West Sussex Fishing Report - 14th September 2025

Report by David Lewis

Good evening, admittedly the weather this last week has been awful but credit to the anglers who have been out and rewarded with some very good catches reported locally and often late September and October can arguably offer some of the best fishing as well as a vast variety of species so even if the weather is not ideal there still is good possibility of hooking into something big so why not get out and try your luck. 

Here are Worthing high tides times for the week ahead:

• Monday 15th September: 05:28 (4.9m), 17:59 (4.8m)
• Tuesday 16th September: 06:54 (4.6m), 19:35 (4.6m)
• Wednesday 17th September: 08:32 (4.7m) 21:04 (4.8m)
• Thursday 18th September: 09:47 (5.2m), 22:10 (5.2m)
• Friday 19th September:  10:42 (5.6m), 23:00 (5.6m)
• Saturday 20th September: 11:26 (5.9m), 23:39 (5.8m)

The weather for much of the past week has been heavy rain and strong winds with the occasional dry spell but generally unsettled. The weather is predicted to be windy early next week before the winds ease slightly and is looking much drier. The sea for much of the week has been coloured although there was the odd tide where water cleared which was usually at deeper water venues. 

One of the anglers’ main aims now is catching a Codling and still reasonable numbers of fish are showing throughout the region. Fish will be present when the water is coloured both during the day and at night and can be caught to a wide variety of baits. Most Codling have been in the 1lb 8oz to 3lb region with the occasional better fish.  

On the odd occasion when the water cleared at certain venues some decent sized Black Bream up to 2lb were caught from beaches at Selsey and at Widewater. Selsey east beach is likely to produce fish such as Bream mainly due to the deeper and clearer water, plus its often more sheltered from the strong southwest winds. 

Another week where some good reports of Bass caught locally with fish to just over 7lb have been landed plus late September and into October can often see even bigger fish caught especially live baiting a Whiting or Mackerel. As usual in and around Shoreham Harbour produces regular catches of good-sized fish and the beaches at Brighton and Hove have seen fish caught low tiding in the shallows when the surf is running. Lure fishing can be worthwhile dependant on water clarity. 

Undulate and Thornback Rays catches are on the increase with a mixture of sized fish ranging from very small to the odd double. Hove, Shoreham, Worthing, Bognor, Pagham and Selsey will all be worth targeting them from especially at night. 

Whilst the water is choppy, and coloured Dogfish should be plentiful along with the occasional Bull Huss. Some Silver Eels have been caught to worm baits and there remains a few small Hounds inshore up to around 4lb. It will not be long till Whiting return but at present not many have been caught although some jumbo Pouts have been caught at night. 

Usually, this time of year starts to see an increase in bigger sized Congers showing locally although in recent weeks most fish are around 2 to 5lb with the biggest Eels seemingly more prolific from Brighton Marina east arm where fish to double figures have been caught throughout the summer months. 

Despite the poor weather and sea conditions for last few weeks there still a very good chance once it does settle down and water clarity improves, most of the summer species are likely to return inshore. On the brief occasions where on a particular tide has cleared enough there have been a few Mackerel, Mullet, Wrasse, Red Mullet etc all being caught. Also, late September and October last year produced huge numbers of Squid so always a chance they will return too. 
 
It’s not been good conditions for targeting flatfish but still some Sole, Plaice and Flounders can be caught with venues at Shoreham and Brighton worth trying once the sea calms. Some big Sole do appear in the daytime when the water is dirty whereas Plaice often prefer clearer water. Flounders will show randomly, and it won’t be too long before the odd Dab returns. 

Prime Angling opening times are 8am till 5pm Monday to Saturday and 8am till 4pm Sundays. We are located at 26 Marine Parade, Worthing, BN11 3PT, just to the east of Worthing Pier with limited customer parking available at the front of the shop. For bait availability it is advisable to phone us on 01903 821594. We also stock a large variety of frozen sea baits as well as a wide range of freshwater baits and tackle. 

Visit our online website at primeangling.co.uk with plenty of new stock regularly added so keep an eye on our Facebook page for updates. 

Please send us pictures of your recent local catches via our Facebook page messenger or email and we will aim to publish them for you in the weekly report. Please note we DO NOT claim ANY FISH used and mentioned in our reports are caught on our baits or tackle, it is a report to show what has and is likely to be caught locally.