Where’s The Fish? Logo for Where's The Fish?
Cornwall

Mother Ivey’s Bay

6.4 · Beach · Cornwall

Sheltered sandy cove with rocky arms on either side, just east of Trevose Head. Suits surf and light lure fishing for bass in a moderate swell, with summer shoals of mackerel and garfish pushing bait tight to the beach and rocky points. Rocky margins hold wrasse and pollack in clear water. After dark, the sandy bottom can produce dogfish, small‑eyed rays and the odd turbot; whiting show in winter. Access is via coastal footpaths with a steep final descent; parking is limited nearby. Watch Atlantic swells, surges on the rocks, and lesser weever fish in the sand. Best results on a flooding tide, especially at dawn or dusk in settled or moderate conditions.

Should you fish Mother Ivey’s Bay?

57 Fair

Today · Best window

Best window: 18:00-21:00 around the rising tide

Most likely species: Ballan Wrasse and Mackerel

Fair conditions. Best around 18:00-21:00 around the rising tide. Good chance of Ballan Wrasse and Mackerel.

NW 4 mph Rain 8% High tide 11:04

Fishable, but pick your timing carefully.

Plan this mark

7-day fishing forecast for Mother Ivey’s Bay — 7-day forecast

Scores and best windows are weighted for .

Met Office Met Office · Open-Meteo

Where the data comes from. Weather and sea-state readings come from the Met Office and Open-Meteo forecast models, refreshed several times a day. High and low water are taken from tide-station predictions for this stretch of coast.

How the score works. Each window is scored 0–100 from the signals that most reliably move fish inshore: tide movement (a running tide carries food, so the last of the flood and first of the ebb are usually the prime spells), wind speed and direction (onshore wind stirs food into the surf — up to the point it makes fishing hard), sea state (a little wave and swell movement helps, heavy swell hurts), and weather — rain, temperature and light. Behind the headline number we score bite opportunity and comfort separately, and run a separate safety check on wind and swell. The size of the tide counts too: spring tides move more water than neaps, so the tidal range for this stretch of coast is weighed alongside the tide's direction, your target species and this mark — and unusually big springs strengthen the safety check, because the water rises faster and covers more ground.

Your target species counts. Pick a species below and the score also weights what we know about it — its season, preferred sea temperature, tide stage and sea state, and whether it feeds by day or night.

The rating is guidance, not a guarantee — conditions change fast on the coast, so always judge the sea in front of you before you fish.

Wednesday looks better than today. Unlock the week to see its score and exact window.

· windows & tide

Spring vs neap tides. Spring tides have a larger difference between high and low water, so more water moves on each tide — usually stronger flow that stirs up food and gets fish feeding. Neap tides have a smaller range and generally gentler movement. The range here is compared with what is normal for this stretch of coast, and the cycle swings between springs and neaps roughly every week, following the moon.

Big spring tides: the water rises faster and covers more ground than usual — double-check access routes and cut-off points before you fish.

Now

Tide curve will appear once tide data is available.

All windows will appear once the forecast is loaded.

Premium forecast

Unlock exact best windows, tactics and backup options for this mark.

Trip planner

Find the best time to fish Mother Ivey’s Bay

Choose when you're free and what you want to catch. We'll show the best tide, weather window and method for this mark.

Premium unlocks exact windows, tactics and alerts.

Premium Mark Insight

Locked

Mother Ivey’s fishes best when treated as two marks in one: a sheltered sandy surf cove for bass, rays, dogfish, turbot and occasional smoothhound, and rocky arms for wrasse, pollack, mackerel and garfish. The strongest all-round plan is to arrive for the flood, start mobile, and choose between the clean sand or the rocky margins depending on swell, clarity and target species.

  • Know when to fish the sand and when to switch to the rocky arms
  • Hit the flood window for bass, rays and night dogfish
  • Use the inner bar and sandy troughs instead of casting blind
  • Pick the safer sheltered side when swell or weed builds
  • Time low-water rock sessions without getting cut off

Included with Premium

Cancel anytime · Stripe

Unlock this mark's plan

Jump to towns around this mark for more marks and guides.

Constantine Bay 1.1 mi St Merryn 1.8 mi Trevone 1.9 mi St Ervan 3.2 mi Padstow 3.6 mi

Explore nearby towns: Constantine Bay · St Merryn · Trevone · St Ervan · Padstow

Zoom and pan to explore access points and nearby marks.

Jump to guide

Forecast tuning currently supports Bass and Mackerel — more species are on the way.

Overall rating

6.4 /10

Blend of catch potential, access, safety, and overall experience.

Category scores

Catch Potential 6/10
Species Variety 7/10
Scenery & Comfort 9/10
Safety 6/10
Accessibility 5/10

Bass 9/10
Tip: Surf beaches and rocky points; dawn/dusk or after dark on a flooding tide. Use plugs/soft plastics in clear water, or crab/sandeel baits in lively surf.
Lesser Spotted Dogfish 8/10
Tip: Very common over clean sand; night sessions on the flood. Small fish or squid strips find them year-round, more prolific in summer.
Small-eyed Ray 7/10
Tip: Targets sandy troughs; night into first light on a mid-to-large flood. Long casts with sandeel or launce. Best late spring–autumn on settled seas.
Mackerel 7/10
Tip: Summer shoals around the headlands; spin metals or float-strip at dawn/evening on a flooding tide. Clear, calm conditions best.
Ballan Wrasse 7/10
Tip: Crab or prawn dropped into kelp-lined ledges at the bay’s sides; fish the first half of the flood, best late spring–autumn. Strike fast; strong gear.
Pollack 6/10
Tip: Work soft plastics or metals along kelp edges off the rocky points at dusk on a flooding tide. Best spring–autumn with some swell.
Turbot 6/10
Tip: Chance from sandy bars in late spring–summer; long cast sandeel on running ledger. Daylight, neap to mid tides, slight swell helps.
Starry Smoothhound 6/10
Tip: Warm months; peeler crab baits over sand/patchy ground at dusk on a flooding tide. Long casts help. Calm seas favoured.
Plaice 5/10
Tip: Clear water over clean sand; daylight on neaps. Lug/rag tipped with squid, beads/bling can help. Best late winter–spring.
Garfish 5/10
Tip: Float-fish small sandeel/strips near surface off the points on flooding tide at dawn/evening in summer. Clear water essential.
Scad (Horse Mackerel) 4/10
Tip: Night in late summer–autumn; small sabikis under a float or slow-jig metals around illuminated water and points on the flood.
Conger Eel 4/10
Tip: After dark from the rock edges; large fish baits into gullies on a neap-to-mid flood. Calm seas/swell only. Summer–autumn.

Local knowledge

Mother Ivey’s Bay fishing guide

Practical access, seasons, methods, tides, safety and facilities for this mark.

Mother Ivey’s Bay sits tucked under Trevose Head on Cornwall’s north coast, between Harlyn and Constantine. It’s a pretty, crescent-shaped sand beach with rocky points that offer mixed ground options, plus some shelter from prevailing westerlies, making it a quietly productive mark in the right conditions.

This mark lies on the Trevose Head peninsula near Padstow, with access either via the South West Coast Path or from nearby car parks. Arrive early in peak season as spaces are limited and paths get busy.

  • Parking options: National Trust car park by Trevose Head/Lighthouse (often signed; SatNav reference area PL28 8SL); larger pay-and-display at Harlyn Bay (PL28 8SB). No general public parking inside Mother Ivey’s Bay Holiday Park—respect private roads and signage.
  • Approach: From the lighthouse car park, follow the coast path south/east to the bay (10–20 minutes). From Harlyn, follow the coast path west via Cataclews Point (20–35 minutes). Final descents are on sandy or stepped paths.
  • Terrain: Clean sand in the middle of the bay, with kelpy and bouldery ground on either side. The headland ledges are uneven and can be slippery.
  • Notes: The RNLI Padstow Lifeboat Station is on Trevose Head above the bay—do not use the slipway or its access road for fishing or parking.

The bay fishes as a clean surf beach with rough-ground options on the flanks. Expect classic north-coast species with a few stand-out targets in the right windows.

  • Spring (Mar–May): Turbot (best April–June), early bass, small plaice possible, dogfish; wrasse and pollack wake up around the rocks.
  • Summer (Jun–Aug): Bass, small-eyed ray over the sand, mackerel and garfish from the points, gurnards, scad at dusk, thick-lipped mullet in calm water, ballan/corkwing wrasse in kelp, pollack.
  • Autumn (Sep–Nov): Peak bass, continued small-eyed rays, lingering turbot, pouting, conger from rough ground after dark, whiting late on.
  • Winter (Dec–Feb): Whiting, dogfish, rockling; occasional codling in a proper northerly blow; conger from the rocks at night.

Treat the middle as a surf beach and the sides as mixed to rough ground. Travel light so you can shift between sand and rock as the tide and swell dictate.

  • Over the sand: Long-range clipped-down rigs (1-up/1-down, up-and-over pennel) with 4–5 oz leads. Best baits are sandeel (whole or half), mackerel strip/squid cocktails for rays, and small whole sandeels or fillets for turbot.
  • Bass in surf: 10–12 ft surf rod or a lighter estuary rod on smaller seas. Peeler crab, lug, or sandeel on a pulley/flowing trace; or work shallow divers, surface walkers, and 12–15 cm weedless soft plastics along the gutters at dawn/dusk.
  • Rocks/points: Float-fish crab, prawn, or rag for wrasse in 6–15 ft of water; lure-fish with 10–30 g metals and soft plastics for pollack/mackerel/gar. Use abrasion-resistant leaders and weedless hooks.
  • Night tactics: For rays/whiting, scale to 2/0–3/0 hooks on long snoods; keep baits neat and aerodynamic. For conger, stout gear with large fish/squid baits from the kelp edges.
  • Tackle notes: Shockleader (at least 60 lb for power casting), long snoods (3–5 ft) for turbot and rays, and pulley dropper rigs if you’re near rough ground to lift fish/lead.

Mother Ivey’s gains some shelter from big W/SW swells, so it can be fishable when nearby open beaches are blown out. It’s more exposed to N/NE winds and northerly swell.

  • Tide state: For the beach, last 2 hours of flood into the first of the ebb are prime for bass and rays. For the rocks, 2 hours either side of low can open up ledges and channels—mind cut-offs.
  • Sea state: Slight colour helps bass and rays; clearer water suits wrasse/pollack. After 24–48 hours of settled weather, lure fishing shines around the points.
  • Swell/wind: Moderate W/SW often fishable; strong N/NE quickly raises surf and weed—pivot to the more sheltered side of the bay or the inner ledges.
  • Light/season: Dawn/dusk for bass and turbot spring–autumn; after-dark improves rays and whiting. Summer neaps are good for wrasse; larger spring tides move bait and can spark bass activity.

This is a beautiful but committing coast. Plan exits, wear proper footwear, and treat any swell with respect.

  • Slips/surges: Kelp-coated rock and sudden sets can knock you off balance. Avoid low ledges if there’s any swell running.
  • Cut-offs: The points towards Trevose Head and Cataclews can flood behind you—know the tide times and your retreat route.
  • RNLI lifeboat: Never fish from, on, or near the lifeboat slipway or its exclusion area. Launches can happen with little warning and create dangerous wash.
  • Beach hazards: Strong shore-dump at mid-to-high on bigger swells; rips can form along the sides of the bay.
  • Mobility: Paths are uneven and steep in places; not suitable for wheelchairs. A waist-belt lifejacket and headtorch are strongly recommended, especially after dark.

Expect limited on-site amenities; plan self-sufficient sessions, especially at night.

  • Toilets: Seasonal facilities at Harlyn Bay; none at Trevose Head car park (check current NT info). Holiday park facilities are for residents/guests.
  • Food/shops: Cafés and pubs in St Merryn; more options and supermarkets in Padstow. Small beach kiosks operate seasonally in nearby bays.
  • Tackle/bait: Bait and tackle available in Padstow and St Merryn (ring ahead for fresh worms/peeler).
  • Lifeguards/phone: Harlyn is usually lifeguarded in summer; Mother Ivey’s typically isn’t. Mobile signal on the headland is generally fair but can dip in the bay.

A little local knowledge goes a long way here—treat it as two venues: a surf beach and a pair of rocky points.

  • Turbot trick: Long, low snoods with small whole sandeels fished just beyond the inner bar on a flooding tide. Keep baits tidy and moving with a slow, occasional lift.
  • Rays: Dusk into first of the ebb is a classic window for small-eyed rays over clean sand—fresh sandeel beats frozen most days.
  • Wrasse: Downsize hooks and keep floats moving. A crab bait dropped tight to kelp fringes gets quicker takes than static presentations.
  • Lures: On clearer, calm evenings, work surface lures along the western point’s slicks for bass; swap to paddle tails when there’s a bit of chop.
  • Summer crowds: Fish very early or after dark to avoid swimmers; keep casting angles away from the bathing area and respect any beach lifeguard flags.
  • Folklore: The bay’s name recalls a local “wise woman” from old Padstow lore—consider it a reminder to fish with respect for weather and water.

Cornwall waters have a mix of national rules and local byelaws. Always check the latest guidance from the MMO and Cornwall IFCA before you go.

  • Bass (recreational): At time of writing, a closed season for retention typically applies in Jan–Feb (catch-and-release only), with a daily bag limit (commonly 2 fish at 42 cm minimum) from Mar–Nov. Verify current dates/sizes before fishing.
  • Minimum sizes: Observe UK/EU minimum conservation reference sizes for species you intend to keep. When in doubt, return fish.
  • MCZ/SSSI: The area sits near designated conservation sites (e.g., Padstow Bay and Surrounding Waters MCZ; Trevose Head and Constantine SSSI). Angling is generally allowed, but do not damage features or disturb nesting birds on cliffs.
  • Crustaceans: Berried or v-notched lobsters must be returned. Crawfish/spiny lobster have strict size rules—return undersize or berried individuals.
  • RNLI infrastructure: No fishing from the lifeboat slipway, platforms, or within any marked exclusion zones—obey on-site signage.
  • Access: Some paths cross private land or holiday park boundaries—stick to public rights of way and respect any seasonal restrictions.