side of the island at Bigbury you will find a second beach which forms a small corner. As the tide floods this beach will be cut off so the only time it can be fished is from low to mid tide. On south west or west blows the beach will pick up a decent swell and the water will go discoloured – this is the time to strike! Frozen or live eel will catch reasonable size bass and ray whilst multi hook lug worm baited rigs will catch many school bass!
4. Challaborough
Moving west down through Bigbury bay the next beach that you come to is Challaborough. Challaborough is a steep shingle beach and ample parking can be found right on the sea front. Rock marks which can be fished border the east and west flanks of the beach, but beware in heavy seas! Both the rocks and the beach its self are not noted for producing many fish but what they do tend to produce is decent fish! Frozen sand eel mounted on a pennel rig is the best tactic to adopt for the ray whilst, lug worm, peeler crab, or live eel may produce a decent bass when there’s a surf running!
5. Mothercombe – the mouth of the river Erme
Mothercombe is a famous area – used as the set for many films, but its fishing is less famous. Small narrow roads often blocked by tractors probably put off many anglers from fishing this area and let some of the best fishing go undisturbed!
A small sand bar at the mouth of the river is the ideal haunt for bass! On light days with clear water huge shoals of small to medium fish can be seen driving sand eels over the bar and up the river! Spinning, fishing light leads and trotting sand eel in the tide, or fly fishing are the best tactics for the bass! Chest waders will give you a distinct advantage and allow you to target further! The river also attracts huge mullet, so if this tickles your fancy, put on your Polaroid’s and have a quick walk – it won’t be long before you locate them!
6. Mothercombe main beach
And last but not least is Mothercombe beach! This is a private beach and is closed to the Public during day light hours, for 5 days a week during the summer months (exact days and times can be found by contacting the Fleet estate at Modbury). A small mud path leads down to the beach and once there you will find a picturesque little beach with a finger of rock on its eastern flank and a huge rock mark to the western flank! On the western rocks you will find a platform known to locals as the rope – because you need a rope to access and get down to it! The rope produces every species that can be caught in the south west but is also a famous small eyed ray mark! Adopt the usual tactics for the everyday species such as wrasse, mackerel, Pollack etc but fish pennel rigged frozen sand eel for the ray!
To fish the beach, first wait for big spring tides and a good blow to push weed up the beach. 2 weeks later when the weed is starting to rot and when the next big tides reach that far up the beach, that’s when it will fish! Fish live worm, peeler crab or sand eel baits at last or first light and hopefully you’ll catch a few bass!