Beach fishing at rhyl

Hi all I'm off away for a long weekend with the family week after next just out side of rhyl and fancy doing a bit of beach fishing as a tester as it's my 1st time any advice on where to go and what bait to use I have 2 pulley rigs and 4/6 oz griper leads not fussed what I catch just so I can get the hang of how things work cheers lee

Hi Lee,
assuming you have line of 15 to 20lb breaking strain you will need a shockleader tied between the main line and your pulley rig, the shockleader is best tied on before you go to the beach as it is a bit fiddly until you are used to it, the shockleader needs to be long enough such that when ready to cast there are still 3 or so turns around the spool,  without one the force of your cast will snap the main line and your hooks and weight will be heading out to sea ( or at someones head) unattached, for a 5oz weight you need a shockleader of around 50 to 60 lb breaking strain. 70lb isnt out of the way if you've had your weetabix but the stronger the leader, the more difficult the knot, being thicker the more the water has to push on and dislodge your  weight and the more weed you will collect so its a balancing act.
You coould buy a spool of heavier line to use for shock leader. Or buy ready cut to length shockleader. I like the tapered leader, tie the thinner end to your main line makes for easier knotting but itcosts more.

Best bait locally is fresh lugworm if you can get it

I prefer to start an hour before low tide then fish say until 90 minutes after low.

For Low tide you would need a tripod to hold the rod and depending on the streatch of beach wellies or even waders as there are
Gullies in places. These fill as the tidefloods, some fill from both directions and can be filling quickly behind you and difficult to see across the beach contours so stay aware of what is happening around you or be cut off by the tide!

You can cast then pay out more line as you retreat from the flood to fish further than you can cast, but Bass and flatfish are often only a few yards out.
Safer is high tide whilst you get the hang of things and if you choose a stretch with railings or wall you can manage without a tripod.

Apparently it is Summer so you will have to dodge paddler hotspots!
Also you need to be able to recognise a Weever fish at this time of year ( very nasty sting from the black spined fin on its back, treated by very hot water to break the poison down. Weevers love our beaches in Summer!
They sink into the sand and ambush barefooted paddlers. If one takes your bait it will sink into the sand and when you come to reel in you might have a sense of plucking your weight out of the sand, they are Millers thumb shaped so
cause a bit of drag as you reel in but you are wont be used to how things feel to pick upon this.
I suggest you fish somewhere East of splashpoint Rhyl and West of Barkby Beach Prestatyn, look for a quiet spot with no gulleys or soft mud and stay safe.

If you dont catch tell us how it went anyway! We are no strangers to blank days but there is always something to
see.  
Check the weather forecast too. Stay safe and have fun!

Thanks for sharing that notbad not fort about a shock leader ‍� I just plan to use a fix spool I used for carp fishing but not sure on the line it has on it so may just get some new line any recommendation to what I should get aswell as some shock leader them weevers seem like a problem as iv not heard of them before. any shops around the rhyl area for lugworm or other bate ?

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There is Harry's on Vale Road and Geoffs on Wellington Road  and a portacabin on the Kinmel Bay side of Rhyl Harbour

Lug supply is variable with the tides ( more available on a big tide when the tide goes further out ) regular customers often order it in advance.
Cash convertors in Rhyl used to have frozen lug but I dont know if they still do.
Could also try the tackle shop in Pensarn ( dig lug themselves. Opening times can vary)


Any bait is better than no bait. There is always some frozen option in the tackle shop - some needs bait elastic to hold it on the hook, ask them for advice.
Morrisons on Marsh Road Rhyl has a good fish counter, mackerel, squid or tiger prawn is an option but fishy baits might attract more crabs than fish.
Line wise I'd just go for any 15Lb mono line.
If the tide is not raging you could always try a 2 oz lead on a running ledger on your carp line if you think its up to it, and then you can probably forget the shock leader especially if your carp rod is "soft" if that feels more familiar.

Hook wise a size 2 or thereabouts might be a good bet.

I use a large fixed spool myself. The fish dont care what your gear is and they dont read the fishing books so anything can happen!

You could spend a lot of money so makes sense to try it out with what gear you already have before getting carried away!

There's always some good advice on here,as you have probably gathered by Notbads reply.
Once you get the knack there's some great fishing to be had around Rhyl.

Notbad wrote:

There is Harry's on Vale Road and Geoffs on Wellington Road  and a portacabin on the Kinmel Bay side of Rhyl Harbour

Lug supply is variable with the tides ( more available on a big tide when the tide goes further out ) regular customers often order it in advance.
Cash convertors in Rhyl used to have frozen lug but I dont know if they still do.
Could also try the tackle shop in Pensarn ( dig lug themselves. Opening times can vary)


Any bait is better than no bait. There is always some frozen option in the tackle shop - some needs bait elastic to hold it on the hook, ask them for advice.
Morrisons on Marsh Road Rhyl has a good fish counter, mackerel, squid or tiger prawn is an option but fishy baits might attract more crabs than fish.
Line wise I'd just go for any 15Lb mono line.
If the tide is not raging you could always try a 2 oz lead on a running ledger on your carp line if you think its up to it, and then you can probably forget the shock leader especially if your carp rod is "soft" if that feels more familiar.

Hook wise a size 2 or thereabouts might be a good bet.

I use a large fixed spool myself. The fish dont care what your gear is and they dont read the fishing books so anything can happen!

You could spend a lot of money so makes sense to try it out with what gear you already have before getting carried away!

Thansk for that am go have a look about on the friday I go down I'm staying in the presthaven side of rhyl from what I can remember I'm sure thay is a big wall along there at the beach that I mat be better off at instead of buying a rod rest as I'm only just starting I have a Shakespearean bata rod that I ordered after looking about and seems a good starter rod to use I have 2 pulley rigs with no 2 hook on where can I get some of that bate elastic from ? Add prob put the shock leader on as may just save me from losing gear I suppose

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As a person that has never managed to catch a single fish when I have tried my hand at beach fishing, there is a lot of useful information for me. Thanks Notepad

I suggest you look up how to tie a shockleader Knot,or you could end up losing your end tackle and the shockleader.
I never use anything less than 30lb breaking strain for my main line if I am using braid,anything less and you will get windknots.
Mono is a good starting line.

Is this enough or do I need longer than a SHAKESPEARE BETA SHOCK LEADER 50m 60lb

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Blade7 wrote:

As a person that has never managed to catch a single fish when I have tried my hand at beach fishing, there is a lot of useful information for me. Thanks Notepad

Notepad Love it

Logger wrote:

Blade7 wrote:

As a person that has never managed to catch a single fish when I have tried my hand at beach fishing, there is a lot of useful information for me. Thanks Notepad

Notepad  Love it

Predictive spelling can get you into a lot of rubble!

lee.williams88 wrote:

Is this enough  or do I need longer than a  SHAKESPEARE BETA SHOCK LEADER 50m 60lb

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Should last you a while that, all you need is a length the same length as your rod, plus say three turns on your reel plus a couple of foot or so to hang down from the tip of your rod to which you tie ( or use a click change clip) your hook rig.

The knot is important its tricky to get right, so sort it before you go, once tied wind the leader
on to your reel but it probably won't fit into the line keeper so use a rubber band or something to stop it unravelling before you are ready to tackle up at the water.

There are many variations but something like a double blood knot may be a familiar one to you to join main line to leader. A touch of saliva on the knot will help it tighten together.
Snip the tag ends of line sticking out of your knot with scissors leaning say a quarter of an inch of each for now.

The wall you are thinking of is a little walk west of Barkby beach. Not sure of the tide state needed to get close enough to the wall for you.

If you fish high at Splashpoint there will be enough water to fish off the steel railings for sure.

Bait elastic is readily available in tackshops and cheap. Its just a thin elasticated cotton. Comes in red or white. You may not need it ( not usually needed for a single or part fresh lug)  frankly you could raid the sewing box !

Treat your first go as a learning curve but I'm really hoping to hear that you catch something!

Oh and if fishing off the prom do check behind before you cast and be ready to be asked a thousand times " caught owt mister?"  " what do catch here?" " wheres the beach gone ? It was here yesterday"


Haven't got out much myself of late so catch one for me too!

Notbad wrote:

lee.williams88 wrote:

Is this enough  or do I need longer than a  SHAKESPEARE BETA SHOCK LEADER 50m 60lb

Should last you a while that, all you need is a length the same length as your rod, plus say three turns on your reel plus a couple of foot or so to hang down from the tip of your rod to which you tie ( or use a click change clip) your hook rig.

The knot is important its tricky to get right, so sort it before you go, wind it on to your reel but it pribable wont fit into the line keeper so use a rubber band or something to stopit unravelling before you are ready to tackle up.

There are variations but something like a double blood knot may be a familiar one to you. A touch of saliva on the knot will help it tighten together.

The wall you are thinking of is a little walk west of Barkby beach. Not sure of the tide state needed to get close enough to the wall for you.

If you fish high at Splashpoint there will be enough water to fish of the steel railings

al have a practice at them knots and see how I get on cheers will order some know have checked my line on the reel it's got 12lb on there do u think worth changing it to 15lb to be safe so anything I'm missing from my list ‍�
Rod
Reel
Rigs
Weights
Bait
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You'll probably be ok on 12lb.
Its the shock leader that takes the strain.

Scissors ( you raid the sewing box for those too)
Dishorger maybe or pliers or forceps. If you've been into coarse fishing you probably have this kind of thing anyway.
Eye protection, baseball cap or sunglasses say

Notbad wrote:

You'll probably be ok on 12lb.
Its the shock leader that takes the strain.

ok then al leave it be if anyone sees a lad snapping his gear up its coz I lost everything

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Notbad wrote:

Scissors ( you raid the sewing box for those too)
Dishorger maybe or pliers or forceps. If you've been into coarse fishing you probably have this kind of thing anyway.
Eye protection, baseball cap or sunglasses say

just scissors then

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lee.williams88 wrote:

Notbad wrote:

You'll probably be ok on 12lb.
Its the shock leader that takes the strain.

 ok then al leave it be  if anyone sees a lad snapping his gear up its coz I lost everything

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If you wait a while the tidegoes out and you can pick it up! There might even be a fish attached to it!

Notbad wrote:

lee.williams88 wrote:

Notbad wrote:

You'll probably be ok on 12lb.
Its the shock leader that takes the strain.

 ok then al leave it be  if anyone sees a lad snapping his gear up its coz I lost everything

If you wait a while the tidegoes out and you can pick it up! There might even be a fish attached to it!

lmfao good point

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lee.williams88 wrote:

these the clips?

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Not the ones I meant but they would do the job to an extent.
Those are snap swivels. The ones I mean are simpler and there is a subtle difference between the clip that joins your leader to your hook rig and the clip that joins your hook rig to your lead weight.
I'll try and sort a pic or link later. The end of the one joining your leader to the hook rig has the end pointing back up towards your rod. The one that joins the hook rig to your weight has the end of the clip bent over to form a small hook which when using a rig like a pulley rig you trap your baited hook on so that everything is streamlined when you cast and you cast further, it also keeps the bait tidy in flight. On impact with the water the baited hook is released from the clip and deploys.

There are lead weights that have a built in design to do this

Wouldn't worry too much, if you get in to it you'll soon findplenty of stuff to buy to lighten your wallet and make your tacklebox so heavy you can't lift it!

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These are the ones that you tie to your shockleader, then you can replace your hook rig quickly and easily just slip the hook rig upper loop ( or swivel if ypur hook rig is incorporates one like with a pulleyrig) to the wire bend.

The one that goes between your hook rig and your weight looks similar but the end of the wire is bent over to form a keeper for your baited hook ( needs to be under the tension of gravity or your baited hook will fall out. This works well with pulley rigs.
There are many and varied bits of end tackle, with lead weights with built in hook release for which  you might as well use the above at both ends,

Just get out there, aim for a smooth cast rather than trying to reach the wind farms  and above all else have fun.

If you blank here is your free excuse for not catching...
Its very bright at the moment,
This means light penetrates the shallow water at the beach and makes fish vulnerable to bird attack, if the fish have read the books they will stay further out in deeper water.

A sympathetically timed dusk or dawn tide may be your best bet for finding them closer in.

Does it matter what size I need so I just tie the shock leader to the eye end of that then ?

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Yes just tie the shock leader to the eye of the clip.

Size wise choose something that seems right for the diameter of shockleader and size of weight, probably somewhere in the middle of the ranges will cover all bases.
The tackle shop will be happy to guide you. You could get away with carefully tied knots / loops of line passed through each other though. Its your bait the fish are interested in and that is what counts above all.