Fishing The Holderness Coast By Chris Mack

Holderness Coast Sea Fishing.

The Holderness Coast is the stretch of coast between Bridlington and Spurn Point. In the mouth of the river Humber. Sea fishing on the Holderness coast can be great at times and most months of the year there will be sizable fish to go out and  target. Pick the tides and conditions and with a bit of luck you could have the catch you have always wanted from the shore, this part of the country can throw up anything from small whiting to tope from the beaches.

Holderness coast winter fishing.

The fishing in winter on the Holderness coast can be superb, with huge bags of whiting and big bags of cod possible from most of the beach marks along the coast.

Fishing Venues such as Hornsea, Mapplton and Skipsea are known hotspots for whiting fishing, with the whiting averaging around the 1lb mark with odd ones pushing 2lb and the occasional one over that size. When they are feeding in numbers it is possible to catch over 40-50 in a session fishing lug / mackerel baits on 3 hook clipped down rigs. Distance can often bring the good numbers but on the steeper beaches they can be caught in numbers as little as 30yds. Usually a few days settled weather will bring in the whiting hordes.

The cod fishing on the the Holderness coast can also be good when there is a good NE sea running. A simple 3/0 pennel rig loaded with lug, squid or crab should entice any cod that are feeding in the area, fishing like this can also throw up the odd north east coast bass in the winter months too. Again distance is not always required, sometimes 30 yards is to far, then on other days they will be out as far as you can hit a bait. The average stamp of Holderness cod is around the 2-4lb mark but there are a good few doubles caught every winter during calm spells and big tides, usually caught by accident.

Summer Fishing At Holderness.

The summer fishing on the Holderness coast can be fantastic, but only if you are prepared to put in the hours and go out looking for the places that hold the fish at hi-water.Smoothounds, bass, thornbacks,  dogfish, cod and turbot can all be caught between the months of April and October. With May to June been the most hectic months, Holderness Coast bass to 8-9lb show from May onwards towards the south end of the coast on the smaller tides, but most are between 1lb and 4lb. Some terrific bass sport can be had if you hit it right on the day, Peeler crab and ragworm been the best bait by far. I have fished for bass most of the summer over the last 4-5 years and found the best conditions are a flat calm sea with plenty of colour and 2 hours after low water is the best time. I personally think there isn’t many better places in the country for summer fishing. The Holderness coast Holds so many diverse species its unbelievable

Thornback Rays From The Holderness Coast.

The thornbacks show about the same time and will take squid and peeler crab cocktails. The thornys have been of a smaller stamp in recent years with most of them been under 5lb in weight, but double fig rays are possible from any of the beaches, particularly the beaches around Tunstall, Withernsea and Aldborough. Again pulley rigs with 3/0 hooks will handle all your summer fishing requirements.

Holderness Tope Fishing.

It is said to be possible to target tope from the shore on certain tides and in certain conditions, I have tried on a few occasions but had no success, but have friends who have landed them to 38lb from the Holderness beaches around Hilston. A short wire trace and a small section of live eel is said to be the way to catch a tope from the shore, but be prepared to put in many fishless hours.

Smoothound Fishing At Easington.

Around June / July is when the real sporting fish turn up on the beaches and fishing marks on the Holderness shoreline – The smoothounds.

These fish are unbelievable sport on standard beach tackle and will test any anglers fish playing skills, hit a pack of hounds and u will be in for a good session. The hounds tend to start off small -1-2lb then around July the bigger Holderness smoothounds turn up which can average between 5-8lb with a double figure hound on the cards.

By far the best and only bait to use is fresh peeler crab fished at distance. Any beach can produce hounds but the southern beaches around Easington are more consistent because of the mixed ground that they are made up of. Once again all that is required is the standard pulley rig with 3/0 hooks.

August tends to be a lean month most years on the Holderness coast with September seeing the first run of whiting and codling and sometimes the thornys will have another feed if the weather is settled enough before the first frosts set in for the winter. Every summer we are seeing more and larger  fish been caught along the coast, Perhaps this is to do with global warming or just a shift in fish migration patterns, I’m not really sure, but I’m certainly not complaining. Lets just hope the fishing continues to get better every year so we can all enjoy it for many years to come.

Tight lines – Chris Mack (macky)

Posted by admin on Feb 11 2010. Filed under Bass, Cod, Fishing, Marks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry