Worms Head, South Gower
Apparently the most photographed piece of scenery in Wales, Worms Head
is famous amongst birdwatchers, photographers and bass anglers! 'The
Worm' as its called amongst the locals offers some of the most renowned
yet remote bass fishing in South Wales. Once again, it is unfortunately
nothing like it used to be.
Bass anglers used to come away from this venue with bags of dozens of
good bass. Since then the pair trawlers and netters have over-exploited
the vast Helwick Bank (a large sandbank between Port Einon Point and
Worms Head). The Helwick Bank provides food to the bass, tope and rays
which frequent the area. Sand dredging has been taking place on the
Helwick and this combined with over-fishing has caused a deterioration
in fishing.
Dont let this put you off though, every year good bass and numbers of
bass can be caught. Lots of school bass frequent the shallow gullies
and kelp forests but remember to return as many fish as possible as
these are the future of our sport. Also follow National Size Limits as
checks do occur.
Picture courtesy of http://www.wsfsurfschool.co.uk
As can be seen in the picture above the entire Worm is a tidal island.
The causeway is crossable by foot roughly 2.5hrs either side of low
water. Never ever try and cross this causeway when the tide is still
covering it or is starting to cover it - many people have drowned here.
I would not advise this mark is suitable for small children because it
is very dangerous and a long walk back to civilisation!
The bass fishing tends to start around April time on the Gower. Of
course adverse weather conditions or mild weather can alter the season
and sdo using your instinct is often a better judge of when the season starts. Once the days get noticably
warme and the trees start growing leaves again seems
to coincide with the fish's movement into inshore waters.
Of course this early in the season the fishing can be hit and miss, but
it is certainly worthwhile trying - some very big bass are often caught
at the beginning and end of the season. The very warm summer months
inbetween tend to produce a lot of smaller fish whilst the end of the
season is noted for bigger bass.
The reason why the bigger bass are caught more at the end of the season
remains an ultimate mystery to me. There seem to be a few main factors
which may be responsible, the increase of small whiting and pouting
(the bass love feeding on these shoals hence why livebaiting whiting
often catches big bass) and also it seems that later in September the
shoals of very small mackerel come inshore (the bass happily feed on
these aswell), and of course I guess they want to feed-up ready for the
cold winter months.
Good bags of bass can still be caught but normally only during night
sessions. Live sandeel spun through the tide as it covers the causeway
is a favoured method, also fishing peeler crab into the larger gullies
(can be done over low water) accounts for some double figure fish.
Plugging and spinning, even flycasting on the right day will yield
catches of grey mullet and bass. Average size of these fish is only
about 2lb but on the light tackle it is good sport. The bass and mullet
can often be seen in the swell swimming vertically up the faces of
waves! Often small baitfish are in the vicinity so I expect the bass
chase them into an area and attack.
Plugging is awkward and even shallow floating plugs can be lost,
the
depth is rarely more than 5ft in general, I have experienced
mixed sessions when plugging in the vicinity of Worms Head. It can be
very good in terms of amount of fish - we once caught over 18 bass in
one evening session. But it does require picking the right tides so
that there is just enough depth to work a floating plug across the
shallow craggy ground.
The left handside of the worm (presuming you are standing on the
mainland facing the sea) is primarily shallow rock and kelp encrusted
reef. The causeway is very shallow rock with lost of deep narrow
gullies which the bass work along once the causeway starts flooding.
Within the kelp beds on the left handside you may catch pollack and
wrasse, perhaps a few strap conger. For the wrasse try fishing peeler
crab or ragworm baits into the kelp, wrasse do feed in daylight most
actively, tackle losses will be high all along this side of the Worm,
Try spinning for pollack or fishing ragworm baits in the deeper water
at the end of the Worm. Again safety is paramount with unpredictable
swells always possible even on the calmest of days.
On the right handside anglers used to catch tope in the 80's but
nowadays it will produce smoothhound, dogfish, mackerel, small pollack,
whiting, and occasional rays. The ledges on the right handside are
higher above the water and provide deepwater fishing over clean ground.
The smoothhounds like peeler crab, rays and dogfish will take fish
baits.
In the winter the whiting fishing can be extremely good from the right
handside ledges. Fish lugworm tipped with mackerel strip or squid to
catch the better specimens. Fish up to 2lb are fairly common. It is
possible codling will feature in catches aswell though because not many
people fish here at winter I cannot confirm this is the case.
The gulley at the end of the Worm can provide good mullet sport over
low water. There are often a lot of seals in this area which obviously
affects the fishing. Strap conger can also be caught from the end of
the worm. The ground is very rough but deeper than the shallow reefs
and causeway. Odd bullhuss will be caught over the rougher ground,
these again will take large fish baits.
Picture by http://www.nvmdigital.com
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