Coasteering - Have You Tried It Yet?

You might call it roving, but there’s more to it than some modern branding. Getting soaked is optional… as Dave Lewis discovers

- Dave Lewis

My dictionary defines the trendy, if not bizarre outdoor activity of coasteering as “a physical activity that encompasses movement along the intertidal zone of a rocky coastline on foot or by swimming, without the aid of boats, surfboards or other craft.”

Certainly, it’s not an activity to be undertaken by the faint-hearted. Be prepared, especially if you book a day’s fishing with Welsh bass guide Matt Powell – you’ll likely experience all the thrills of coasteering and, as I discovered, catch a bass or two on lures along the way.

Keen to do it safely, I met Matt at a campsite in the Pembrokeshire countryside. From there I drove behind Matt and his friend David Miller, the wildlife artist featured in Sea Angler (issue 549), through miles of twists and turns, mostly on single track lanes. I first met Matt three years ago when we fished Pembrokeshire’s south coast, caught bass, and enjoyed an incredible meal of foraged food on the beach.

PERFECT GROUND

Finally we had arrived at a roadside parking spot, unloaded our tackle, climbed into our chest waders and set off to a small, steep pebble beach. 

It was just after high tide. Such is the tidal range here in South Wales, I knew that as the waterline retreated we would gain access to an increasing expanse of open ground. This took in small, sandy beaches, intimate coves, and a profusion of rocky reefs, some shrouded in a thick blanket of rubbery kelp, others dissected by deep rock pools and gullies. All were perfect ground for the bass we were hoping to catch on lures.

Matt and David started the session casting OSP Do live Stick soft plastics. “Its lively action drives fish mad,” proclaims the slogan on the packaging. “Let’s hope so,” I thought.