Beaumaris Pier
Pier · Brackish water · in Anglesey
A short wooden pier off the Menai Strait's northern shore, over ground that snags, with the strait's tide running past the end of it. Depth without a walk, on water that moves hard.
Safety: tides and being cut off — can cause serious injury or death. One more point applies here.
FishingHQ describes what this place is, not whether you may fish it. Access, permits and who to ask.
What you can catch here
Documented at this place, grouped by how you would be fishing, with how strongly the sources support each one. This is what has been written down, not a forecast, and being listed is never permission to fish.
From the shore · 5
Ballan wrasseRegular local target1 placeBeaumaris PierOver pier
European sea bassRegular local target1 placeBeaumaris PierOver pier
PollackRegular local target1 placeBeaumaris PierOver pier- Small-spotted catsharkRegular local target1 placeBeaumaris PierOver pier
WhitingSeasonal1 placeBeaumaris PierOver pierAround Jan–Mar, Oct–Dec
What these strengths mean
- Regular local target
- Fishing sources describe this as a normal local target here, not merely as caught.
- Seasonal
- Well supported, and concentrated in part of the year rather than spread through it.
- How breadth is counted
- A fish documented at six marks is shown as six marks: breadth never raises the strength on its own. A fishery account describes the fishing; a recorded catch reports one specific catch. How evidence is weighed.
Fish documented nearby, not here
Nothing below has been documented at Beaumaris Pier itself. Each one has been documented at a named place on the same ground, and the places are listed with it. Treat this as what the water around here holds rather than as a catch list for this mark.
Widely documented on this ground
Documented at three or more neighbouring places, fished a way this place is also fished. That is a pattern about the ground rather than about any one mark, and it is the closest this site comes to saying you will probably meet a fish somewhere nothing has been written about.
From the shore
- Conger eel — documented at Holyhead breakwater; Cemaes Bay; Moelfre rocks (+1 more)
- Atlantic mackerel — documented at Holyhead breakwater; South Stack; Trearddur Bay (+4 more)
Also documented at neighbouring places
One or two accounts each, on the ground around here. Enough to know the fish is caught in these waters; not enough to say anything about this place.
From the shore
- Atlantic cod — documented at Holyhead breakwater; Moelfre rocks
- Bull huss — documented at Cymyran and Rhosneigr; Moelfre rocks
- Dab — documented at Red Wharf Bay; Moelfre rocks
- European flounder — documented at Red Wharf Bay; Cymyran and Rhosneigr
- Small-eyed ray — documented at Cymyran and Rhosneigr
- Thornback ray — documented at Cymyran and Rhosneigr
- European plaice — documented at Cymyran and Rhosneigr; Red Wharf Bay
- Saithe — documented at Moelfre rocks; Cymyran and Rhosneigr
- Starry smooth-hound — documented at Llanddwyn Island; Moelfre rocks
- Corkwing wrasse — documented at Moelfre rocks
- Curled octopus — documented at Moelfre rocks
- European lobster — documented at Moelfre rocks
- Turbot — documented at Red Wharf Bay
How people fish it
Practised here: Sea fishing.
Methods the sources name for this ground. Each one is explained in full on its own page.
- Ledgering
Fishing a bait on the bottom held by a weight, with no float — the simplest way to fish at distance, in depth, or in wind.
- Float fishing
Suspending a bait at a controlled depth beneath a buoyant indicator — the most visual, most controllable and most widely applicable method in angling.
Baits and lures for these fish
The baits and lures each of the fish above is commonly taken on, from that fish’s own page. This is what works for the fish, not a report of what people use on this particular water — local knowledge and the conditions on the day still decide.
Baits
- Ragworm — for Ballan wrasse, European sea bass, Pollack, Small-spotted catshark
- Crab and shellfish — for Ballan wrasse, European sea bass
- Sand eel — for European sea bass, Pollack
- Fish strip and cut bait — for Small-spotted catshark
- Lugworm — for Whiting
- Peeler crab — for European sea bass
- Prawns and shrimp — for Ballan wrasse
- Sea deadbaits — for Small-spotted catshark
Also: Squid and cuttlefish
Lures
- Soft plastics — for Ballan wrasse, European sea bass, Pollack
- Metal jigs — for European sea bass, Pollack
- Jerkbaits — for European sea bass
- Jigs and jig heads — for Pollack
- Streamers — for European sea bass
- Surface lures — for European sea bass
The ground and the water
- The ground
- A short wooden pier off the Menai Strait's northern shore, over ground that snags, with the strait's tide running past the end of it. Depth without a walk, on water that moves hard.
- Exposure
- Sheltered inside the strait, and it is the sheltered option when the open coast is unfishable.
- Tide and flow
- The Menai Strait's tide runs strongly past the pier and decides when it is worth fishing.
Safety
Tides and being cut off — Can cause serious injury or death
Tidal streams through the Menai Strait and around Anglesey's headlands reach speeds a kayak or small boat cannot make way against, with standing waves and overfalls forming at the constrictions. Slack water does not coincide with high or low tide and the window is short. Extensive intertidal flats along the strait flood rapidly and can cut off a person from behind.
What reduces it: Plan against tidal STREAM information rather than tide tables alone. Treat the Swellies as a slack-water-only proposition in any small craft. Know the exit before committing to a mark on the flats. Carry a means of calling for help and tell somebody the plan.
Worse when:
- Spring tides, when the streams are fastest and the slack window is shortest
- Wind against tide, which builds a short steep sea in minutes
- Fog or failing light, when the visual cues to what the water is doing are lost
Cliffs and rock platforms — Can cause serious injury or death
Rock marks on the north and west coasts take swell generated over a long Irish Sea fetch, and a set considerably larger than the prevailing sea can arrive without warning. Falls from wet rock and being swept from a platform are the mechanisms.
What reduces it: Watch a mark for a full set before committing to it. Wear a buoyancy aid on any rock platform. Never fish a rock mark alone in swell, and treat a forecast that mentions swell separately from wind as the one that matters.
Worse when:
- Swell arriving from a distant system in otherwise calm local conditions
- Rising tide on a platform with a single exit
- Night fishing on unfamiliar rock
Rules and access
FishingHQ does not know the current access position here. Shore angling in Wales is not rod-licensed, but access rights, landowner permission, local authority and harbour byelaws, national and inshore fisheries measures, and site designations all apply and all change. Check the current position with Natural Resources Wales, the harbour or local authority, and the landowner before going. This water is tidal and transitional, so the freshwater regime may also apply above the tidal limit: FishingHQ does not know the current access position here. Freshwater rod fishing in Wales requires a current rod licence AND separate permission from whoever controls the fishing, which is frequently a club, riparian owner or navigation authority rather than a public body. Close seasons, byelaws and local rules apply and change. Check with Natural Resources Wales and with the controlling club or owner before going.
Particular to this water: This is an owned and operated structure. Whether angling is allowed on it, when, from where and on what terms is the operator's decision, is frequently seasonal, and changes without notice.
Who holds the answer:
- Natural Resources Wales, which administers marine and fisheries regulation in Welsh waters.
- The local authority and, where one exists, the harbour authority, for access, byelaws and shellfish classification.
- Natural Resources Wales, for rod licensing, close seasons and fisheries regulation in Wales.
- The club, association or riparian owner that controls the fishing.
- The national fisheries authority for Wales, for sea fisheries measures, licensing and enforcement.
- The inshore fisheries and conservation body for the area, for local byelaws, closed areas and gear restrictions.
- The food safety authority and the local authority, for shellfish bed classification and closures, which change continually.
- The harbour authorities and the port authority for the strait, for navigation, launching and access.
- The maritime and coastguard agency and the lifeboat service, for safety information and rescue in an area with genuine tidal hazard.
- The landowner, club or fishery, for permission to fish any freshwater on the island.
Nearby fishing
Other publicly documented places within about 40 km, by distance. Positions are approximate public geography and are never exact marks.
- Penmon Point — 5–10 km · Headland
- The Menai Strait and the Swellies — 5–10 km · Tidal race
- Red Wharf Bay — 5–10 km · Bay
- Moelfre rocks — 10–25 km · Rock mark
- The Conwy estuary — 10–25 km · Estuary
- The Great Orme — 10–25 km · Headland
- Caernarfon and the Menai south entrance — 10–25 km · Tidal channel
- Llandudno Pier — 10–25 km · Pier
Sources for this place
- Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Long-running published description of British sea angling practice by region, ground type and named mark.FishingHQ's interpretation of what it saysCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated public descriptions of which places are conventionally fished and how, recorded as practitioner consensus rather than as scholarship, and not relied on for access, permission or any current rule.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- British Sea Fishing: Welsh shore marks — British Sea Fishing (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Mark-by-mark Welsh shore angling: which species are fished for at each named mark, in which season, and with which baits and methods.States this directlyPassage read and verified
How FishingHQ labels evidence is explained in the evidence policy. Last reviewed 2026-08-16.