Giltar Point
Headland · Salt water · in Pembrokeshire and the south-west Wales coast
The limestone point closing the south end of Tenby's beach, with rough broken ground off it and Caldey Sound running between it and the island. Snaggy enough that rotten-bottom rigs are the normal answer, which is the opposite of the sand a hundred metres north of it.
Safety: cliffs and rock platforms — can cause serious injury or death. 2 more points apply 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 · 6
Ballan wrasseRegular local target1 placeGiltar PointOver headland
European sea bassRegular local target1 placeGiltar PointOver headlandAround May–Oct
PollackRegular local target1 placeGiltar PointOver headland
Atlantic mackerelSeasonal1 placeGiltar PointOver headlandAround Jun–Sept
GarfishSeasonal1 placeGiltar PointOver headlandAround Jun–Sept
Conger eelRecorded here1 placeGiltar PointOver headland
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.
- Recorded here
- At least one credible public account of this species being caught here. That is all it means.
- 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 Giltar Point 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
- Small-spotted catshark — documented at Tenby South Beach; Hobbs Point; St Brides Bay (+1 more)
- Atlantic cod — documented at Tenby South Beach; Hobbs Point; Goodwick breakwater
- Whiting — documented at Tenby South Beach; Hobbs Point; Goodwick breakwater
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
- Bull huss — documented at St Brides Bay; Tenby South Beach
- Dab — documented at Tenby South Beach
- Thornback ray — documented at Tenby South Beach; Hobbs Point
- Black seabream — documented at Tenby South Beach
- Blonde ray — documented at Tenby South Beach
- Starry smooth-hound — documented at Tenby South Beach
- Thick-lipped grey mullet — documented at Hobbs Point
- European flounder — documented at Tenby South Beach; Hobbs Point
- Pouting — documented at Tenby South Beach; Goodwick breakwater
- Saithe — documented at Goodwick breakwater
- Tub gurnard — documented at Tenby South Beach
- Turbot — documented at Tenby South Beach
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.
- 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.
- Spinning
Casting an artificial lure and retrieving it so that it moves like something alive — the most direct form of lure fishing.
- 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.
The ground and the water
- The ground
- The limestone point closing the south end of Tenby's beach, with rough broken ground off it and Caldey Sound running between it and the island. Snaggy enough that rotten-bottom rigs are the normal answer, which is the opposite of the sand a hundred metres north of it.
- Exposure
- Open south and west across Caldey Sound.
- Tide and flow
- Fishes for a couple of hours either side of low water, and the sound between the point and Caldey runs hard.
Not to be confused with Tenby South Beach, which is a separate record for different ground.
Through the year
The months the sources attach to each species here. Where a species carries no season it is listed underneath rather than assumed to run through the year.
| Species | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| European sea bass — regular local target, recorded in May, June, July, August, September, October. | ||||||||||||
| Atlantic mackerel — seasonal, recorded in June, July, August, September. | ||||||||||||
| Garfish — seasonal, recorded in June, July, August, September. |
Recorded here with no season stated: Ballan wrasse, Pollack, Conger eel.
Safety
Cliffs and rock platforms — Can cause serious injury or death
Anglers are swept from rock platforms by individual large sets rather than by the average sea, which means the conditions that kill people frequently look survivable for the twenty minutes before they arrive. Wet rock, weed and a swell running onto a sloping platform remove any chance of recovery.
What reduces it: Watch the water for a full set cycle before committing to a position, know the escape route and how long it takes, wear a flotation aid rather than carry one, never fish a platform alone, and treat a rising swell forecast as a reason not to go rather than a reason to be careful.
Moving water and currents — Can cause serious injury or death
Tidal streams through the sounds run faster than a kayak can paddle or a small outboard can push against, and produce standing waves, boils and overfalls on springs. A craft that enters the acceleration is committed to wherever the stream takes it.
What reduces it: Plan every movement around the state of the tide before the wind. Know when the stream turns at the specific sound rather than at a distant standard port. Do not attempt a sound on spring tides. Treat visible overfalls as a boundary and allow a wide margin, since their position moves through the tide.
Worse when:
- Spring tides, when the streams run hardest and the overfalls are largest.
- Wind against tide, which stands the race up into breaking water.
Cold water shock — Can cause serious injury or death
Atlantic water on this coast stays cold enough year round that immersion produces an involuntary gasp and loss of breathing control in the first seconds, which is what decides the outcome rather than the swim afterwards.
What reduces it: Wear a buoyancy aid, do not fish alone on exposed rock, and carry a means of calling for help on the person.
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.
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.
- Welsh Government, for sea fisheries policy and measures in Welsh waters, which differ from English ones.
- Natural Resources Wales, for marine and freshwater licensing, designation and enforcement in Wales.
- The Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority and the relevant island or reserve managers, where access, landing and disturbance are constrained by designation.
- The Milford Haven Port Authority, for navigation, access and exclusion within the haven.
- The Food Standards Agency and the local authority, for shellfish harvesting area classification and biotoxin closures.
- The Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the RNLI, for safety guidance on this coast.
Nearby fishing
Other publicly documented places within about 40 km, by distance. Positions are approximate public geography and are never exact marks.
- Tenby South Beach — under 2 km · Surf beach
- Saundersfoot — 5–10 km · Harbour wall
- Amroth — 5–10 km · Beach
- Stackpole Quay — 10–25 km · Harbour wall
- Pendine Sands — 10–25 km · Beach
- Hobbs Point — 10–25 km · Jetty
- St Govan's Head — 10–25 km · Rock mark
- Milford Haven waterway — 10–25 km · Estuary
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.