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The stretch between Walberswick to Dunwich offers some tremendous fishing, with big summer bass making catches all the more exciting.
Walberswick is situated just off the A12 and is directly below Southwold on the map, just the other side of the River Blyth. On a clear day there you can easily see Sizewell Nuclear Power Station, which is located a few miles further south down the beach.
This section of shoreline offers some top action all year round and is quite often favoured by the local anglers who know the virtue of fishing the beach.
Winter can offer good cod sport and the summer months some cracking bass fishing, not to mention all the other regular species that frequent the area. Seek local advice for what is actually being caught, nearer the time you plan to visit, so that you can properly target the species present.
To get here take the A12, then, depending on which beach you choose to fish, follow the B1387 or the B1125.
1 Beach Huts
This part of the shoreline is actually the most northerly part of Walberswick beach. To get there, turn off the A12 onto the B1387, which takes you directly into Walberswick. When you reach the village, look out for a sharp left-hand bend in the road. From here you will see a track that leads to a car park located behind a number of beach huts. Park the car in the parking area and check to see if a ticket is required before heading off to the beach that sits directly on the other side of the huts. The water in front of the huts is quite shallow and offers some great bass fishing in the summer. The best time to wet a line here is when there is a reasonable sea on, when the bass will be in the surf feeding on all the loosened food particles.
2 The Lifebelt
To get here, simply go the same way as for the beach huts. This time there is a short walk involved that takes you to the left, past the main line of huts. When you reach the last of the huts, cut through the sand dunes to the beach and look for a very obvious lifebelt at the back of the beach, just in front of another group of huts. Fish directly in front of the lifebelt for flounder, dab, whiting, bass and codling, depending on what time of year it is. The water here is deeper than it is to the left up to the rivermouth and there is a series of gullies close in that you must not cast over, or you could miss the fish. However, if the fish are not close then blasting one further out into the deeper water will pay dividends.
3 White Post
To find this spot you can turn off the A12 at Blythburgh onto the B1125. Then look for a turning on the left, signposted to Dunwich. Follow this road into Dunwich and follow the signs to the beach. There is only one access point to this part of the beach where there is a large car park located behind a shingle bank. This is a great place to take the family in the summertime because there is a café as well as adequate facilities to feed and keep the siblings entertained while you go fishing. To get to the white post, you must head off to the left below the shingle bank until you reach an obvious white post sticking out of the ground. Then, walk straight over the shingle and fish a flood tide directly in front of the post into some deep water that could throw out almost any species, depending on the time of year.
4 Under The Cliff
Access to this part of the beach is from the same car park as for the white post, but don’t be tempted to fish straight in front of the boats as there is better fishing to be had just a few hundred metres or so down the beach. All you do is head off to the right along the back of the beach, where the walking is a bit easier than along the shingle. Keep going until you reach an eroded cliff and set up anywhere from there down to the right. If you don’t go far enough down, you could end up in some nasty snags and lose some gear. The further you can go down the beach the better, as it becomes less troublesome with hefts. The water here is slightly shallower and fishes best on a flood tide for all species.
5 Black Post
To get to this part of the venue, go the same way as for Dunwich but turn off right at the junction beside a big church, before entering Dunwich village. Follow this road until you reach another junction where you must turn right. Follow this road for about a quarter of a mile, then turn left on a road signposted Dunwich Heath. Take this road until you reach the heath, where you will find a series of car parks that are pay and display. Leave your car in one of these or carry onto the cliff top and park up. You will see the beach from a high vantage point. Take the steps down to the beach and look to the right where you can see a black post sticking up three feet or so out of the shingle. Set up here and fish into some deep water close in for a variety of species including cod, whiting, bass, flounder, eel, doggy and dab.
6 Minsmere Sluice
This part of the beach is accessed from the same car park as for the black post hotspot. Although you are in fact parked on Dunwich Heath, the stretch of shoreline directly in front of the heath is the north end of Minsmere beach. There is quite a considerable walk involved to get to the sluice, which is located to the right from the car park. However, the walk is not too bad because there is a track for rambling use, which runs along the back of the beach and can clearly be seen from the cliff top. The water here is fairly shallow but does offer some brilliant bass sport in the summer. It is best to travel with a limited amount of gear, including light surf rods to get the best possible sport. Long, flowing traces baited with rag, squid or crab work best for the bass.
Tackle Shops
Southwold Angling Centre, 9 Station Road, Southwold,
TSF Top Tip 1
Make sure you’ve got a good selection of rigs with you, because literally anything can turn up at these marks!
TSF Top Tip 2
Make sure you use big hooks when fishing at Minsmere Sluice. There has been some very large bass taken here in recent years.
