West Sussex Fishing Report - 13th July 2025

Report by David Lewis

Good evening, after a couple of weeks where the fishing has been extremely challenging, we are finally seeing improvements with plenty of good catch reports lately and some quality fish being caught as well as vast variety of species. It is still “hit and miss” as some venues are certainly fishing better than others and some spots are weedy and some are not so being in the right place at the right time is key to success presently so why not get the rods out and try your luck. 

Here are Worthing high tides times for the week ahead:

• Monday 14th July: 02:05 (5.8m), 14:38 (5.9m)
• Tuesday 15th July: 02:47 (5.8m), 15:22 (5.9m)
• Wednesday 16th July: 03:31 (5.7m) 16:05 (5.8m)
• Thursday 17th July: 04:17 (5.6m), 16:52 (5.7m)
• Friday 18th July:  05:11 (5.4m), 17:46 (5.5m)
• Saturday 19th July: 06:10 (5.1m), 18:46 (5.3m)

The past weeks weather has been mostly hot, sunny and light winds with calm seas, but next week’s forecast is for slightly cooler weather plus brisk winds for a few days. 

Weed continues to cause issues at some beaches, yet other venues seem weed free. Areas around Goring, Ferring and East Preston have been slow to clear and probably best avoided. 

Early last week Mackerel arrived in big shoals with lots of fish present at Brighton Marina, Shoreham Harbour and Worthing Pier. Evening tides with high tides at dusk saw the best fishing with Mackerel chasing the shoals of White Bait. Also, at dawn and dusk and alongside the Mackerel during them periods were plenty of Scad, again caught at all three venues and on the same methods. 

Despite weed causing problems at some beaches, Stingrays have been caught from multiple venues including East Preston, Climping, Selsey, Bracklesham and Shoreham Harbour. At this time of year, it seems most of the Stingers are small compared to the fish that appear during the springtime with most fish currently below 10lb in weight. Other species of Rays are also appearing including Undulates and Thornbacks with fishing during darkness offering the best chance to catch either. 

The best of the Smoothound fishing is to be found in the west of the region with Selsey and Bracklesham still producing catches of good-sized fish to over 15lb although smaller fish are still appearing further east. Selsey and Bracklesham are certainly worth visiting in the hope of catching a Tope and they can show at any stages of the tide both day and night. 

This weekend has seen some quality Sole caught, fish to just over 2lb showing from venues at Shoreham through to Brighton mainly to worm baits such as red rag and lug. Other flatfish can be caught including plenty of small Plaice plus the occasional Flounder. 

Darkness has seen lots of very small strap Congers with most fish below 2lb in weight although again Brighton Marina east arm has seen better fish caught with occasional fish to high doubles fishing from near the end of the east arm.   

Bass are still being caught in reasonable numbers and Shoreham and Brighton have seen the most consistent reports, but fish can show throughout the region at this time of year, both to baits and to lures depending on the conditions. When the clarity is good targeting them with lures at dawn and dusk can produce both over high and low water. 

Mullet catches are slow, but this is not due to lack of Mullet present locally but mainly because not so many anglers are targeting them now. Big shoals can be seen from the local rivers as well as at times from Worthing Pier and visible from nearby beaches. Golden Grey Mullet should show to red rag baits fished in clear water and often can be found just beyond the weed. Other species of Mullet can be caught from the local rivers as well as from the Marina. 

Black Bream remains prolific although the general size is slightly smaller than recently and can be caught from most venues and other species which have figured in local catches include Gilt Head Bream, Red Mullet, Wrasse, Gurnards, Dogfish, Pout and Silver Eels. 

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. 

Good luck, Tight Lines!