Mastering Saltwater Lure Fishing in the UK: Unveiling the Top 5 Common Species and Expert Strategies for Catching Them

Tutorials & Watercraft
Written By Lyle Swan

It’s amazing what fish will take lures in the UK. If you’re curious about what species there are to catch on lures then look no further! This guide compiles the most prolific fish you will encounter while lure fishing in the U.K.

This guide will give you some info on the where, when and how you catch the most popular fish species in British waters. Some tackle recommendations have also been so you’re covered for when you finally venture out!

What have you caught from this list?

Dont forget to leave a comment letting us know the fish from this list you have caught! We would love you share your catches on our Facebook page. 

Atlantic Mackerel (Scomber Scombrus)

 A Mackerel caught on a white Savage gear seeker 16g from a rocky headland

The humble but beautiful mackerel is a lot of fun to target on very light tackle. Mackerel can be found at many different types of marks, and when they’re in they’re in! Places such as such as breakwaters, shingle beaches, harbours, rock marks, estuaries, piers & even rivers (we have seen them very far up river, right into the brackish water!).

How to catch Mackerel

Use any flashy metal lure that suits your rod casting weight. If you have a heavy beach casting rod then equip some feathers and a lead or lure at the end but its a lot more fun on a lighter lure rod!

 

Methods

Sink and draw method

 
 

Sink and draw. Cast out, let the lure sink till you feel the bottom (or guess if near it by counting down - reduces snags) Lift the rod tip up, then drop it. Reel in the slack line but be sure to keep in contact with the lure to avoid creating a knot.

Straight retrieve method

 
 

  • Straight retrieve. Cast out and reel steadily all the way in. Before reeling as the lure lands, let it sink to different depths to search the water.

  • Float fish. Using a small float and hook, suspend a small bait like a limpet, sliver of mackerel or shrimp 2-3ft below the surface and wait till you get a bite!

  • Casting feathers is also very popular. Using a string of feathers or Sabikis means you can hook multiple fish on one cast. This method is less sporting for the fish and yourself and results in more potential for waste if you snag up.

How to find mackerel

  • Fish at sunrise or sunset for your best chance

  • Target them in the summer time

  • Fish when the tide is flowing in or out (flood or ebb)

  • Look for birds! They are the best fishfinders, fish where the birds are working!

Mackerel Tackle

Lures & jigs

  • Majorcraft Jigpara - The professionals choice. Get the weight rated for your rod and depth you plan to fish. (Heavier the deeper, 10g = shallow 30g deep)

  • Savage gear Seeker - Any size & colour will work, but if they aren’t playing ball then drop the size down a bit.

  • Dexter wedge - A classic, often last out of the box but often saves the blank!

Rods

Bass (Dicentrarchus labrax)

A lovely Bass chilling in a rockpool after being caught off the surface on a blazing sunny morning

The ultimate prize for many saltwater lure anglers in the UK & many parts of Europe.

Bass are an awesome species, (our favourite!) and they are ferocious predators armed with sharp spines, heavily armoured scales, powerful fins and a large mouth capable of engulfing whole mackerel & crab.

The mighty Bass provides some amazing inshore sport, some of the best available around the world, when you consider how versatile their habitats are.

You can find Bass can be found almost anywhere, if you know where to look, but this can make them super frustrating to hunt down. They are however very obliging to a lure if they are in the mood. (Not always!)

How to catch Bass

Bass can be caught on many types of lures, in all shapes, sizes and colours. Everyone has their favourites though and depending on who you ask you will always get a different answer. So if you’re wondering what lures to buy for Bass, some suggestions are HERE.

Bass are often very happy to take a lure that is presented to them in the right way which means the lure has to look like a food item in some aspect. Your job is to ‘match the hatch’ and identify what prey is about, then choosing a lure to mimic that prey!!

Your lure choice is only a small piece of the puzzle, location is much more important. You can only catch what’s there, so if you’re starting out, keep scouting marks and fish it over different tides and conditions, you will crack the code soon enough with patience.

Method

  • Find a section of coast or estuary that has structure, current, weed, a food source, fresh water running, and drop a pin on your maps app.

  • Keep mobile, working your lures close in, fan your casts around, cast at distance, keep mixing it up until you get an indication of a fish.

  • Experiment with sessions in different weather conditions

  • Work your lures around structure. Structure comes in the form of anything that could provide a Bass a place to ambush from. (Weed, reef, bottom texture/features, shaded areas, strong current)

  • Change lures often. Use 1-2 types of each lure style in a session to see what they are in the mood for. (Topwater, shallow diving plug, soft plastic, metal, and if the mark allows a deeper diving plug)

  • Focus on a small selection of marks and figure them out before spreading your efforts to thin.

How to find Bass

 
 

  • Tide: Mid to low tide is often a productive time over reefs & estuaries

  • Time of day: Sunrise or sunset & Darkness for your best chance

  • Night time sees the big girls come in to feed

  • Season: April - December

Bass are everywhere but elusive at the same time. Finding them takes time and patience, but give them persistence and you will prosper on your mission to catch.

Bass are mostly a migratory fish. For the U.K. mainland, late April - December will be the best time to target Bass, are they are in our waters hunting and feeding. Between January & late march, they migrate off and spawn in the English channel, leaving only a few stragglers behind on the U.K. mainland who are too small to breed or so large that have finished breeding.

  • Look for estuary mouths, rocky structure, breakwaters and shallow reefs as places to start with.

  • Fish at dawn and dusk, with the former being often more productive but its totally mark dependant.

  • Focus on areas that are local to you, so you can spend more time fishing and less time travelling. Getting to know the areas you fish down to a tee, this is really crucial to catching and increasing your catch rate and size!

  • Look for birds! Birds working on or above the water indicate food, which indicates prey items for Bass. Fish near bird action. This one is a real privilege, you don’t always have birds to work with but if they are there follow them.

Bass tackle

A general spinning rod with a casting weight range between 7-50g and within 8ft - 10ft in length, will provide you a good rod to work Bass lures with. Bass rods are a personal choice though and it completely depends on your budget. A good way to narrow down the selection is to think about what ground (the texture of the bottom) you will be fishing over and conditions you’ll be fishing.

Stormy scenarios will require heavier lures up to 50g, requiring a rod with a casting weight limit to match & on the longer end, around 10ft to get some distance when you're facing an onshore wind. 

On the other hand, if you plan to fish harbours, estuaries or otherwise calm areas, you can step down in cast weight to 30g or less, and reduce the length of the rod to the 8ft mark. 

Lures

Rods

Rods for bass are a personal thing and we would encourage you to visit a tackle shop and get a feel for what you like. Here are some suggestions for all round bass lure fishing rods:

Line

Braided mainline is a must for Bass fishing. In Bass fishing, lure action is critical to tempting a bite and with braid you have no stretch. This gives you complete control of the lure ensuring you present the lure in the best way possible. 
A fluorocarbon leader is also essential, depending on the ground you can step down the poundage to 12lb or 15lb for esturine scenarios and 20lb for on the coast. 

 

Ballan Wrasse (Labrus bergylta)

You will find Ballan Wrasse all around the U.K. wherever you can find a dark, weedy piece of structure you will also find a Wrasse ready to strike at your lure!

Wrasse of all species come many amazing colours from bright green, oranges, browns with hues of turquoise and yellow forming in their spots. They are the closest thing we have to a tropical fish like a reef trout or Parrot fish that can find in other countries.

Wrasse have one priority, and thats to defend their territory! This makes them, for their size, amazing fighters. Wrasse will whack anything that threatens their patch, including your lures that you sink down into their abode. 

How to catch Ballan Wrasse

Targeting Wrasse on lures is arguably the best way to go for them. Like with many forms of lure fishing for other species, you should keep mobile and work any structure that you see below the water. Lures between 3 and 6 inches work best rigged on small to medium size hooks, or 1/0-3/0 size worm hooks. 

  • Tide: Wrasse feed over low water, so time your session then

  • Time of day: Fish during the daytime when they are active

  • Season: All year round!

Method

  • Use a light to medium lure/spinning rod with a 2500/4000 size reel and 20-40lb braid, with a matching weight leader made from monofilament or fluorocarbon for abrasion resistance against rocks

  • Work reef and structure that has many hidey holes, look for the gnarliest ground you can find.

  • In vertical scenarios you can use up a drop-shot rig

  • Work the bottom, allowing your lure to bump and sit there occasionally to allow curious fish to assess the invader

  • Bump soft plastics along the bottom, feeling for any knocks through the weed & rock

  • Once you feel a knock, give a gentle pull to set the hook. Only a gentle strike is needed with braid as it had no stretch

Catching Ballan's from the shore is all about working your lures in places you might not otherwise dare to! As the saying goes, “if you aint losing them, you aint using ‘em!”

Wrasse are best suited to catch and release only as they are really boney. Exercise as much care and attention to the fish as you can when returning.

Where to find Ballan Wrasse

Ballan wrasse can be found in rocky areas along the coast, including rock marks, piers, and jetties. They are often associated with kelp forests and areas with good underwater structure.

Wrasse can be found across the whole of the UK, and are there all year round & make fantastic winter sport when the other species are away.

  • Look for them in super gnarly structure

  • Fish for them over low tide periods as they are known to feed during these times

  • Cast short, and work your lures through gulleys and kelp branches, a wrasse will often sit in cover ready to pounce!

  • Deeper water above 5ft will be more likely to hold Wrasse than shallower water but they can be caught in shallow water next to ledges

  • Look for food along the edges, crab, prawn, gobies, blennies or anything else in the area will indicate a likely hood of Wrasse in the area.

Ballan Wrasse Tackle

Lures 

 

Man 10xtough Punch Crawz are a Wrasse killer!

 

  • Fiiish Black Minnow - Deadly for Wrasse! No.2.5 or No.3 size with 12gm head works perfectly for a lot of Wrasse fishing scenarios

  • Savage gear sandeel V2 - These work excellently for Wrasse as an alternative to the Fiiish black minnow

Rods 

A medium to heavy spinning rod with a casting weight range of 5-60g will be suitable for targeting Ballan wrasse. This depends of course on the ground you have but a its a good rule of thumb.

 Reels

For Wrassin, a spinning reel from 2500-4000 will work well. You want to aim for something thats lightweight and transmits feel well from the rod to your hand

Line

Braided mainline is a must, in the 20-40lb range. Braid will give you the feel you need to recognise all the bumps and bites so you can hookup effectively.
A fluorocarbon leader is essential, 3-4ft of leader will reduce your snap off rate as its far more abrasion resistant than braid. Wrasse will take you to ground and sometimes you are relying on the leader to prevent snapping off!

Pollock (Pollachius Pollachius)

Pollock is a popular saltwater fish found in the UK and other parts of Europe. Pollock’s a great eating fish, but is now under threat due to commercial pressure and as of early 2024, commercial pollock landing has been banned in a many UK areas.

As a recreational fisherman, you are perfectly allowed to target Pollock, but we would urge that you return fish of a larger size (55cm +) as they are effective breeders and help to sustain the Pollock population.

How to catch Pollock

Targeting Pollock on lures from the shore can be a challenge, but you can apply a similar set of tactics to Pollock as you would with Bass, just fishing deeper is the general rule.

Pollock are an ambush predator and live within reef and weeds where they wait for prey to pass them. Pollock are really curious and they will follow a lure for quite some time before striking in some cases. Pollock can even be targeted using topwater lures where you have a shallow but kelpy mark.

Method

The method for Pollock revolves around working really deep, or really rough ground, or with a good amount of flow in decent depths or water.

When targeting Pollock, it's important to focus on areas with rocky structures, wreck, reefs, or deep channels where they are known to feed.

  • Find a piece of ground thats really rough, full of kelp, is deep or has good flow. Google Earth is a great tool for this combined with Navionics, which gives you accurate depth data.

  • Look for spots deeper than 5m. Cliff edges (stay safe and exercise caution), and rocky headlands are a good place to look.

  • Sink and draw on the retrieve. Let your lure sink to the bottom and quickly lift, before it develops into a snag, wind in and repeat all the way back to the shore.

  • Work your lures in the snags, or as close are you dare to!

  • Fish vertically - Pollock can respond well to vertically worked lures.

  • Plan your sessions during the main flow of the tide. This is the middle three hours between low and high. get yourself a tide chart to check this.

How to find Pollock

  • Fish during the daytime

  • Mid time with some tide run is helpful

  • They can be caught from April through till November from the shore before the bigger specimens head out to spawn

Pollock can be found in both nearshore and offshore waters. Some tips for finding Pollock from the shore include:

  • Look for areas with strong tidal currents, as Pollock often gather in these areas to feed. They are ambush predators and wait for weaker food items to swing past in the flow.

  • Pay attention to bird activity, as diving seabirds can indicate the presence of baitfish and, consequently, Pollock.

  • Look for deep water marks with rough ground. Navionics is a great tool this, we will cover how to use Navionics to your advantage in another blog post.

  • Find kelpy and dark holes to work your lures in. Pollock live in and a amongst the weed for shelter and hunting advantages, working your lure right in the structure will increase your chances of a Pollock taking interest in your lure.

  • Think vertical as well as out to sea as you cast. If you have a deep, vertical mark, you can jig your lures up and down, tight against structure where they will likely be hiding.

  • Find structure. Breakwaters, pier up-stands, rocky edges are all good places to look for Pollock. Try fishing at differnt tide states but focus on the early to mid section of the flood or ebb on small/medium size tides. 

Picture of navionics pollock ground

Pollock tackle

When it comes to tackle, Pollock are very similar to Bass but there is a greater emphasis on soft plastics & metals over plugs (hard lures).

Fishing deep is the name of the game for Pollock from the shore, so a tackle setup than can deal with a fish that takes you to ground or into a snag is a must, to ensure that you don’t lose the fish and so that you dont end up with a fish with a lure stuck in its mouth!

Lures and jigs

  • Fiiish black minnow 25g - These soft plastic lures mimic the appearance and movement of sandeels, a common prey for Pollock.

  • Savage gear sandeel V2 - Another popular soft plastic lure that imitates sandeels. Bright coloured versions work well for pollock.

  • Fish Nugz Reef Wedge - These are lethal metal jigs for boat work. On their day nothing comes close. From a UK brand doing great things.

  • Fish Nugz Boney Maloney - The metal casting jig perfect for shore based Pollock fishing. Imitates sprat and sandeel.

Rods

For Pollock, Bass rods work equally well. You might want to get a slightly heavier casting weight though to cope with heavier lures being used at deeper depths.

Pollock also make crashing dives. A fish over the 4lb mark will take you for a ride. Opting for a slightly heavier outfit would increase you landing rate by reducing the chance of a snagged up lure after a Pollocks lunge. 

 

Garfish (Belone Belone)

 Garfish caught using a Savage gear seeker in white, 16g rigged with a single hook

Garfish are prominent all over world but under a range of names and sizes. These guys look really prehistoric with their thin, slimy & scaly body. And a beak-like snout that has small razor sharp teeth running along its length.

Garfish are a migratory species and follow a similar pelagic movement pattern to Mackerel.

They tend to show up in the mid to late summer and move off again toward the middle of winter.

Garfish are the favourite snack of Bluefin tuna. You can often see Gar flying up into the air in a bid to escape their Tuna fate!

How to catch Garfish

Like Mackerel, Garfish take to small flashy metals and lures which mimic small baitfish, their primary diet. Small metals worked close to the surface work best.

When targeting Garfish, make sure to crush the barbs on your hooks to reduce damage to the Gar, as their bodies are fragile and are very prone to foul hooking.

Method

  • Straight retrieve - Cast out and reel at a steady rate (about a turn a second). On each cast let the lure sink to different depths to search the water (see diagram in the mackerel section!)

  • Walk the dog - This one is for surface lures only. Work the lure side to side imitating a struggling baitfish and it will be sure to attract a Garfish

  • Sink and draw - Cast your metal lure out, let it sink for a few seconds or till you feel the bottom with a gentle thud, lift the rod tip smoothly, reel in the slack, pause and repeat. (See diagram in the mackerel section!)

  • Float fish - Using a small float and hook, suspend a small bait like a limpet, sliver of mackerel or shrimp 2-3ft below the surface and wait till you get a bite!

How to find Garfish

  • Tide: Fish during the middle of the tide either going up or down

  • Time of day: Gar can be caught during the day or at night.

  • Season: Late spring to early winter

  • Go to headlands and rock promontories, they often hang there on the surface eating small food items that feed on plankton

  • Fish from piers and jetties, Garfish love the easy meals that are abundant in these areas

  • Look for surface action on the water. Garfish often disturb the surface

  • Find water thats of a decent depth above 5ft, ideally around 8-12ft deep. Gar tend to live in the upper sections of the water, but are not often in ultra shallow environments

  • Fish for Garfish during daylight hours, or under permanent lights from piers. Gar are often seen while squid fishing from piers at night

  • Concentrate your fishing sessions around mid tide, when the flow is strongest & when Gar are most actively feeding

  • Gar tend to hang around our shores for most of the summer, arriving in late May and leaving November. 

Garfish tackle

Lures and jigs

  • Savage gear seeker - Garfish love savage gear seekers, white seems to be best for them

  • Tackle house Vulture - An oddball, but Gar are really drawn to the disturbance caused by the Vulture and attack with pure instinct

  • Dexter wedge - Shiney, flashy and deadly for Gar

  • Abu toby - Flashy and attractive to Gar

Rods

If you are specifically targeting Garfish, you do not need to spend a lot of money on a rod for the job. Garfish are not the strongest of fighters and do not live deep in the water, so a light and inexpensive rod will do the job well. 
As with Pollock & Bass, an all round lure rod with a cast rating of 7-35g would be ideal for Garfish fishing. 

We hope you have enjoyed reading this article on the 5 most prolofic species ti catch in the UK! 
If you are looking to go sea fishing but are not sure where to start, lure fishing offers a simple, cheap, effective and fun way to get into it! 

Why don't you make it a challenge to catch each of these species from the list from the shore! If you, add the #Tidework to your pics on instagram! 

A bit about rules and regs.. 

For Mackerel, Wrasse and Garfish, there is no regulations you need to pay attention to so crack on! 
For Bass, the regulations differ based on location and time of year, check online for the latest guidance by searching 'Bass regulations near me'. The blanket rule though 2 fish per angler per day between April/May to December and between January- March you are not permitted to take any Bass home with you. 

For Pollock, the only regulations that exist are from the boat for commercial anglers, none are allowed to be landed as on 2024. This does not affect your shore fishing. 

Good luck on your fishing mission and let us know how you get on by posting on instagram or posting on our facebook wall 'Tidework' 

Tight lines!

 

Lyle Swan
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