South Coast Fishing Report: Bass, Mackerel and Mid-Range Tides

Name’s Artificial Lure, checking in with your South Coast fishing report. Along the English Channel tonight we’ve got a fairly settled run of weather. Light to moderate westerlies easing through the night, sea state generally slight to a low chop in the open stretches, with air temps hovering in the mid-teens Celsius. Skies are broken cloud with the odd clear spell, so you’ll get some decent stars between patches of overcast. Sunrise along the South Coast is roughly just after 4:40 in the morning, with sunset just before 9:20 in the evening, give or take a few minutes depending where you are between Dorset and Kent. Tides on this cycle are around the mid‑range, not full springs but with enough movement to get things feeding on the flood and early ebb. That first push of the flood after low water is where most of the action has been, especially around harbour mouths and rough ground. Slack water has been predictably quiet except for the odd dogfish and pout picking at static baits. Bass have been the main talking point all week. Plenty of schoolies with the odd better fish into the 5–7 lb bracket reported from surf beaches and rocky headlands. Peeler crab and fresh lug have done the damage for bait anglers, with surface and shallow‑running hard plastics working well at first light. A simple white or sandeel‑pattern soft plastic on a light jig head has been deadly over the rough stuff when the tide eases. Mackerel shoals are patchy but when they show, they’re thick. Anglers feathering from piers and breakwaters have been finding small flurries rather than all‑day sport, so be ready to move. Standard day‑glo feathers, sabikis and small metal jigs in the 20–40 g range are all producing. Mixed in with the mackerel are scad and the odd garfish, especially around dusk under the pier lights. On the cleaner ground, rays are still about. Small‑eyed and thornbacks have been taken on sandeel and bluey cocktail baits fished at range. Night tides have been best, with bites often bunched into short, busy spells an hour either side of the top of the tide. Dogfish remain ever‑present, so bring plenty of bait if you’re fishing static from the beach. Wrasse are very active along the rockier marks and harbour walls. Ragworm is still the top natural bait, but soft plastic creature baits and small paddle tails fished Texas‑rig style are producing some cracking fish for lure anglers tight into the kelp and boulder fields. If you’re looking for a couple of current hot spots, keep an eye on: • The Brighton to Shoreham stretch: bass on the early flood, mackerel and scad from the piers when the shoals push in, plus the odd ray for the bait soakers after dark. • The Portland to Chesil section: classic surf‑bass conditions when there’s a bit of lift on the water, along with mixed bags of mackerel, plaice and rays from the shingle where the tide runs hardest. Best all‑round lure choices right now: white or natural sandeel‑style soft plastics, small silver metals, and a couple of surface walkers for those calm dawn sessions. For bait, you can’t go wrong with fresh lug, rag, peeler crab if you can get it, and a few packs of sandeel or mackerel strip for rays and general scratching. That’s it from me for now. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss the next report. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai. Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn