Freshwater Fishing in Cardiff

If you are thinking of fishing in Cardiff then the one thing you will certainly have is variety.

Cardiff is situated on the Bristol Channel where 3 significant rivers terminate. Two of these flow into Cardiff Bay. This bay is fast becoming a secret treasure chest for fishermen and can only get better.

River fishing in Cardiff

The Taff flows through the center of Cardiff and its lower sections around Hamadryad Park contain some nice chub at about 6lbs and significantly Barbel can now be found here. The lower Taff around Hamadryad Park has produced chub to 6lbs and a few Barbel have started to appear. At the beginning of he year some superb Grayling were landed.

The other river that flows into the Bay, the Ely has some surprises, the lower reaches will provide some very healthy pike, earlier in the year, 11 pike have been caught the largest being 15lb. With plenty of prey in Cardiff Bay pike can do their own fishing in Cardiff and their numbers and size can only grow.

Fishing in Cardiff Bay

So what of Cardiff Bay, well when the bay was formed by the construction of a barrage a tidal mudflat became a huge freshwater lake. The bay took a while to balance itself out but over the past few years it has now started producing. What we now see when fishing in Cardiff bay is a really diverse fishing arena.

Rudd of superb quality have been caught up to two pounds and carp in double figure poundage are readily available and there is a record of 30lb being gently landed from the bay waters. 10,000 bream were added to the bay earlier in 2013 and current catches are around 2lb. Walking over the pontoons at the sailing clubs some big mullet can be seen in the shallows and with such an abundance of different fish it is not surprising to learn that a recent pike weighed in at 33lbs.

No fisherman like to be told what to do as we all have our secrets, but take care to check your gear as these are lively healthy fish that put up serious resistance !!

A map of permitted areas for fishing in Cardiff is shown here.

Carp Fishing in Cardiff

There are carp ponds dotted all over south wales, however, the warmer coastal climate inevitably means that they weigh a bit more making fishing in Cardiff a bit more exciting. We have already identified one area for Carp, that being Cardiff bay and if the surrounding area is considered they area also available at Pyscodlyn Mawr. There are also carp in Barry pods as described below and In the body of the city of Cardiff there are carp to be found in Roath Park Lake. Daily fishing in Cardiff permits are £4.60 and can be bought from the kiosk offering boat and pedalo hire.

There are two dedicated carp lakes to be found in Cardiff both producing excellent fish

Cefn Mably Lakes
6 mixed coarse fishing lakes and two carp fishing lakes. 8 lakes to choose from can’t be bad! One of the nice things about Cefn Mably is that it caters for beginners and families as well as serious expert anglers. Prime specimen mirror carp from Lodge Lake , and Spring Pond up to 28lbs would make any fishermans day!

Lodge Lake:-Day Ticket £11.00 Spring Pond:- Day Ticket £9.00

Cefn Mably Lakes
Cefn Mably
Cardiff
CF3 6LP
Tel: 01633 681101
www.cefnmablylakes.co.uk

Lamby Lakes
Lamby lake is to be found on Lamby way and terrific larger carp fishing in Cardiff is to be found there. The fish are generally over 20lb and 30lb’ers are in there as well. The lake staff are really friendly and well informed.
Other fish inhabiting the same waters are perch, tench and golden rudd, and we all know what an attractive fish they are.

Lamby Lake, Lamby Way, Cardiff
Telephone 07878 831048
www.lambylake.com

Fishing in Cardiff surrounding area

The surrounding area also provides some good opportunities, a short drive away on the river Trothy in Monmouthshire good catches of Dace and small Chub have been caught.

Not so far away is a small pond location called Pyscodlyn Mawr its tucked away a bit but offers Carp, Tench, Barbel, Pike, Chub, it suffered a bit with trees falling into it in the spring of 2013 but these have been removed and it is now back to its best.
GPS Coordinates 51.475704,-3.382237 Marked as B on the map.

Barry ponds
To be found in Cadoxton near Barry town. These ponds are on land owned by Dow corning. Both the ponds have Bream, Tench, Roach and Rudd. In addition in Carol's Pond there is an additional selection of Crucian Carp, small Common and mirror carp.

Sue's Lake
This lake has Pike and Eels to add variety and is an extension of an old pond so had an old stock of fish and does produce the occasional surprise.

If you need further information about fishing in Cardiff this site is highly informative. www.glamorgananglersclub.org.uk