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The Fife, Angus and Mearns coast

Fishing regions · Last reviewed 2026-08-28

One continuous open North Sea run from the Eden and the Tay to the Don at Aberdeen — sandstone cliff, working harbours and two large estuaries, and none of it is the Moray Firth.

Safety: cliffs and rock platforms — can cause serious injury or death. 6 more points apply here.

What each one does, and what reduces it ↓

Being listed here is not permission to fish. What that means

Access, fishing rights, seasons, licences, local bylaws and permitted methods vary and can change. Check current access, permission, local regulations, closures and restrictions before you travel or fish. FishingHQ describes what the ground is and names who holds the answer; it does not hold the answer itself.

Find the authority for a jurisdiction · What FishingHQ does and does not cover

Seven marks along this run are routinely lumped in with the Moray Firth and are between one and two hundred kilometres south of it.

THE COAST RUNS AS ONE PIECE from the Eden estuary at St Andrews, past the Tay, up through Angus and the Mearns to the Dee and the Don at Aberdeen. It faces east into the open North Sea with no shelter at all, and the ground alternates between Old Red Sandstone cliff, low rock scars and long sand and shingle beaches.

THE TWO ESTUARIES ARE THE STRUCTURAL FEATURES. The Eden at St Andrews is a small tidal basin with extensive sand flats and a strong flatfish and bass character; the Tay is one of the largest estuaries in Britain, carrying an important salmon and sea trout run and holding flounder, bass and grey mullet along its shores.

THE CLIFFS ARE THE SIGNATURE OF THE MIDDLE STRETCH. From Arbroath north through the Mearns the sandstone is cut into stacks, arches and deep narrow inlets — Arbroath's cliffs, Crawton, the coast around Catterline — and the marks are ledges and rock points below them with deep water at their edge.

AND THE HARBOURS ARE WORKING ONES. Arbroath, Gourdon, Johnshaven and Stonehaven are fishing harbours first, and access to their walls is a matter for the harbour rather than a right.

COD, MACKEREL, COALFISH, POLLACK, WRASSE AND FLATFISH are the shore staples, with the estuaries adding flounder, bass and mullet.

What fishing here is like

An unsheltered east-facing coast with three characters along its length. In the south, two large tidal estuaries — the Eden and the Tay — with sand flats, channels and a flatfish, bass and mullet fishery. In the middle, Old Red Sandstone cliff cut into stacks, geos and narrow inlets, with rock ledges and points below and deep water at their edge. Along the whole run, working fishing harbours whose walls are fished where the operator allows it, and long sand and shingle beaches between the rock.

It is a cold, exposed coast with a strong autumn and winter cod tradition and a much lighter summer fishery.

What you can target here

One entry per fish, grouped by how you would be fishing — because the answer is a different one from the rocks and from a boat. Each entry says how strongly the sources support it and how much evidence sits behind it. This is documented quarry, not a forecast, and none of it is a statement that you may fish any particular ground.

From the shore · 10

Also documented from the shore: European plaice · Small-spotted catshark · Turbot · Whiting

From a boat · 1

What these strengths mean
Established quarry
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.
Places, accounts and sources are counted separately
A fish documented once at each of six marks is still documented once at each of six marks. Breadth is reported as a place count and never raises the strength, and sources are deduplicated across places so one publisher covering a whole coast counts as one. A fishery account is a source describing the fishing; a recorded catch is a report of a specific catch. They are counted apart because they are not the same evidence.

How people fish here

5 methods are recorded on the places documented here, counted from the records themselves rather than from what is practised in the country. Each opens a full guide to the technique.

  • Ledgering

    Recorded at 8 places here, over estuary, harbour wall, rock mark, beach.

    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.

    Documented on the same ground: Atlantic cod, European flounder, Pollack, Saithe, Atlantic mackerel, European plaice.

  • Float fishing

    Recorded at 4 places here, over harbour wall, rock mark.

    Suspending a bait at a controlled depth beneath a buoyant indicator — the most visual, most controllable and most widely applicable method in angling.

    Documented on the same ground: Atlantic cod, European flounder, Pollack, Saithe, Atlantic mackerel, European sea bass.

  • Kayak fishing

    Recorded at 2 places here, over estuary.

    A platform rather than a technique: quiet, shallow-draught access to water no other craft reaches, bought at the price of exposure, and a discipline where the decision not to launch is part of the skill.

    Documented on the same ground: Atlantic cod, European flounder, European plaice, European sea bass.

  • Spinning

    Recorded at 2 places here, over rock mark.

    Casting an artificial lure and retrieving it so that it moves like something alive — the most direct form of lure fishing.

    Documented on the same ground: Atlantic cod, Atlantic mackerel, European sea bass, Pollack, Saithe.

  • Surfcasting

    Recorded at 2 places here, over beach, estuary mark.

    Casting heavy baited tackle from a beach into surf — a method defined by distance, by tide, and by reading water that all looks the same.

    Documented on the same ground: Atlantic cod, European flounder, Saithe, Small-spotted catshark, Whiting.

These are the methods documented at the places FishingHQ holds here. A species listed beside a method is documented on the same ground, which is not the same as being taken that way — where a source establishes the method a fish was caught on, it is stated on that place’s own page. All fishing methods.

The fishing year here

The months the records under this area actually name, tightest season first. This is “observed in these months” rather than a season: a species whose months nobody recorded is not listed, because a gap in the evidence is not a year-round fishery.

What dominates

Beach and shore fishing for cod, flatfish and coalfish, historically dominated by an autumn and winter cod season. Rock fishing off the sandstone ledges and points for cod, pollack, coalfish, wrasse and mackerel. Harbour-wall fishing at the working ports. Estuary fishing on the Eden and Tay for flounder, bass and grey mullet. Small-boat and charter fishing out of the harbours over inshore reef and wreck. Migratory salmon and sea trout are a major presence in both estuaries and are a separate fishery under separate administration.

The water available

Open east-facing North Sea coast with no shelter from an easterly. Old Red Sandstone cliffs with stacks, arches, geos and rock ledges. Long sand and shingle beaches with defined gutters. Two large tidal estuaries — a small enclosed basin at the Eden, and the Tay, among the largest in Britain, with extensive sand flats and a powerful ebb. Working fishing harbours with deep water alongside. Offshore, inshore reef, wreck and the approaches to the Tay and the Dee.

How the rules are structured

Scottish sea fisheries measures apply, administered nationally, with no rod licence for sea angling. Migratory salmon and sea trout are administered separately through district salmon fishery boards, and both the Tay and the Eden carry substantial migratory runs — which makes the distinction between a sea fish and a migratory one legally significant here in a way it is not on much of the coast. Harbour structures are operational infrastructure. Shellfish gathering is governed by harvest area classification. FishingHQ does not state what any current rule is: measures, designations and local byelaws change, and the answer differs by species and by stretch of coast.

Who to ask

  • The Scottish marine and fisheries authorities, for sea fisheries rules, minimum sizes, protected areas and species restrictions.
  • The relevant district salmon fishery board, for anything concerning migratory salmon and sea trout.
  • The local authority environmental health service, for shellfish harvesting classification and closures.
  • The harbour authority for any working harbour, which is operational infrastructure rather than public space.
  • The body managing any conservation designation on the stretch concerned.

Words you will meet

Geo
A narrow steep-sided inlet cut into a cliff by the sea, from the Old Norse. Common along this coast and the northern Scottish coasts generally, and frequently part of a mark name.
The Mearns
The historic county of Kincardineshire, between Angus and Aberdeenshire. Still the ordinary name for this stretch of coast locally.

Conditions and hazards

Sandstone ledges below cliffs are the defining hazard: the marks are low, the water at their edge is deep, and the exit is a climb. This coast faces directly into an easterly with no shelter, and an east or north-easterly swell arrives on it with nothing to slow it down.

Cold water is severe here for most of the year and the autumn and winter cod season — which is when the coast is fished hardest — is exactly when immersion is least survivable.

The Tay estuary carries a powerful ebb over extensive sand flats, and cut-off on the flats is a real risk rather than a theoretical one.

Working harbours have working traffic, and the walls are not designed as fishing platforms.

Some of what lives here

Fish recorded here that FishingHQ holds a reviewed photograph of. It is not a complete list of what The Fife, Angus and Mearns coast holds, and it is not a prediction that you will catch any of them — it is a way in to the ones we can show you.

Places within this area

Publicly documented fishing geography. FishingHQ describes what the ground is; it does not say whether you may fish it, and every one of these sends that question to the body that holds the answer. Browse every place in this part of the world.

Who to ask before fishing any of these

FishingHQ does not know the current access position here. Sea angling in Scotland is not rod-licensed, but access rights under the Scottish Outdoor Access Code carry responsibilities, and harbour, local authority, marine conservation and fisheries measures all apply and all change. Check the current position with the Marine Directorate, the harbour or local authority and the land manager 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. Scotland has no general rod licence, and the fishing rights on almost every river and loch belong to somebody: a proprietor, an estate, an angling association or a district salmon fishery board. Permission is a separate question from access, and both change. Check with the relevant fishery board or association before going.

FishingHQ does not know the current access position here. Sea angling in Scotland is not rod-licensed, but access rights under the Scottish Outdoor Access Code carry responsibilities, and harbour, local authority, marine conservation and fisheries measures all apply and all change. Check the current position with the Marine Directorate, the harbour or local authority and the land manager before going.

  • St Andrews and the Eden estuary

    Estuary · Brackish water

    A shallow drying sand estuary behind a dune spit next to the West Sands, with extensive intertidal flats, a strong channel stream and a seal haul-out on the banks.

    Severe hazards of The Fife, Angus and Mearns coast apply here: cliffs and rock platforms, cold water shock, tides and being cut off.

  • The Tay estuary and Broughty Ferry

    Estuary · Brackish water

    The mouth of the river carrying the largest freshwater discharge in Britain, with vast drying sandbanks, a strong ebb, a narrow deep channel past the castle and a large migratory run through it.

    Particular to this ground: moving water and currents.

    Severe hazards of The Fife, Angus and Mearns coast apply here: cliffs and rock platforms, cold water shock, tides and being cut off.

  • Arbroath

    Harbour wall · Salt water

    A stone harbour beneath red Old Red Sandstone cliffs, with a wave-cut platform, caves and stacks running north along the coast and clean sand to the south.

    Severe hazards of The Fife, Angus and Mearns coast apply here: cliffs and rock platforms, cold water shock, tides and being cut off.

  • The Don mouth

    Estuary mark · Brackish water

    The last few hundred metres of the Don where it turns behind the dunes and cuts out through the sand north of Aberdeen, with a shifting bar at the mouth and clean beach either side.

    Open east into the North Sea.

    Severe hazards of The Fife, Angus and Mearns coast apply here: cliffs and rock platforms, cold water shock, tides and being cut off.

  • Gourdon harbour

    Harbour wall · Salt water

    A small working creel and line harbour on the Mearns coast, with two stone arms, a shingle beach beside it and rough rock running out to the north and south. One of the last places in Scotland where haddock were still line-caught commercially.

    Open east into the North Sea; the harbour arms are what make it usable.

    Severe hazards of The Fife, Angus and Mearns coast apply here: cliffs and rock platforms, cold water shock, tides and being cut off.

    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.

  • Crawton

    Rock mark · Salt water

    Conglomerate cliffs and a boulder shore below the deserted village south of Stonehaven, with the Fowlsheugh seabird cliffs immediately north. Rough ground and deep water, reached by a steep descent.

    Open east into the North Sea with no shelter at all.

    Particular to this ground: cliffs and rock platforms, cold water shock.

    Severe hazards of The Fife, Angus and Mearns coast apply here: tides and being cut off.

  • Inverbervie beach

    Beach · Salt water

    A steep storm beach of rounded cobble and shingle at the Bervie Water mouth, dropping quickly into deep water with no shallow margin. Deep water within a short cast, which is why it is a cod beach.

    Open east into the North Sea.

    Particular to this ground: cold water shock.

    Severe hazards of The Fife, Angus and Mearns coast apply here: cliffs and rock platforms, tides and being cut off.

  • Rumness Rocks

    Rock mark · Salt water

    Red sandstone ledges on the Arbroath cliffs coast, with stacks, gullies and caves and flat shelves to fish from where the rock is bedded horizontally. Rough ground below and a cliff path above.

    Open east and south-east into the North Sea.

    Particular to this ground: cliffs and rock platforms, cold water shock.

    Severe hazards of The Fife, Angus and Mearns coast apply here: tides and being cut off.

Safety

Cliffs and rock platforms — Can cause serious injury or death

Low limestone and shale ledges reached by a descent from a cliff top, fished from a platform that is wet, sloping seaward and lower than it looks from above. A sea that was manageable on arrival can put water across the whole platform, and the way back up is a climb rather than a walk.

What reduces it: Look at the state of the sea from the top before committing to the descent, and look at the forecast for the whole session rather than for the hour. Know where the exit is and how long it takes. Do not fish a ledge alone. Wear a buoyancy aid: a person in the water at the foot of a cliff cannot be reached quickly from the land.

Worse when:

  • A rising swell during the session, so the descent was safe and the ascent is not
  • Wet weed and algae on the platform, which are as slippery as ice on limestone
  • A big spring tide, which reaches ledges that a neap leaves dry

Cold water shock — Can cause serious injury or death

Sea temperatures around these coasts stay low enough for most of the year that sudden immersion causes involuntary gasping and rapid loss of useful movement in the hands and arms. Swimming ability makes very little difference to the outcome in the first minute, which is the minute that decides it.

What reduces it: Wear a buoyancy aid on any rock, pier or harbour mark, not only on a boat. If you go in, float on your back and let the gasping pass before trying to do anything. Get out and get warm quickly — the danger continues after the water.

Worse when:

  • Spring and early summer, when the air feels warm and the sea has not caught up
  • Fishing alone, where nobody raises the alarm
  • Heavy clothing and waders, which make self-rescue much harder

Tides and being cut off — Can cause serious injury or death

Ledges, sandbanks and beach sections reached at low water and cut off by a flooding tide that comes in behind rather than towards. The route back disappears before the standing ground does, which is why people are caught out on ground that is still dry.

What reduces it: Work out the time of the tide before going, not after arriving. Identify the point at which the way back closes and set an alarm for it. Never rely on being able to wade a channel that was walkable an hour earlier.

Worse when:

  • Big spring tides, which flood faster and reach further
  • Onshore wind and low pressure, which raise the water above the predicted height
  • Fog or darkness, which remove the visual cues people navigate back by

Precautions that always apply here

  • Wear a buoyancy aid or lifejacket. Cold water incapacitates strong swimmers within a minute, long before swimming ability matters.
  • Check the tide before you go and know your exit route. Being cut off is the commonest way a shore session becomes a rescue.
  • Tell somebody where you are going and when you expect to be back.
  • Carry a charged phone in a waterproof case, or another means of calling for help.

Check the rules before you fish

Fishing laws, bylaws, access rules, seasons, bait restrictions and permitted methods vary by location and can change. Check the current rules from the relevant authority and the water you intend to fish before fishing.

Check with:

  • Current national or regional law for where you are fishing
  • Current local bylaws
  • The relevant fisheries authority
  • The landowner, club or fishery whose water it is
  • Any restrictions specific to the species or the method you intend to use

Where to go next

What swims here

More fishing regions

Not related to this page — just the rest of the section. There is little else joined to this subject yet, and a short page should still lead somewhere.

Sources and evidence

  • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated descriptions of the Angus, Mearns and Fife shore marks, their ground and the species reported from them, recorded as consensus rather than as scholarship.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Why the 2 connections on this page are here, and the sources

What swims here

Backed by research — 2 connections

Supported by peer-reviewed research or fisheries science. The sources are listed and can be checked.

  • Atlantic cod

    A claim that a coast or region contains the ground and conditions this species is associated with. It is a distributional statement about the world, it rests on the reference literature and on the institute that surveyed it, and it deliberately asserts nothing about access, permission or catch.

    • The Fishes of the British Isles and North-West Europe — Macmillan, 1969 (Reference work)Relied on for: Distribution and habitat association of the marine fishes of the British Isles and north-west Europe, including which coasts and ground types a species occupies.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • FishBase: a global information system on fishes — Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds. — FishBase Consortium (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Recorded distribution, depth range and habitat association for the species named.States this directlyPassage read and verified

  • European flounder

    A claim that a coast or region contains the ground and conditions this species is associated with. It is a distributional statement about the world, it rests on the reference literature and on the institute that surveyed it, and it deliberately asserts nothing about access, permission or catch.

    • The Fishes of the British Isles and North-West Europe — Macmillan, 1969 (Reference work)Relied on for: Distribution and habitat association of the marine fishes of the British Isles and north-west Europe, including which coasts and ground types a species occupies.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • FishBase: a global information system on fishes — Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds. — FishBase Consortium (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Recorded distribution, depth range and habitat association for the species named.States this directlyPassage read and verified

How FishingHQ labels evidence is explained in the evidence policy.

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