History
The area boasts a long history, with its name deriving from the Old English ‘Otirpul’ or ‘Oterpol’ due to the otters that inhabited the tidal creek and freshwater pools formed where a stream joined the River Mersey,
The construction of the present day promenade began in 1929 with the river wall being completed in 1932. The Otterspool riverside promenade as we now know it was officially opened on July 7, 1950 and the site was extended in the 1950s and 60s to the north and south – and the site of an old dock at Otterspool was filled in to make a car park.
These days this long stretch of promenade is very popular in Autumn/Winter, with anglers keen to take advantage of the whiting and cod run.
The Britannia pub marks the start of the stretch, and offers somewhere safe to park your car. The area by the pub, and some 200yds to the left, can be extremely snaggy. A 5 min stroll puts you on to clean ground, and a good chance of some nice fish….
Otterspool Prom Hotspots for Codling in the winter months.
- The Old Jetty – Another 2 mins walk to the left will put you into deep water where an old jetty once stood.
- The Funnel – 100yrds further on (you`ll see it when you get there) , is another good spot.
- The Pumphouse – Jericho Lane is often the meeting place for matches, and a couple of hundred yards to the right of the car park is the Pump House (See Below)
Matches fished near the Otterspool Pub over the years show the codling catches have been pretty good, particularly on the first of the flood…there`s plenty of parking spaces near the prom, or you can park in the pub car park…..there`s always stories about cars getting turned over e.t.c, but all i can say is i`ve fished most stretches many times over the past 30 years and have yet to have a problem, though i prefer to use the pub car parks if fishing after dark.
Standard beach fishing gear will do the business, and fish will be taken on all manner of rigs and baits, though frozen crab and fresh black lug will take some beating. The whole stretch can be fished from low water, though tides exceeding 27ft will prove difficult as the run is very strong, and the weed becomes a big problem….on the plus side, you only need short casts for the cod, so if you can put up with the weed, the stronger running tides can throw up some big fish.
Getting there….The Britannia pub is situated on Riverside Drive, near the old garden festival site…stay on the sea front from the Albert Dock and you`ll come to it….1 mile further on, after a couple of roundabouts, is Jericho Lane, which has plenty of parking spaces….a further 1/4 mile brings you to the Otterspool Pub stretch..
Apart from anglers, Otterspool is extremely popular with walkers/dog walkers e.t.c so please do not leave any litter or we will lose the mark.
**Parking on the prom is not allowed, and you will get clamped**
The bottom of Mersey Road has a good size car park which is fairly close to the prom….the tide dries out for 100yds around low water, so this stretch needs to be fished from a couple of hours in to the flood….it`s at the far end in the pic below
