Let me just first point out that these fishing spots in Torquay are based on my own personal experience. I'm not a member of a fishing club but would like to join one at some point.

Fishing from Babbacombe Pier , Torquay.
A guide by Simon Day.

------------------
NAVSAT LOCATION
Street Number: n/a
Beach Road
Babbacombe
Devon
TQ1 3
------------------

Babbacombe Pier is a popular place to fish and is often busy with groups of people all fishing from one tiny place. There is a very steep hill going down to the pier but you can drive down.

You have to pay for parking and they will wheel clamp if you don't. I've been down there at 5.30pm and was warned by the attendant that I must buy a ticket. 2 hours costs £2 and 4 or more hours cost £4

The good news is there is also a pub right above the pier in case you need to quench your thirst or have a bit to eat.

It is pretty much all float fishing and feathering during the day with bottom fishing best at dusk/night/dawn. This place is very disabled friendly because once down at the car park it's a flat ground to the pier.

In the top photo on the right you'll see what the pier looks like. The two fishing at the very end of the pier are casting straight out. From there to the left is pretty much a sandy bottom. All along the length of the pier (you have five in the photo) is pretty much all rock so you need to be careful.

It's only during the winter months that it's pretty quiet down there so if you want the best spots you need to get there early or take a chance.

The very best place for feathering is at the end of the pier casting out towards Teignmouth. Casting anywhere from 10 O'Clock to 2 O'Clock angles but I've found the 1 to 2 O'Clock angle to be the very best place there for mackerel.

WARNING!

A quite large amount of people who fish this location are very rude, abusive and seem to enjoy aggravating as many people as they can. I've never seen such a total lack of respect for others anywhere else in the bay so be warned! It doesn't happen all the time but it happens enough now for me to post about it on here.

I've downgraded the rating from 7 to 5 because there are so many of these people fishing there now.

Types of fish caught
Photos of species

Catches (depending on season) are mainly Mackerel, Garfish, dogfish, Whiting, pollock, black bream, red mullet, Rockling and wrasse.

Rarer catches include cod, bass and smoothhound.

Summer Season Suggestions (June-Sept)

Down here on holiday? First thing I'd do is get the float gear or spinners out and catch some fresh mackerel. The range for casting would depend on where about's you're fishing. As a general rule 5 to 30 yards out will do it. Try to fish the end of the pier casting out between 10 to 2 o'clock. The cast should be pointing towards the Oddicombe cliffs at 10 o'clock.

There are quite a few wrasse about and I'd be casting on the outside for these at a range of 10 to 60 yards. Peeler crabs go down really well but worm with a squid tip also do quite well. Expect sizes up to around 3-4lb. Lots of rocks on the outward size but plenty of rockling and wrasse lurk in them. Well worth the odd rig loss!

A lot of Pollock about as well and night fishing can go really well. Again worms or mackerel strips work well for these. Expect the most common sizes to be around the 1lb to 2lb mark.

Plenty of garfish about as well in the day time. Float fish quite shallow (6 to 10ft) using mackerel strips (and beads if you like).

Dogfish can sometime dominate the area so bottom fishing at night with mackerel strips or squid can produce sizes up to the 2 1/2lb mark.

If you come down on holiday and want a guide I'll happily go with you (work permitting) and show you the best marks if you supply any bait needed :)

Baits to use

Best baits to use are mackerel strips, rag worm, lug worm, sand eels and squid.

Depth for float

5 to 10 foot depending on location and height of tide. If your fishing from the main stretch which runs towards the end of the pier then
you'll probably want to be using a depth of around 5 foot. Plenty of rocks but you'll just avoid them at this depth depending on tide.

Legal issues

Legally you can only fish the seaward side as is the case with all piers in Torbay. You may have two grumpy old men saying that you can't feather on the pier and they might even say there used to be a sign saying so. This simply isn't true and they just want you out of their fishing spot. I had this confirmed today (29/10/04) because I went and saw the harbor master and had a long chat with him about it. As long as you respect the boats coming and going and you don't fish inside the pier the harbor master is happy to leave you to do whatever method of fishing you like to do.