South Coast Spring Bite: Bass, Mackerel and Pollack Action

G'day, mates, this is Artificial Lure with your South Coast UK fishing report for Thursday, 10th April 2026. Aye, it's been a proper spring day down here on the Sussex and Hampshire stretches—mild with a fresh sou'westerly at 10-15 knots, temps hovering 12-14°C, bit of cloud but no real rain to spoil the fun. Sunrise kicked off at 6:15am, sunset's wrapping up around 8:00pm, giving us a solid 13.5 hours of light to chase the action. Tides today? Low water hit at 4:20am and 4:50pm, highs at 10:45am and 11:15pm—decent 5m range, so incoming floods stirred things up nicely mid-morning. Fish are waking proper now; bass smashing inshore on the reefs, mackerel schooling tight off the piers, pollack grabbing lures in 20-30ft, and early plaice flatting the sandy bays. Recent catches? Lads at Brighton Marina pulled 15-20 bass a session last weekend on sandeel imitations, Worthing pier saw mackerel limits and a few rays, while Newhaven charter boats boated 50+ pollack and codling midweek. Smoothhounds starting to show on night marks too. Best lures right now? My go-tos are silver Toby spoons or Dexter wedges for mackerel and bass—retrieve fast over wrecks. For pollack, go 30g jelly eels in white or mackerel pattern, twitch 'em deep. Live baits? Ragworm or peeler crab on three-hook rigs for bass and rays; mackerel strip for codling. Fish the flood tide hard, dawn or dusk for top bites. Hot spots? Hit the wrecks off Selsey Bill for pollack frenzy, or Beachy Head's rough ground for bass—park up at Birling Gap and wade the shallows. Stay safe out there, check your regs. Thanks for tuning in, don't forget to subscribe for more tips. This has been a Quiet Please production, for more check out quietplease.ai. Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn