Oxwich Church Rocks, South Gower
These comfortable ledges are fishable on all sizes of tides (on big
tides you will be pushed further back up the sloping rocks - dont fish
when theres a swell). The better fishing occurs on the bigger tides and
night fishing is more productive especially in the summertime when
jetski's and bathers affect the fishing in the relatively shallow water.
The ground consists of a generally sandy bottom interspersed with odd
rocks and mussel beds close in. The cleaner ground is easily reached
with a 30yd cast. The further right you go (towards Oxwich Point) the
rougher the ground gets. On a very big tide you will be pushed back up
towards the church and so there will be a ridge of rock underwater
right in front of you. This ridge can cause problems when retrieving
your rig so remember to keep the rod tip high and wind as fast as
possible. Generally tackle losses are very low from this particular
mark but the seabed is constantly changing here and so its best to plan
your spot at low water.
Best fishing is had on the early flood (from the beach infront of the
ledges) and then all the way through the flood. The ebb can fish well
and tide runs are fairly light so 5oz of lead is the most you will ever
need unless fishing in big seas. Darkness provides better fishing - as
with most marks on the Gower, but the dogfish at this mark can be
present in plague proportions. Only recently three of us caught over 35
dogfish during a late evening session here. When the dogfish are
feeding in this magnitude other species wont get a chance at the bait.
Oxwich Beach is sheltered from everything apart from an easterly. When
an easterly is blowing strong the bass fishing can be superb. Both from
the beach and the rock marks. Due care must be considered if fishing
Church Rocks during such a wind. Target the bass by using peeler crab
baits over the rougher ground or worm baits over sand. Weed can be a
problem during these conditions but good bass can be caught. I remember
a 12lb bass coming from Oxwich Point to a whole squid bait presented
over the rough ground.
In the past this mark was very good for plaice, undoubtedly present due
to the mussel beds. Although plaice can still be caught here its
notwhere near as good as it was. A welsh record plaice weighing over
5lb was caught inside a ssmall boat at Oxwich in the 80's. There are
surely still plaice here to be caught and Im sure they are worth
targetting around April time with shellfish and worm baits.
Other species include flounder, red gurnard, tub gurnard, whiting,
dogfish, mackerel and small pollack. These ledges are often crowded
with tourists feathering for mackerel during the summer months so early
morning sessions are best advised.
Best baits would be worm and shellfish for the flatfish, fish baits for
the whiting and dogfish, peeler crab for the bass. The gurnards are
normally caught using small worm baits. There are small sandeel hiding
in the sand on the beach and so live sandeel will work for bass and
pollack.
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