West Sussex Fishing Report - 11th May 2025
Report by David Lewis
Good evening, pleasing yet more signs of improvement with the fishing locally with more summer species becoming established inshore in numbers plus the arrival of some bigger species, there currently is a vast variety of species which can targeted at spots in Sussex and with the bonus of decent weather what better reasons is there to get the rods out and give a try.
Here are Worthing high tides times for the week ahead:
- Monday 12th May: 12:02 (5.6m)
- Tuesday 13th May: 00:16 (5.8m), 12:35 (5.6m)
- Wednesday 14th May: 00:46 (5.8m), 13:08 (5.6m)
- Thursday 15th May: 01:16 (5.7m), 13:40 (5.6m)
- Friday 16th May: 01:47 (5.6m), 14:14 (5.5m)
- Saturday 17th May: 02:22 (5.4m), 14:52 (5.3m)
Another week has passed consisting of good weather with warm temperatures, plenty of sunshine and generally light winds. The sea has remained calm and clear at most venues. One downside of this is seaweed growth increases and the “may rot” appears but is not causing too many problems. Brisk north easterly winds continue next week, and more dry and sunny weather is forecast.
Some better sized Smoothounds have been caught during the past week mainly from venues including Bracklesham, Selsey, Pagham and Bognor with the occasional double figure fish landed. Within the next month venues such as Ferring, East Preston should all produce good catches presently very few Hounds have shown here and most of which have are small.
Black Bream have been caught in good numbers recently with some venues producing plenty of decent sized fish both during the day and at night. Fishing near a structure or a feature can see better catches as shown from local beach catches with fish localised in some areas around rocky groynes. Brighton Marina and Shoreham Harbour have also seen fish caught and beaches at Widewater, Pagham and Selsey will all be worth targeting Bream.
Lure fishing for Bass is accounting for a few fish now with low tiding often worth a go on the early morning tides or evenings just before dusk. Schoolies are increasing in numbers, and Bass can be taken on live baits when species such as Mackerel, Smelt etc are present.
Brighton Marina east arm has seen a few Mackerel caught with the odd fish from Shoreham Harbour. Garfish are a possibility but remain scarce with very few caught this spring. Occasional Herring and Smelt can be caught on Sabikis.
Anglers targeting flatfish will still find Plaice of mixed sizes in reasonable numbers from Shoreham and Brighton along with a few Dabs whilst Sole can be caught in darkness. Flounders have been caught from beaches such as Kingston Beach and again from Shoreham Harbour arms.
The ray fishing locally offers a variety of species with Thornbacks, Undulates and Stingrays all possible catches at this time of year. Best beaches to target all three would be beaches from Bognor to Selsey although Hove can see some reasonable Thornbacks caught in darkness.
There are plenty of other species to target locally which include Dogfish, Congers, Wrasse, Pollock, Gurnard, Red Mullet, Blennies, Bullheads, Pout as well as Mullet.
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.
