West Sussex Catch Report - 22nd February 2026

Report by David Lewis

Good evening, the fishing locally has certainly picked up during the last week with some superb Congers caught locally along with a few Rays plus there are plenty of other species regularly being reported and with a more favourable weather forecast for the week ahead why not get the rods out and give it a go.

Here are Worthing high tides times for the week ahead:

• Monday 23rd February: 02:42 (5.9m), 15:01 (5.6m)
• Tuesday 24th February: 03:28 (5.6m), 15:54 (5.2m)
• Wednesday 25th February: 04:25 (5.1m), 17:05 (4.7m) 
• Thursday 26th February: 05:45 (4.7m), 18:40 (4.5m)
• Friday 27th February:  07:21 (4.6m), 20:12 (4.8m)
• Saturday 28th February: 08:41 (4.9m), 21:24 (5.3m)

Yet again another week with poor weather consisting of plenty of rain, cloud and windy at times, the water has remained coloured and choppy. Next week’s weather forecast looks slightly better with less rain and wind predicted. 

Some good-sized Conger Eels have been caught in the past week or so with the best of over 30lb caught by Tony Thompson from the beach and other fish caught nearby include one of over 20lb and one of 18lb with East Sussex beaches such as Hove and Brighton offering good fishing. There have also been a few doubles showing from the Harbour and more local beaches and the occasional Eel from Worthing Pier, which usually is a good venue for them and a big fish was lost at the start of the week and the occasional ones since have been small and not many reported during the day. 

Dogfish are still being caught in numbers throughout the region mainly to small fish baits but are also regularly caught on worm baits too and with a mild winter and constant onshore winds along with coloured water they have remained inshore in numbers and caught both during the day and at night most days and there are a mixture of different size of fish with some very small fish including some Dogfish in recent matches caught as low as 24cm yet others almost up to 60cm. 

The Ray fishing is livening up slowly with increasing numbers of Thornbacks being caught along with a few Undulate Rays plus even a Spotted Ray was reported locally. Hove is a venue certainly worth targeting them from and other spots worth trying includes Bognor, Pagham, Selsey and Eastbourne. 
Most winters in recent years anglers would often be moaning about the numbers of Whiting they are catching but this year they seem to be scarcer although they are still present throughout the region. Whiting can make good baits either dead or alive especially for species such as Congers or Bass. 

Anglers fishing for flatfish are finding mainly Dabs, a few Plaice and Flounders although generally sea conditions locally have not been ideal for a couple of months but beaches at Eastbourne and Pevensey have seen more regular catches of flatties made and can be more sheltered from the wind. Plaice will likely show on calmer days to worm baits especially if the water clarity improves. 

Bass are continuing to be caught with a few sizable fish along with the odd Schoolie. Low tide fishing with a surf can be worthwhile and they often can be caught in shallow water. Remember for all of February and March the Bass ban is in place and ALL BASS must be returned alive so at present it is catch and release only for Bass. 

There are plenty of other species featuring in catches including Pout, Rockling and Silver Eels. 

Prime Angling usual 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. 

Good luck & Tight Lines!