Bass get all the attention on the West Wales coast, and understandably so, but wrasse – ballan wrasse in particular – are one of the most overlooked and genuinely enjoyable species available on the same rock marks, often when bass fishing is slow.
Part of the reason wrasse get ignored is that they don’t fit the lure-fishing image that’s grown up around modern bass angling. Wrasse respond best to simple, natural bait presentations – crab is the classic and most effective bait, fished hard against structure where wrasse hold, rather than the active lure retrieves bass anglers are used to.
What makes them worth targeting specifically: they fight remarkably hard for their size, using structure and their powerful body to try to bury an angler in the nearest crevice the moment they’re hooked, which makes for genuinely tense, close-quarters fights on light-to-medium tackle. They’re also available through periods when bass fishing can be slow, giving rock mark anglers a genuine alternative target rather than packing up on a quiet bass day.
If you fish Welsh rock marks regularly and have never specifically targeted wrasse, I’d genuinely recommend giving it a proper session – simple tackle, a supply of fresh crab, and patience fishing tight to structure. It’s a different, more traditional style of fishing to modern lure-focused bass angling, and one that deserves more attention than it currently gets.
Mike Talbot grew up in Cornwall and had a rod in his hand before he was tall enough to reach the rod rest properly. His early fishing was mackerel from the harbour wall and plaice on the beaches at low tide, but bass took over in his late teens and have never really let go.
He moved to Pembrokeshire in his thirties for the coastline as much as anything else, and now fishes a mix of rock marks, estuaries, and boat trips across West Wales and the Bristol Channel. He targets bass on surface lures through summer, drops down to soft plastics and HMDs through autumn, and fills the winter with wrasse fishing on the rock marks when conditions allow. Personal best bass: 8lb 4oz, caught on a floating stickbait at first light on a calm August morning.
At The River Bend, Mike writes the sea fish species guides, sea fishing technique articles, and the coastal access and regulation content.
Covers: Bass, wrasse, mackerel, sea bream, pollock, sea fishing techniques, shore fishing, boat fishing, tidal and coastal access rules