Wreck Fishing

The Anglesey coastline and beyond is littered with many different types wrecks (there are over 200 around the Anglesey coastline alone). The Irish sea has an abundance of both deep and shallow wrecks which play host to many different species of fish. Being part of the shipping lanes into Liverpool and the Western Approaches during WWII, many ships lost in battle and over centuries those ships caught in severe storms have been lost in these seas and now lie at the bottom having created their own thriving habitats for marine life.

With the A55 dual carriageway across the island, Holyhead is now an ideal venue for a good days fishing the many wrecks of the Irish Sea from one of the only major ports with direct access to these grounds and St Georges Channel.

My Way 2 offers a great sport fishing and fish for the table.

Fish that can be expected in and around wrecks within easy reach of Holyhead include: pollack, cod, coalfish, spurdog, ling, conger, huss, tope, and many more.

Whether you prefer fishing with jellyworms and shads, or hokki’s or feathers, or ragworm and live sandeel, there is usually plenty around to keep all aboard My Way happy.

A good days deeps / wreck can be achieved on tides ranging from 23’ to 29’. Late May through until late October are the most productive of times of the year for paying the wrecks a visit.

As a rule downtiders are in the wreck anglers armoury. Down tide rods should range in the 12lb to 20lb for drifting and also the 20lb to 30lb in general for those seeking out the congers, when anchored up over slack water on our wrecks. Heavy uptiders of 6oz to 8oz are often used and can work equally well.

Reels can range in size and type. There are a host of different makes and models to choose from however with reels sized similar to Penn Fathom 15’s are very popular choices, a good high retrieve around 6:1 always favoured when fishing wrecks up to 400ft in depth. Mainline in the 20 – 30lb  …. braid is a must when fishing so deep.

There’s a wide assortment of rigs and tackle available to the wreck angler. Primarily when hunting out pollack and coalies, rigs such as the flying collar, the standard tube boom single hook rigs and variations on the east coast killer rigs .

Hook sizes vary from 1/0 – 4/0.

Modern wreck fishing on the drift has moved on leaps and bounds in recent years. Jelly worms, imitation sandeels and various small shads work well, but the newer shads, Sidewinder style shads, Minnows and more etc appear to out fish all manner of older soft plastics. Colours are a personal choice, however I would always ensure you have Rhubarb & Custard (always a popular wreck fishing combination), black or pearl white.

Another method used for the pollack, cod & coalfish is jigging using a set of large hokki /muppet feathers.

When new to the wrecks, this can often help you settle down with locating the structure of the wreck whilst learning the drift. A good few pollack or codling come to the basic hokkai rig.


A good selection of weights from 6oz up to 1lb are the norm. Styles best used include the Torpedo and Bopedo weights. Please don’t use bell leads when drifting the wrecks, these are not so stream lined and result in many tangles whilst descending to the wreck.

Considering the depths being fished and the enjoyment of all on board we offer two types of wreck fishing trips for individuals and small groups of anglers

Trip 1    Full Boat Charter – Up to 10hrs – £600  – maximum of 8 anglers aboard

Trip 2     Individual space – Up to 10hrs – £100pp  – maximum of 6 or 7 anglers aboard

Read more about My Way wrecking  here