The ballan is the largest of the seven species of wrasse native to British waters and is found all around our coasts. It fights hard, is plentiful and can be caught on a variety of different tackles. Much bigger than its near relations - the cuckoo, corkwing, rainbow, scale-eyed, rock cook and goldsinny - it grows to a weight in excess of ten pounds and is often one of the first fish caught by newcomers to angling.
This obliging species is found in all rocky areas, where it lives amongst the kelp and other seaweeds found on the ocean floor. Naturally it eats many of the creatures found amongst such rocky locations but tends not to eat other fish, although it will have a go at very small fry when it is hungry! Most of the time it will eat shrimps, prawns, crabs and shellfish. With its powerful jaws and blunt, poker-like teeth it is quite capable of plucking a limpet from the rocks and then demolishing it! Bear that in mind if you handle a wrasse but also be careful of the spines on its back. These could hurt if they catch you in the wrong place. You should also avoid sticking your fingers in its mouth.
If you do fish for ballan wrasse, then you should bear conservation quite firmly in mind. Although they are quite a tough species, they are slow growing and territorial, which makes them vulnerable. If people catch, and kill, a lot from a small area, it may take quite a while for the fishing in that spot to recover. It is far better to put them back alive.
