Round fish · Rock
Ballan wrasse
Great sport on Texas-rigged plastics in summer. Fish over kelp at low water.
- Know it
- Thick-lipped, heavy-bodied, green to orange and often speckled. Long spiny dorsal fin.
- Bait
- Peeler or hard-back crab, ragworm, soft plastics
- Table
- Return it Return them. They grow slowly, live in one spot for years and eat poorly.
Season
Typical months on the North West and North East coasts, with this month ringed. Seasons shift a few weeks with water temperature and run differently around the coast: see each region's headline fish below.
Legal minimum size
Ballan wrasse
Last checked 18 October 2026Measured from the tip of the snout to the end of the tail (rays: wing tip to wing tip). Each region links to its regulator.
| Area | Minimum |
|---|---|
| North West England | No legal minimum |
| North Wales | No legal minimum |
| Yorkshire to the Tyne | No legal minimum |
| Northumberland | No legal minimum |
| Dorset, Hampshire and the Solent | 18cm (check locally) |
No size for this fish is listed in the regional rules we checked for Cardigan Bay and the Llyn, Pembrokeshire, Gower and South Wales, Severn estuary, Somerset and North Devon. That may mean none is set, or that the national rules apply: check locally.
and 10 other regions
Rules change, usually each spring. Check the regulator for the area before you keep a fish.
Tips
Wrasse
Fish straight down the rock face with a tight drag and strike firmly, or they bury you in the kelp. Use scrap weights (old nuts or spark plugs) and expect to lose some. Half a worm on a size 4 is plenty.
A headline fish in
May to October
Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly
Rough, kelpy ground on both coasts. Weedless soft plastics or crab and ragworm on a rotten-bottom rig.
May to October
Scottish Borders to Aberdeen
Berwickshire and Angus rock. Float-fished rag for wrasse, small lures over kelp for pollack.
May to October
West Highlands, Argyll, Clyde and the islands
Rock marks such as Inverkip. Rag or prawn close in on strong gear.
Where to catch it
Regions with marks where ballan wrasse is one of the main fish, and how many marks.