Porthmeor Beach Fishing

Summary

Porthmeor Beach is St Ives’ iconic north-facing surf strand, backed by the Tate and flanked by rocky headlands. It’s a classic Cornish beach mark that produces bass in the surf, summer turbot and occasional rays when the sea settles. Fish it at quiet times and you’ll find room to work the bars, rips and gutters that shift with each swell.

Location and Access

Set on the Atlantic side of St Ives, Porthmeor is easy to reach on foot from the town and has multiple access points with steps and ramps. Parking in St Ives is limited in peak season, so plan ahead or use park-and-ride options.

• Drive into St Ives and follow signs for town car parks; the closest are Barnoon, The Island, and smaller bayside car parks (often full by mid-morning in summer).
• A reliable reference point is Tate St Ives (TR26 1TG), immediately behind the beach; from there, short paths and steps lead down to the sand.
• Park-and-ride: consider parking at St Erth and taking the branch line into St Ives, or use the Trenwith (Leisure Centre) long-stay with a downhill walk into town.
• Access onto the beach is straightforward via several ramps/steps; the western and eastern ends involve short uneven paths if you head onto the rocks.
• Terrain: predominantly clean sand with shifting bars and gutters; rough ground and kelp-fringed rock platforms at both ends under Man’s Head (west) and The Island (east).

Seasons

This is a mixed summer surf and shoulder-season venue with classic north-coast species. Expect clean-ground fish on the open sand and wrasse/pollack around the flanking rocks.

• Spring (Mar–May):
  • Bass nosing into the first settled surf after blows
  • Turbot (mostly small), occasional small-eyed ray on calm spells
  • Pollack and wrasse from the rocks; garfish from late spring
• Summer (Jun–Aug):
  • Bass at dawn/dusk and after dark along the shore break
  • Mackerel and scad on calm evenings; garfish under floats
  • Turbot and the odd brill on sandeel baits
  • Spotted/small-eyed ray on settled, coloured water; dogfish after dark
  • Wrasse (ball/corkwing) tight to rough ground; occasional smoothhound
  • Greater weever in the swash in mid/late summer (watch your footing)
• Autumn (Sep–Nov):
  • Peak bass fishing in rolling, coloured surf
  • Whiting start to show; rays on neaps; pollack from the rocks
  • Scad after dark on small metals/feathers
• Winter (Dec–Feb):
  • Whiting, dogfish and pouting on the beach at night
  • Bass on the drop after big westerly blows; rare codling in cold snaps

Methods

Match your approach to the state of the surf: mobile lure work in fizzing white water for bass, static baits in the gutters for flatfish and rays, and float/spinning from the rocky ends in calm spells.

• Surf bait tactics (beach):
  • Rigs: 2-hook flapper for whiting/dabs; long-snood one-up-one-down for scratching; pulley/pulley pennel (3/0–4/0) for bass/rays
  • Leads: 4–6 oz grip leads to hold on banks; lighter bombs for close-range bass in gentle surf
  • Baits: sandeel (top for bass/turbot), peeler crab, lug/rag, razorfish, mackerel or squid strips; keep turbot baits small and lively
  • Casting: start close—many bass patrol in the first gutter; step up to mid-range for rays on settled seas
• Lures for bass/scad/mackerel:
  • Surface/sub-surface plugs (e.g. slim walkers/shallow minnows) across the shore break at dawn/dusk
  • 20–40 g metals for mackerel/scad in calm, clear water; soft plastics weedless over the rough ground at either end
• Rock edges (east/west ends):
  • Float rigs with small strips of mackerel/sandeel for garfish/mackerel
  • Jigheads/soft plastics for pollack on the flood; wrasse on crab/worm baits tight to kelp (catch-and-release recommended)
• Night sessions:
  • Simple pulley or running ledger with crab/sandeel for bass; small baits on size 2 hooks for whiting numbers
  • Use long snoods (60–120 cm) to let baits waft naturally in the surf

Tides and Conditions

Porthmeor changes character with banks and swell; success comes from reading the water and timing around pressure changes. Bass love fizz and movement; rays and turbot prefer a calmer, settled sea.

• Tide states:
  • Bass: last 2 hours of flood through first hour of ebb, especially into dusk/dark
  • Flats/rays: either side of low when gutters are defined, or the middle of the flood on neaps when the sea is settled
• Sea/swell:
  • Best bass conditions: 1–3 ft rolling surf, light to moderate colour, working rips and white water
  • After a big westerly, fish the first safe, dropping sea
  • For rays/turbot, look for calmer spells and neap tides with modest longshore drift
• Wind:
  • W–NW builds swell; a dropping WNW with residual colour is prime for bass
  • Light E–SE can flatten the sea—good for turbot/garfish but tougher for bass unless at first/last light
• Time of day/seasonality:
  • Dawn and dusk are consistently best in summer; nights produce whiting/dogs year-round and bass in warmth or after blows
  • Autumn carries peak bass potential as water stays warm with frequent swells

Safety

This is a lifeguarded surf beach in season, with strong rips, shifting bars and occasional heavy sets. Rock platforms at either end are slippery and can be wave-washed even on modest swells.

• Do not fish between the red/yellow lifeguard flags or near swimmers/surfers; fish outside flagged zones or outside patrol hours
• Powerful rips form alongside the bars and near both headlands; avoid wading deep and never turn your back on the sea
• Rocks at The Island and Man’s Head are uneven, kelp-covered and exposed to side-swash—use studded boots and keep well back in swell
• Greater weever stings are possible in summer: wear boots/waders and shuffle feet in the shallows
• The flood can push quickly up the steeper upper beach; plan exit routes, especially near the rocks where you can be hemmed in
• Night fishing: headtorch with spare batteries, a hi-vis marker on your rod rest, and a personal flotation device are strongly recommended
• Accessibility: ramped access to the sand, but soft sand can be challenging for wheels; town streets are steep

Facilities

Being in the heart of St Ives, facilities are excellent by beach-fishing standards. You can fish, grab a coffee, and be back on your mark within minutes.

• Toilets: public toilets close to the beach (seasonal opening hours)
• Food/drink: Porthmeor Beach Café and multiple cafés/pubs in immediate vicinity
• Tackle/bait: limited in St Ives; reliable options in Hayle and Penzance (check opening times, especially Sundays)
• Lifeguards: RNLI patrols in main season/daytime—observe flagged zones and any local instructions
• Mobile signal: generally good on and above the beach; can be patchy in narrow streets
• Train/bus: branch line to St Ives from St Erth; short walk from the station to the beach

Tips

Local anglers treat Porthmeor like three different marks: the open sand, the eastern rocks under The Island, and the western reefs towards Man’s Head—each fishes differently day to day.

• Read the water: stand high and locate the outer bar, inner gutter and any rip seams; put a bait or lure on the edges of those features
• For bass, move: make half a dozen casts across the shore break, then walk 20–30 m and repeat—covering ground outfishes static waiting
• Keep baits neat and small for turbot; a thumbnail sandeel tip on size 2–1 hooks gets more bites than a snake of sandeel
• After strong swells, weed can be brutal—switch to lures with single hooks or try the rocky flanks where weed load is lower
• Use a long, supple fluorocarbon snood (20–25 lb) for bass in clear water and a shorter, heavier trace when the sea is lively
• Gulls are fearless—cover your bait tray and keep hooks buried; seals sometimes cruise by at dusk and may shorten your session
• Summer crowds: fish dawn, late evening, or at night to avoid surfers and to find bass tight in the backwash

Regulations

Rules can change, so always check current guidance from Cornwall IFCA and the UK Government/MMO before you go. Respect lifeguard directions and beach management rules for the safety of water users.

• Beach zones: do not fish between red/yellow flags or in clearly signed bathing/surfing zones during lifeguard hours
• Bass (recreational): subject to seasonal opening, size, and daily bag limits; as of late 2024 the typical rule was 1 fish per angler per day at a 42 cm minimum within the open season—check for updates before fishing
• Minimum sizes: adhere to Cornwall IFCA minimum conservation reference sizes for species such as bass, wrasse, rays, etc.
• Wrasse: no specific angling ban here, but many local anglers practice catch-and-release to protect inshore wrasse stocks
• Bait and foraging: some intertidal areas in Cornwall have restrictions on bait collection—verify local byelaws and avoid protected features
• Protected species: release any shad, tope (if applicable under landing prohibitions), and other protected fish unharmed
• Litter and lead: take all litter and end-tackle home; avoid leaving lead or line on a busy bathing beach