Bristol Channel · England

Severn estuary, Somerset and North Devon

The Bristol Channel has the second biggest tidal range in the world, so the water is coloured and the tide runs hard. The muddy upper estuary gives cod, whiting, sole and conger, while the West Somerset reefs and the North Devon cliffs and surf beaches add smoothhound, rays, bass and huss. Respect the tide and the mud on every trip.

12 shore marks · Rules from Devon and Severn IFCA, checked 18 October 2026

Stay safe on this coast

  • Tides. Know the time of high water and your way off before you go out. Marks that fish around high water or on the flood can cut you off.
  • Cut-offs. Sandbanks, causeways and headlands flood from behind. After storms, re-walk even a familiar beach in daylight.
  • Rock. Watch the sea for 10 minutes before you go down: big waves come in sets. Wet weed is like ice. Never fish rock alone in the dark.
  • Lifejacket. Wear a lifejacket (PFD) on rocks, piers and walls, with the crotch strap fastened.
  • Emergency. Call 999 or 112 and ask for the Coastguard. Never go in after someone: call, and throw something that floats.

More in Rules and safety.

Rules

Rules in Severn estuary, Somerset and North Devon

Last checked 18 October 2026

Regulator: Devon and Severn IFCA. Always check its own page before you keep a fish.

  • Bass: minimum size 42cm. Catch and release only from 1 February to 31 March. In January and from 1 April to 31 December you may keep 3 bass per angler per day. No bass may be taken with fixed or drift nets. These rules apply from the shore and from boats.
  • Tope: you may not land a rod-caught tope in England (Tope Order 2008). Return it to the water.
  • Bass nursery areas: the Taw and the Torridge. The Taw area is the tidal water upstream of a line from the western end of Braunton Pill to the old Yelland power station site. The Torridge area is upstream of a line from Zeta Berth to the opposite shore. From 30 April to 1 November you must not fish for bass from a boat there, or fish for any sea fish from a boat using sandeel bait. The rules cover boats, not the shore.
  • D&S IFCA's bass page (March 2026) lists no bass nursery area in the Severn estuary or the Parrett, so the new areas proposed there in 2016 are not in force.
  • Devon and Severn IFCA has no permit byelaw for angling. Its inherited byelaws apply to anyone, but they set sizes for shellfish only: lobster 90mm carapace, hen crab 140mm, cock crab 160mm and scallop 100mm. Winkles that pass through a 16mm square gauge must go back. It sets no minimum size for any fish except bass.
  • In the Taw and Torridge estuary, old Environment Agency byelaws also apply to anyone: mussels must be at least 2 inches long, and cockles that pass through a three-quarter inch square gauge must go back.
  • No sea fishing is allowed in the tidal River Yeo at Barnstaple, between where it joins the Taw and Raleigh Weir.
  • You need a D&S IFCA permit to use any net at sea, including for recreational fishing. A landing net used with a rod, and a hand-worked net of up to 4 square metres, are exempt. Fixed nets for sea fish are banned in the English Severn inland of a line from the Rhymney mouth to Flat Holm lighthouse, then due east to the North Somerset coast.
  • You need an Environment Agency rod licence to fish for salmon, trout, freshwater fish, smelt or eel. Sea fish are not on that list.

Rules change, usually each spring. Where a rule says check locally, ask the regulator or harbour office before you fish.

Minimum sizes

Last checked 18 October 2026

Regulator: Devon and Severn IFCA. Always check its own page before you keep a fish.

Minimum sizes
SpeciesLegal minimum
Bass42cm
Lobster (carapace)90mm
Edible crab, female (width)140mm
Edible crab, male (width)160mm
Scallop (width)100mm
Other fishNone set by D&S IFCA

Tip of the snout to the end of the tail. Use the strictest figure you know as your own minimum.

Rules change, usually each spring. Where a rule says check locally, ask the regulator or harbour office before you fish.

Headline fish

May to September

Smoothhound

Season

West Somerset reefs and beaches, and well up the channel now. One medium peeler crab or a trimmed prawn on a pulley rig.

Species guide: Smoothhound

April to October

Thornback ray

Season

Common on the English side in August and September. Squid tipped with black lug, cast short of the next reef.

Species guide: Thornback ray

All year, best June to October

Conger

Season

Harbour walls, reefs and Brean Down after dark. Big fish baits on a strong hooklength.

Species guide: Conger eel

October to February

Cod and whiting

Season

Portishead, Clevedon and Minehead on winter night tides. Lug and squid on a pulley rig. Cod are much scarcer up the channel than they were.

Species guide: Cod and codling Whiting

April to November

Bass

Season

Peeler crab on a short ledger, flicked just off the rocks as the flood arrives, or surf beaches in North Devon.

Species guide: Bass

September to November

Sole

Season

Kingston Seymour and the muddy upper channel on calm night tides. Small hooks with lugworm.

Species guide: Dover sole

Marks

The marks below are researched from public sources and local anglers' videos. We haven't fished them yet, so each is labelled Not yet visited by us. Drive times from your postcode are on the Marks page.

Local tips

The pulley rig is the standard rig on this coast. In a hard tide use a 6oz grip lead with stiff wires, a weak link lighter than your mainline, and no swivel on the rig body to snag.

On reef marks, start about an hour and a half before low and fish up the flood. Check worm baits after 20 minutes; crab, prawn and squid can stay out for up to an hour.

Cast a plain lead first to see which way the tide is running. On most English-side marks the ebb runs from right to left.

For smoothhound, one medium peeler crab or a trimmed prawn is plenty. Fix the top hook in place so the fish feels it straight away.

Thornback are now common on the English side in late summer, blonde rays are turning up, and big smoothhound come well up the channel. Cod have almost gone from the upper channel.

Kingston Seymour suits beginners. Expect flounder and bass in spring, rays and conger in summer, and sole in late autumn. A hard frost kills the fishing.

Don't fish the reefs west of Watchet over low water. The flood fills the channels behind you and there is deep mud. Plan your way out first.

At Ilfracombe pier on a huge tide, small baits washed out. A whole small mackerel caught a big bull huss. In a fierce tide, go bigger.

In our own words, cross-checked against local anglers. Rules always come from the regulator, not a video.

Crabbing on this coast: family spots, and the crab and lobster rules for every regulator, are on Crabbing.

Local tackle and bait shops, charter boats and clubs: we're building these lists. Run one? Add it free.

Before you go

  • Tide times for the nearest port: EasyTide (UK Hydrographic Office).
  • Wind and sea state: Met Office inshore waters forecast.
  • Access to piers, harbours and ports changes. Check with the owner or harbour office before your first visit.

Sources