West Sussex Fishing Report - 12th October 2025
Report by David Lewis
Good evening, another week has passed with both decent weather and catches with plenty of interesting catch reports consisting of a vast number of species with increased catches of the usual summer fish whilst night tides have seen bigger species appear along with plenty of Squid. Next weeks weather forecast is for similar weather with winds from the northeast switching easterly towards the weekend so why not get out and enjoy the fishing.
Here are Worthing high tides times for the week ahead:
- Monday 13th October: 04:12 (5.4m), 16:33 (5.2m)
- Tuesday 14th October: 05:23 (4.9m), 17:52 (4.7m)
- Wednesday 15th October: 06:49 (4.7m) 19:29 (4.5m)
- Thursday 16th October: 08:18 (4.9m), 20:50 (4.8m)
- Friday 17th October: 09:23 (5.3m), 21:47 (5.2m)
- Saturday 18th October: 10:13 (5.6m), 22:31 (5.5m)
The weather for the past week has been mainly light winds with plenty of cloud and occasional sunshine. Big tides and calm seas have made the water clarity very good.
Summer species have dominated the daytime catches whereas night tides have seen some different species venturing inshore and at present there are a lot for anglers to target locally.
Garfish have been plentiful from Worthing Pier and beaches at Shoreham, caught to rigs where baits of slivers of mackerel can be fished mid to high in the water. Mackerel have also been taken mainly from Brighton Marina with a few from the Harbour and Pier. Scads are still a possible catch from these venues usually during darkness or dawn and dusk.
The calm conditions and clear water meant perfect conditions for Squid and the Marina has produced the most frequent catches whilst the Pier, Harbour and deep-water beaches can all see Squid turn up with best catches usually at night.
Some good catches of sizable Plaice have been made throughout the week mainly from Shoreham, Hove, Brighton and Seaford with worm baits accounting for most fish. Daytime tides with calm and clear water offers the best conditions to target them but at this time of year the occasional ones can be caught in darkness. Flounders are still present although in not great numbers and a few have been caught in the local rivers whilst Sole and even some Dabs have also figured in catches recently.
Bass have been caught in good numbers with plenty of sizable fish landed and at this time of year they can respond to different baits depending on the venue. Lure fishing is still worthwhile with fish caught at both low and high tide last week with dawn and dusk offering the best chance to catch. Live baiting usually accounts for the larger Bass caught each year around this time of year.
Lately there seems to be more Gilt Head Bream caught than Black Bream and some venues produce large numbers of Gilt Heads although mainly small.
Golden Grey Mullet are still being caught around Shoreham with red rag the best bait to use, and there are also fish still in the local rivers as well as around structures such as the Harbour and Marina. Wrasse, Gurnards, small Hounds and Red Mullet can also be expected but not in big numbers. Last week saw a superb Red Mullet of 1lb 9oz caught from the east arm at Brighton Marina.
Conditions have not been ideal for catching Codling in the daytime, but the occasional fish has shown with steady numbers still being caught in darkness although mostly small. Again, odd fish to 5lb have shown with most in the 1-3lb range to baits such as lugworms and Squid.
Congers to double figures have been hooked and mostly lost in the past week during darkness but Brighton Marina still has a few fish to be caught in daytime towards the end of the east arm.
At nighttime species likely to show will include some Dogfish, odd Bull Huss, Pouts, Whiting, Silver Eels, as well as a few summer species too.
Both Undulate and Thornback Rays are possible catches mainly at night now with beaches between Bognor and Selsey worth targeting them from with Hove, Shoreham and Lancing also worth trying.
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.
