Brighton Inshore Fishing

Two sailings today, and further observations of change... Out with me for first sailing, David, Ted and Matt. The change was obvious from the first moment my transponder touched the water as BIF1 backed off her dry dock. Fish food. Lots of it. Various types as well, examining the shoals in detail on the HDS7live. Things have been hatching. Lots of things. Same story as we exited the marina... Bass food... everywhere... In fact, today it was rare to look down at the sounder,

Just the one sailing today, due to a combination of swell early and dentist later. Dimitri, his young lad Theo, and friends George and Detrus had a bit of a hard one compared to recent times. couldn't find any bream and just 4 bass to the boat, and a bonus mackerel. It had fished ok on the ebb tide for others, but the low and early flood, I just couldn't find the shoals.

With the last half of the tide to contend with, I did fairly expect to pick up where I left off yesterday. Especially as the only sailing of the day (winds were forecast to arrive mid morning ) coincided with similar state of tide as yesterday afternoons session, where rockworm abounded as the tide eased back. And this is exactly how it happened. Although the breaming deteriorated as the tide slackened off, the bassing perhaps got better, with rockworm zooming around the mirr

A very interesting day... First sailing, it was my pleasure to welcome back Dean, David, Alistair and Sam. Not quite the flat calm sea I was expecting, as the wind had only backed down an hour or so ago, but at least the wind was with the tide, so swells were quite manageable. Fish were, more complexed. It started ok, but today the fishing died with the tide. The last hour particularly slow. But from the ten fish landed, everyone had fish to take home for tea, and I would say

Just the one sailing today, with SE winds due to increase mid morning, which combined with a flooding tide would have made later sailings quite bouncy. Indeed, there was significantly more roll heading back to port than out of it. With me this morning, Armando, Dave, Helder and Nico, all BIF1 veterans. I was a bit worried that with rockworm now finishing the last of the ebb, early flood situation we had may have meant poor results. But although the last hour was slow, with th

A mirror of yesterday in many aspects. Other than it was much windier, but far less bouncy for first sailing. Out with me Nico, Paul, Adrian and David. All doing it right. But it took a brief break in the strong Northerly wind for a dash a little further off to find fish of the session, a nice bass for Nico. Quite frustrating as inshore although nice and flat, is still hit and miss for fishes on lures. Out a bit, more reliable. As proved by second sailing. Alex and Seb were j

1st day of the open season on bass. And even as recently as yesterday afternoon , I waa finding bass easily. A short session with a friend saw 11 landed. And now, kill day, with a full boat. David, John, Mose and Joel, all keen and ready for bbq themed action. It's just... three hours later, after enduring a surprisingly bouncy sea, just the early fish to John, a pout to me, and that was it for quite a lot of running around. A real struggle. Next up, John, Ian, Ed and Mark. S

Just the one sailing today, hoping to pick up from where I left off yesterday Joining me, all regulars, John. Paul. Curteis and Jude. But sadly, and perhaps predictably, the bass had moved on. Lovely flats seas though A secondary result of the super calms seas, was confirmation that the food source that is exciting many fish in this area, is indeed rockworms. Small pink ragworms that live in the chalk. It's their jiggy jiggy time and they scoot around often on the surface loo

First sailing, and it was my pleasure to invite some of my longest standing regulars aboard. Max, Mark, David and James. All very well finger trained. But with the tide dying away, it was actually a bit of a struggle from the off. Not a complete failure, with 8 bass landed. But not the fish fest I had hoped for. And it left me wondering about what the rest of the day may bring, with all trips sold out. What did happen for the rest of the day was quite fascinating. I do feel t

Just two sailings today. First up, I was joined by Nick, Andy and Dave. All regulars and well trained. The combination of a big tide and a pretty stiff NE wind meant it was quite bouncy out where I wanted to start. It began well, with a few fish landed on the last trickle of ebb. Then the tide turned, and the flood got a little bouncier still. This made for pretty difficult lure control. A move slightly inshore to a spot that I tell anyone fishing it with me in March, where b

First sailing (currently sailing times are 0630, 1030 and 1430) and thanks to some miscommunication I found myself with a full boat. Peter and Lawrence were joining me for two sailings, today, not Saturday, and first sailing they were out with two regulars, John and Bruno. Plan was 2 hours on the bass, and an hour on the plaice. And the plan went pretty well. Bass were on several spots today, which shows that more and more are arriving with every tide, and spreading out. Bode

First sailing, and first silver of the season being sort by John and Kevin, both regulars. Plus new to BIF1 Guy, looking to refresh his skills after a mere 30 years away from our wonderful hobby. Thats a long time to not cast a line, but he was back in the swing very quickly. However, conditions were rather against us. We set off in a light mist, but soon were covered in a thick fog. Initially we had the last trickle of ebb tide, and two fish quickly fell, including a good on

Three full sailings today. Didnt have that for quite a while due to the abysmal winds last year. A bit of a test of stamina, and as I write, I realise I am less young these days. I do ache a little. Lets see what happens when daylight extends and I go back to 4 sailings a day. First sailing, Mark, Sam, Ian and Bruno, all regulars itching for their first silver of the year And all managed their goals. Not nearly as hectic as last Friday morning, but sport was steady, and we pi

J ust the one sailing today, slightly delayed by a no show from two rods (who of course paid) meaning Richard and Matt had plenty of room to fish from. And straight back onto the bass. Not quite as frantic as yesterday, but we managed eleven before the strengthening tide took them away to somewhere I have not yet found. Only a matter of time though I suspect. Plus a dogfish, which is becoming a more and more frequent visitor on the shads. Then on a plaice hunt. Although the p

My first day back on BIF1 with clients, in 2026. I had been preparing the boat, the previous few days. Charging the batteries, cleaning the algae that grows when you dont visit your vessel for 2 months, stuff like that. I had also managed to slip out to do a couple of pokes. One for bass, one for flatties, and had found enough that I was confident for todays two sailings. March is a very tough time for bass, especially the first half, so the few I found, last Tuesday, were en

Winter is not a good time to be running a 21 foot open boat. Opportunities to sail are less frequent, more and more so as our environment clearly changes. Plus winds, and then February is fairly empty of fish inside the 3 miles that I work. And so I rent accommodation in the Algarve, and invite people to join me there. The theme is mostly lure fishing in both fresh and saltwater, but I call it the gastronomical light line lure tour of Portugal, because eating, and introducing

Wow... Another year gone... How does it happen so fast... Was it a good year. It didn't feel like one, but browsing back through the diary entries it clearly wasn't terrible either. Anyhow, I wont be doing a "review of the year" thing. Help yourself to review the last eight years (although you have to play a game of guess the page as WIX blog only displays 4 years in the GUI. But change the date parameters in the browser window and hunt down older entries that way. They go ba

I am not 100 percent sure what constitutes good light line lure fishing at the back end of December. Just getting afloat is pretty good going, and although the winds were from the NE and much reduced from recent days, it was still a bit bouncy out there, and yet, we went. And we found fish. Again, pretty good for the final few days of 2025. With me first sailing just 3, as we were a man down during the night. Kevin and JJ, returning, and JJ bringing Rohan to me for the first

As predicted, the fishes are there, feeding on the sprat and herring shoals. But the wind and clarity remain a bit of an arse. Apologies for my crudeness, but this sailing rather highlights how frustrating the current weather system is. This mornings wind, due East instead of the NE forecast, and swells nothing like forecast with big troughs and white water running on the tops. Smashed around getting Mitch, Ed, Danny and Gavin wet for 20 minutes to find some fish. Fished the

Super quick one coz flu has me... 1st sailing - 44 bass 2nd sailing - 6 bass Fishyrob out...