This was one of the best days Sea fishing at Westbay, on the old pier before the new work had been carried out. My brother and I caught Bass, Mullet, Mackerel and Garfish on light gear and we had fantastic sport.

Westbay was a popular venue for us when we went on a spur of the moment fishing trip. It was local, there was a good tackle shop for bait and tackle and it was very convenient.

We never had huge fish from the mark but we never blanked and we got a whole range of species including all the above and Ray, Pollock, Plaice and Whiting in season.

Balanced fishing tackle

We mainly fished light, using 10lb main line and spinning rods. On the odd occasion we would use light beach casters (Bass rods 1-3 oz casting weight) but the rigs would be basic,including using floats.

As a side note I remember fishing here once and running out of bait, On my last cast I caught a rig complete with live worms, God was watching us that day!!

Great Sea fishing

The day in question was a hot calm September day. We started float fishing using a small fillet from a sand eel about 4 foot below the float. This technique produced Gar and Mackerel which fought like demons on the balanced tackle. A few small Bass also were caught using this method. But better Bass were taken on small lures flicked out from the spinning rods.

Mullet were swimming out of the harbor and with a little ground baiting they came on the feed and using the same float but small hooks we started to connect with 2 - 3 lb Mullet. Anyone who has caught these fish will know full well how hard they fight, taking line of the reel and making 3 -4 good runs.

As evening fell, small red gill type lures fished from the bottom up, close to the side of the wall produced some 3/4 to 1 1/2 Pollock.

Adapting our fishing

The day was amazing with fish being hooked all the time. The secret was that we were adaptable and changed our technique to suite the changing day. Having a small tackle bag full of light fishing gear allows you to do this and move quickly if needed to where the fish are feeding.