Deep water lies close in to shore, and much of the ground is rough reef and rock. One of the most popular reefs is Spittal Hirst to the south, noted for cod. Good ground also lies off Caldingham Bay and St Abbs Head to the north. There are numerous inshore wrecks and rarely do vessels need to push further out to find fish. Some huge wrecks can be found beyond 10 miles out, with the potential for massive cod and ling. Click here for a list of charter boats.
There is excellent rock fishing right along this coast, especially just north of Burnmouth at a cliff mark called Horse Head (map).

This is predominantly cod country. The bulk of the fish inshore run between 2 and 6lbs with occasional 10lbers from the reefs. The wrecks give a similar stamp of fish, but 20lbers and even 30lbers can show, too. Summer is a good time, as can be the pre and early post Christmas period, but the latter depends very much on the weather.

Ling show from both the wrecks and rough ground, and hake and haddock are possible. Catfish also put in an appearance. Some pollack and coalfish show up over the rough ground and reefs, with rays, flatfish and whiting on the cleaner ground. The wrecks further offshore hold immense pollack and coalfish over 20lbs. In summer good wrasse are landed by boats fishing tight in to the cliffs. Mackerel can show close to the rocks during high summer.

Divers repeatedly report seeing big conger resident in the reefs and rock, and back in the early 70's a commercial boat trawling for prawns brought up a conger weighing 150lbs. A specialised approach with suitable baits and tackle might eventually be rewarded!

Both 30lb and 50lb class rods have their uses here. The 30lb rod is a good choice for general inshore fishing over the reefs when used with a multiplier holding 300yds of 30lb line. The 50lb may be a better choice when wrecking and matched to a reel taking 300yds of line. A few anglers prefer a spinning rod and small fixed spool reel when chasing summer pollack with lures and sandeel baits.

For an inshore drift baited white feathers work well for the cod, as do muppets, both worked above a pirk; red and black muppets are the best colours. Pirks range in size from a few ounces up to a pound. Top cod baits are lug, ragworm, mussel, cockle, razorfish and squid - even mackerel takes cod here. Wrasse take crab when available, worm baits and again fish strip.

On the wrecks a single pirk works well for all sizes of cod, though adding a muppet above can help the overall catch. Pollack will hit Toby and Dexter Wedge lures, but a silver jig lure, like the Mustad Jensen, can be excellent when worked lift and fall. Hokkai's and other luminous feather type lures are consistent takers of both cod and pollack.