Blackpool Sands sits at the bottom of a small valley just outside the village of Stoke Fleming to the west of Dartmouth. This venue is regarded as being one the most picturesque places to fish in the South Devon area. The venue is a beach residing in a small cove flanked by steep cliffs at either end. The beach is privately owned and the facilities provided are first class. Blackpool Sands is very family friendly with plenty to offer everyone from water sports, sandpits, superb swimming and an excellent café. Throughout the summer extra events such as open air cinemas also take place on the beach. With this in mind it can obviously get very crowded here in the summer so after dark or out of season are the best times to fish.
The beach consists of shingle and is much like Slapton in that it shelves down into quite deep water. The fishing can be outstanding at times with after dark certainly being the best time to fish. The daylight fishing is fairly poor with a few mackerel, garfish, the odd pollack, wrasse and dogfish being caught. The beach can be a very productive place to fish with tide state not being a great issue but from low water up to high is often the best time to go. The middle of the beach is clean ground with few snags. The closer to the rocks you fish at either end the more snags there are to hit. It is venue where a huge variety of species could turn up. As the beach isn’t too big it is possible to fish close to the rocks for species such as wrasse and then move to the cleaner ground to target flatfish amongst others. It should go without saying but please ensure that you take away all of your litter to preserve this pristine venue.
Mackerel, Garfish, Scad, Black Bream, Conger Eel, Dab, Plaice
Best Baits
Worm baits (especially rag) will catch the majority of the species on offer. Fish baits such as squid or mackerel work well for the dogfish and huss. Spinning will catch mackerel, pollack and the odd bass. A plug is worth a try for the bass from close to the rocks on a rising tide early in the morning.
Rigs
2/3 hook flapper or boom rigs with smallish hooks (size 1) will catch most species, if the water is calm try using a flowing hook length to add movement to your bait, a large bait on a pennel rig is worth trying for the bigger fish.
Dangers
Do not attempt to fish here if there is a big swell running in, in the past waves have damaged the sea front property and even threatened the road! It is possible to get onto the rocks at low water but beware as these can be slippery and there is a high chance you could get cut off by a rising tide.
