West Sussex Catch Report – 4th August 2024

Report by David Lewis

Good evening, admittedly it has not been the most exciting weeks fishing locally mainly due to the hot weather and lack of winds but with this sport it does need much to alter to see a vast improvement to the catches and with brisk winds expected next week hopefully the fishing should liven up and maybe even entice some of the bigger species to move inshore so why not get the rods out and give it a try.

Here are Worthing high tides times for the week ahead:

• Monday 5th August: 00:35 (5.6m), 13:05 (5.8m)
• Tuesday 6th August: 01:12 (5.7m), 13:39 (5.8m)
• Wednesday 7th August: 01:45 (5.7m), 14:10 (5.8m)
• Thursday 8th August: 02:16 (5.7m), 14:40 (5.8m)
• Friday 9th August: 02:45 (5.6m), 15:09 (5.7m)
• Saturday 10th August: 03:18 (5.5m), 15:40 (5.6m)

The weather recently has generally been hot, sunny with light winds resulting in calm, clear seas but next week brisk south west winds are predicted which could make the sea choppy and coloured at times.

Whatever the conditions decent sized Bass seem to regularly feature, and another week has seen good numbers of fish caught from the beaches, Shoreham Harbour, Brighton Marina as well as the local rivers. Whilst the water clarity was good, lure fishing has been worthwhile fishing at dawn or dusk especially wading out over low water. Worm baits generally find the smaller Bass with plenty of Schoolies to rag and lugworms.

Good numbers of Golden Grey Mullet have been caught recently from the beaches mainly from Shoreham and in one match last week over 120 plus Goldies were caught. Tide Mills is another venue which can see reasonable numbers of Mullet caught with red rag baits giving the best chance of catching one. Local rivers can offer other species of Mullet both thick and thins, and often tactics can differ depending on where abouts you target them from.

Again Smoothounds are still showing but certainly not in the quantities they have shown in a month ago. Best chance currently would likely to be from Selsey and Bracklesham although locally they could return if the water colours up enough during the winds that are predicted this coming week. A few small pups have appeared lately but lack of decent sized fish locally other than Selsey or Bracklesham.

Some Undulate Rays were caught from Shoreham and Lancing during darkness last week and they are liable to appear from the other venues such as Bognor, Pagham and Selsey. Thornbacks can be caught randomly throughout the region, but more regular catches are made from Eastbourne, Seaford, Hove, Bognor, Pagham and Selsey. Beaches from Goring to Selsey could produce the odd small Stingray.

For the time of year, the Mackerel catches locally remain extremely poor with Brighton Marina the most likely venue to catch any with just occasional fish from Shoreham. Scads can be caught in darkness from both Brighton and Shoreham but like Mackerel we are yet to see them in the vast numbers that can show usually late summer.

At night there are plenty of small strap Congers to be caught along with the occasional bigger fish to around 12lb but most are around 1 to 3lb. Along with the straps there are also a few Silver Eels showing caught mostly to worms or crab baits.

Anglers targeting flatfish are finding plenty of small Plaice from venues from Shoreham to Brighton, some decent Flounders can be caught from Kingston Beach whilst Sole could show from the beaches in darkness with worm baits accounting for most flatties.

The recent conditions have seen the usual summer species are featuring in catches with lots of small Black Bream, a few Gurnards, some Red Mullet, Shad and Brighton Marina should see some good-sized Wrasse. Tope fishing has yet to really take off this year yet possibly due to the lack of Mackerel inshore, but Selsey and Bracklesham should be worth trying in the next few weeks. A few Dogfish have also been caught at night and numbers may increase if the water colours up.

Surprisingly no sign of Codling being caught by anglers yet but usually if they do make an appearance, it is usually from around August time.

Prime Angling is open 7 days a week; opening hours are 8am till 5pm – Monday to Saturday and Sunday 8am – 4pm, 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 new online website which can be found at primeangling.co.uk and there is plenty of new stock regularly added so keep an eye on our Facebook page for updates.

Please feel free to send us your local catch reports, either Sea or Freshwater fishing along with pictures 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 and Tight Lines!