West Sussex Catch Report - 5th April 2026

Report by David Lewis

Good evening, firstly we hope you are all enjoying the Easter weekend and hopefully getting out and finding a few fish. The fishing locally is steady with enough fish to keep the rod tips rattling, mostly small although there still are still some good fish regularly being reported and with decent weather forecasted for the week ahead why not get the rods out and give it a try. 

Here are Worthing high tides times for the week ahead:

• Monday 6th April: 02:17 (5.8m), 14:35 (5.6m)
• Tuesday 7th April: 02:44 (5.6m), 15:06 (5.3m)
• Wednesday 8th April: 03:14 (5.2m), 15:40 (4.9m) 
• Thursday 9th April: 03:50 (4.8m), 16:26 (4.6m)
• Friday 10th April:  04:40 (4.3m), 17:39 (4.2m)
• Saturday 11th April: 06:11 (4.0m), 19:10 (4.2m)

The weather during the past week started off with light winds and sunny but towards the weekend we saw a return of some wet and windy weather. The sea presently is choppy and coloured. Next week the weather is improving with increasing temperatures, plenty of sunshine although winds do switch to an easterly direction.

As we enter April it should not be too long before we see some of the summer species making a return to these shores. Garfish are likely from Worthing Pier on the bigger tides when the sea is clear and Black Bream should move inshore towards the end of the month from venues like Pagham and Selsey East Beach. Mullet are already in the local rivers and been seen inside the Marina. 

The past month or so has produced some very good Ray catches with species such as Thornbacks, Undulates and Small Eyed Rays but even a few Spotted Rays have been caught, and this past week saw a superb West Sussex Blonde Ray caught by Dean Martin Adams from his local beach. Depending on the weather Stingrays could turn up towards the end of the month possibly with venues from Climping through to Pagham most likely to see the first Stingers appear. 

Dogfish are still about in reasonable numbers but noticeably not in the quantities that have showed in previous weeks. The recent winds and smaller tides could see more show and night tides tend to produce more fish. In amongst the Dogfish the occasional small Bull Huss has also shown up.

Presently most of the Smoothounds that have been caught are small, but April often sees a few better sized fish arrive and Hampshire has already seen a few reasonable Hounds.

The Plaice fishing this season has been slightly disappointing compared to previous years possibly due to the lack of settled weather and calm seas plus the abondance of Dogfish that have been caught this year. Plaice fishing is still worthwhile given the right conditions with big tides and clear seas ideal from venues such as Hove, Brighton and Seaford. Dabs are still being caught along with a few Flounders, Sole and occasional small Turbot.  

The Conger fishing has been a bit unpredictable lately despite good conditions with a few straps caught with the occasional double coming out. Fishing in darkness offers the best chance of catching an Eel although daytime fishing can see them caught in numbers from the Marina and Worthing Pier is always worth a try.

As its April the Bass ban has ended and anglers are allowed up to 3 sizable Bass of 42cm upwards per day. A few Bass to around 4lb have been caught lately and numbers of Schoolies usually increase around this time of year. Peeler crab can pick out a few better sized fish. Once there has been a calm and settled spell with clear water lure fishing should take off soon especially once the bait fish shoals are present. 

Other species featuring in catches including Whiting, Pouts, 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!