Not the most inspiring name for an angling destination, and not the most accessible either. But certainly the most assured in terms of getting afloat in the North West, and potentially one of the most productive too due to its close proximity to arguably the widest range of boat fishing along the Lancashire Coast. While geographically speaking it would be incorrect to label Knott End as being part of Fleetwood, the fact that it's only a narrow channels width 5 minutes across on the Fleetwood to Knott End passenger ferry or alternatively a good half hours drive tells it's own story. The driving option is done by turning onto the A588 (Shard Lane) at its traffic lights junction with the A585 which quickly crosses the River Wyre. After several road name changes, this makes a very sharp right angled turn. At this bend, in effect going straight across, bear left onto the B5377, then left again where it joins the B5270 (Sandy Lane). This meanders through Knott End village right to the top of the slip. Not somewhere you are likely to end up at other than deliberately. Yet it's Victorian seaside village vista's are extremely popular with walkers, bikers, and of course small boat anglers. And the focal point for all these groups is Knott End Cafe right at the top of the slip next to the Coastguard Station. I did the theory part of my RYA training there before heading out up the Wyre Channel for the practical side of it. We also used the slip for the maiden launch of a boat I built from scratch, and again for the inaugural testing of the Warrior 170. In all instances because of the virtual guarantee of getting afloat when planning weeks in advance. And it is this that makes Knott End such an important and popular small boat venue. Obviously, the weather can still have a say in things, in particular over the choice and availability of fishing marks outside, which offer everything from cod and whiting over the winter months, to tope, rays and bass during the summer.

While the slip at Knott End is of the very highest quality, it can still present its share of problems, particularly if you have never used it before. It's almost wide enough for a car to make a careful 3 point turn. But there is no need as it has a short off shoot on the right hand side two thirds of the way down to swing the car around into then reverse the boat the last little bit of the way down. Notice I use the word car and not four wheel drive. This is one of the few venues in the North West where 4WD is not absolutely essential. So another plus there. With water well up the slip, some people prefer to launch and retrieve their boats over the side. If you do this, particularly when the water is right down, be aware of the metal rope moorings used to tie the ferry up. They can and will make a mess of your boat. What I didn't realise on this particular day was that I was about to get into a bit of an unexpected mess myself. The water was quite well down, but being a middle range tide, it had not quite cleared the very end of the concrete. So I walked behind the boat feeling for the submerged drop off as Charlie reversed back, looking to get the trailer wheels as close as possible to the end. When I found it, I shouted back to Charlie to stop, but obviously (or at least I hope) he didn't hear me and kept on going pushing me straight off the end into the water. It's a good job we carry a set of old spare dry clothes in the front locker. So as I got changed, he nipped back up and parked the truck and trailer on the car park behind the cafe, paid the ferry-man for the privilege of using the slip, and we were off up the buoyed channel towards the open sea. It is important to stay within the buoys, particularly at low water. Only when you get to the Fairway Buoy beyond the wooden framed structure known as Wyre Light marking the end of the channel can you safely consider wandering about. Also keep an eye out for shipping as Fleetwood is quite a busy RO-RO terminal.

The plan had been to open our account with a few drifts around edge of the Lune Deep close to King Scar Buoy to see if we could perhaps pick up a few mackerel to give us a wider range of bait options, then head off to anchor Fisher Bank to throw some worm baits at the bass before working our way out towards Lune Buoy for a spell after the Tope as the run started to ease away. If you fish for the mackerel with hokkai's around King Scar, you can sometimes also pick up the odd bass in amongst them. But we opted for small luminous green Mustad shrimps, which are the deadliest mackerel lures I have ever come across, which managed to pick up a couple of tiny joey's which went immediately into a tub of water for use as live baits. But unfortunately that was it. The bass in these parts tend to fall into two distinct groupings. If it's the bigger fish that grab your fancy, then drifting up the channel slopes trailing redgills on short droppers along the bottom amazingly gets the best results. No winding them in or jigging. Simply let the lead touch bottom and hold on tight. And that's the area we headed for next with our live baits, which while it took us a little way off our planned course seemed like too good an opportunity to miss. That said, Shell Wharf, like Heysham No.2 has not fished consistently well for bass over the past couple of years on account of the hammering both have taken by rod and line tactics used with commercial intent. Like a lot of places, when bass holding areas are first discovered they seem like the promised land. Then as more and more people cotton on, coupled to the money that can be made commercially, it very quickly becomes a common knowledge free for all leading inevitably to the situation as it currently stands. But presumably, they will never get them all, so having the live joey's on board, despite it being a flooding tide rather than the favoured ebb, we decided to give it a go anyway before heading off to the banks. We also put a redgill down on a second rod in one of the holders, and surprisingly it was that and not the mackerel that picked up the only bass we saw.

Mark No 1

Fisher Bank is one of a number of clearly defined shallow sand banks in the upper part of Morecambe Bay which can be positioned and anchored using a chart (No. 2010) and a GPS. Morecambe Bay is traditionally a small tide fishing area due to the ferocity of the run. On the other hand, the bass here seem to favour the bigger tides which can be hard to fish. So a compromise is sometimes the best option which is why we picked a tide just upwards of mid range. Spring tides in these parts can get up to 10.3 metres which is a lot of water to shift, particularly over such shallow ground. What you will also tend to find is that there can be a lot of loose weed in the water which again limits the options as to how you can fish. Everyone has their own ideas as to the best positioning over these banks, and everyone on their day catches fish. Bank fish tend generally to be of a smaller stamp than the lure grabbers around the Lune Deep edges and are best fished with static baits. We don't work to an exact GPS position here preferring to head right onto the bank then mooch about taking note of the direction of the breeze and the tide before anchoring towards an uptide edge so that when the anchor rope tightens we settle up just on to the top edge of the bank itself. But if I'm honest, it doesn't particularly matter as the bass here tend to roam about the place anyway. Fresh blacklug as opposed to crab most definitely has the best track record with these fish. It also opens up other doors such as the occasional nice bonus plaice, and is very much easier to get hold of, particularly if you order it in advance for collection en route from somewhere like West Coast Tackle in Cleveleys. Tactically speaking lobbing down tide with a simple flowing trace is the best technique. Uptiding is out of the question due to the weed which would be caught by the line. You still catch weed down tiding which will need to be cleared periodically, hence the flowing trace to gather it up at the trace swivel instead of having it masking the baits.

One thing you quickly learn to appreciate here is the hit and run tactics of these fish. What they lack in size they more than make up for in speed, probably aided to some extent by the run of the tide. Bites tend to come without warning, suddenly violently dragging the rod tip down hard then nothing. I lost a rod here once to a fish while I was busy photographing another bass that had just come aboard. Sometimes, like that fish, they will hook themselves. But unless you are totally attentive and quick off the mark, you can end up missing quite a few. This is a problem I have remedied to some extent by the use of circle hooks. Not the easiest hooks to thread a couple of whole blacklug onto. But once they are out there waiting to be eaten, much more of a certainty with regard to sticking them into the mouths of fast running fish. Usually, a 4/0 is about the right size. But if things are a little slow, especially as the run starts to ease away as was the case this particular day, scaling down to say a 2/0 with a single worm brings in the chance of some nice flatties including those plaice. Mixed in amongst a few schoolies, we unfortunately also started attracting the attentions of dogfish which seems to be an inevitable fact of life wherever you put a bait down these days. We also managed a few flatties too, but unfortunately the ones without the big red spots.

Mark No 2

When all else fails, particularly as the tide starts to ease, a run to the south west to Lune Buoy which is a southerly cardinal buoy on the north side of the Lune Deep can turn things around. I've heard rumours that the position of Lune Buoy has been changed recently to reflect the changing nature of the channel. I know for a fact that Shell Wharf Buoy on the opposite edge of the deep has been out of the water because I saw them lifting it. Either way, make for the buoy, then head west to south west for around a mile. There is no absolute precision to it. Just aim to be fishing in around 90 feet of water on the edge of the slope where the channel starts to climb up and blend into the surrounding bottom geography. This is prime tope country with some good individual fish mixed in amongst them. If you do connect with a good one in a fair lick of tide, expect problems getting it in to the boat. I've seen them hanging there in the tide almost within trace grabbing range refusing to come any closer. You can also get big numbers of tope, but usually in the smaller pack fish category of around 20 to 25 pounds a mile or so directly north of the buoy. Again, no precise marks to concern yourself with. The flow might not be quite so hard there either. In the days when Morecambe Bay was one of the finest thornback ray fisheries in the country, you could also expect a few of those picking up the tope baits too. On the smaller tides they were virtually guaranteed. I took part in the Fleetwood port record of 97 rays during a competition in which we had to head back to base while there were still lots of fish coming up. So who knows where the record could have gone. But those days are long gone. Any rays that do show now are more likely to be loners. Also expect bull huss. I've even had the odd bass or two pick up a tope bait, particularly if I have been fishing with squid. But not this particular day. The form book ran pretty much as expected for the short spell we gave it producing a couple of typical male pack fish. But that's what happens when, as with features such as this, you try to spread yourself as wide as possible in an attempt to show the entire area off in the best light possible and end up doing nothing in particular full justice.

Time To Be Making A Move

By this time the sea had started to cut up a bit which made the move away from the banks look like a really good idea. When it is a bit on the lumpy side in the bay, the banks invariably catch it worst of all. A weather eye also needs to be kept on the Lune Deep which can cut up very nasty, particularly around the edges, when all around beyond, the sea can look much more peaceful. Not so much of a problem if you are fishing the tope marks around the edge and can get back into Fleetwood reasonably quickly. It's when you head south around Rossall Point to fish for plaice almost up to the beaches between Rossall School and Cleveleys in the spring, or anchor the rough ground close in anywhere between Bispham and Rossall Point in the winter months for the cod that you can come unstuck. It depends to some extent on the direction of the wind and the stage of the tide. Tucked inside the bottom end of Morecambe Bay you get a lot of shelter from the prevailing south westerly wind. But if you've strayed around the point, you have to get back in to the bay to get the benefit, which can be easier said than done. Not so bad at high water going in either direction because you can work outside of the buoys if you keep an eye on the sounder and don't get too close in around Rossall Point. Even the bigger boats can take this route when there is plenty of water. This is what is known locally as sailing through the neckings. It cuts that huge detour out around King Scar Buoy, back to Fairway Buoy, then in along the channel which you will have to do when the water is down. In deteriorating conditions, that would be a long and nasty journey, particularly around the edge of the Deep. On the other hand, once you get in to the channel taking some shelter from the banks, it should start to improve rapidly.

Mark No 3

A bonus mark which we would only really fish as a back up if it gets too rough to head right out, or for when you get pushed back early inshore is the outer Wyre Channel, the end of which is marked by Wyre Light. This whole area is a surrounded by mussel beds. Aim to be fishing somewhere between No. 6 and No. 8 buoy with worm baits kept inside the contours of the channel itself which can usually be relied upon to produce a nice plaice or two.We eventually found ourselves passing the frontage of the Euston Hotel on Fleetwood promenade just a little after high water. Even so, it still pays to keep inside the buoys, particularly the last few coming up to the slip. You must aim to come back in on the upriver side of the slip (right hand side as you are approaching the end) which while it has quite a deep channel running along most of its length, it isn't very wide, and immediately adjacent to it is quite a steep bank of soft sticky mud. Remember also the metal bollards if the water is further down. If it's low tide, particularly on a big tide, you will not be able to get either in or out once the water has left the abrupt sheer end of the slip. Out in the channel just off the slip is a red buoy which you need to pass on your left before cutting in or heading out. The upper part of the concrete is edged with wood, and there are rings to tie the boat too, though I wouldn't leave it un-attended unless you have plenty of fenders over. You also need to be sure not to impede the activities of the ferry. Otherwise, trailering should be a fairly straight forward affair with plenty of time and space on the slip to prepare the boat fully for the journey home.

FACT BOX

Shop: None at Knott End though the Pet Shop in the village reportedly sells some terminal items. Otherwise its over to West Coast Tackle on Anchorsholme Lane in Cleveleys. Tel. 01253 851001.

Launch Site: Knott End Slip

Mark 1: Fisher Bank Top 535950 030406. This is best fished on a flooding tide resh black lugworm for bass, plaice and dabs.

Mark 2: Lune Slope 535600 031000 approx 90 feet(ish). This can nbe a very good tope mark when the tide is running on the ebb or the flood either side of the mid tide surge or anytime on a mid range tide. Can also produce huss and a few rays.

Mark 3: Wyre Channel between No. 6 and No. 8 buoy mid flood up to high water for placie and flounders.

p>Tides: Has its own tide table or you can use Liverpool tide table which is usually a few minutes earlier and around 0.2 of a metre or so bigger.

Safety: Coastguard station at top of slip, but not continually manned. Liverpool Coastguard.

Weather: Liverpool Coastguard or www.metoffice

Warning: Fleetwood is quite a busy RO-RO terminal.

RATINGS

Location and travel ***

Facilities *****

Tackle Shop – Fylde side ****

Location Safety *****

Fish Quality ****