Fish the structure, not the middle
The productive water on almost any harbour wall is the entrance, the outer corner and the tip, where current pushes past the stonework and concentrates baitfish. The middle of a harbour, where it is easiest to park a rod rest, is usually the deadest water in it.
Below your feet matters as much as out in front. Pollack, coalfish and wrasse hold tight against the wall itself, feeding on the weed and mussel growth on the stone. A float or a lure worked down the face of the pier often outfishes a ledgered bait thrown to the horizon.
Depth at every state of tide
The practical advantage of a wall is that it still has water under it when the beaches have drained. If you arrive at the wrong end of the tide for open sand, the pier is usually still fishable, which makes these marks the sensible fallback on a short evening or an awkward tide.
High water and the push of the flood are still the better windows on most walls, because that is when predators follow bait in along the structure. Mackerel through the summer are a daylight, surface-feeding proposition; the winter ledger sessions for whiting and dogfish start when it goes properly dark.
Footing, rope and other people
Wet, weeded stone with a drop on one side is the everyday hazard here, and it does not need a storm to be dangerous. Know where the ladder or the steps are before it gets dark, and keep the walkway behind you clear of rods, boxes and loose line.
Working harbours are working harbours. Boats have right of way over your cast, and slipways and moorings are not fishing platforms. Check the mark page below for access notes before you assume a wall is open to anglers.
