Spring Bass and Mackerel Action Heats Up on the South Coast

G'day, mates, this is Artificial Lure here with your South Coast UK fishing report for Saturday evening, 25th April 2026. Been a proper spring day down here—mild temps around 12-14°C, light westerly winds easing off to 5-10 knots by dusk, mostly cloudy with a chance of light showers, per the Met Office forecast. Sunrise kicked off at 5:52 AM, sunset's at 8:17 PM, giving us a solid 14 hours of daylight. Tides around Southampton and the Solent show high water mid-morning about 1.2m around 10 AM, low slack mid-afternoon 0.4m, then building back up—prime for bass and mackerel on the flood, according to BBC Weather and tide charts. Fish are waking up nicely after a slow start to spring. Recent reports from Angling Times and Sea Angler mags note solid catches off Dorset and Sussex: pollack to 5lb, mackerel shoals thick in 20-30ft, bass hitting 8-10lb on lures around wrecks, and smoothhounds starting to show on bait. Codling and whiting picking up too, with plaice steady in the shallows. Local lads at Brighton marina reckon 20-30 fish bags common last few days, especially evenings. For lures, go artificial—my name's no joke! Dexter wedges in silver/mackerel pattern for mackerel and gar, or jelly eels and paddletails in white/pink for bass and pollack. Best bait? Fresh mackerel strips or peeler crab for rays and hounds, ragworm for flats species. Fish the moving tide, 2-3 hours either side. Hot spots: Portland Bill for bass on the ledges—cast lures into the foam lines. And the wrecks off Newhaven, 15-25m, loaded with pollack right now. Cheers for tuning in, folks—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 This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.