Brighton Inshore Fishing - Catch report 14th October 2025

Two sailings today. First sailing I was happy to receive Mitch, Shinji and John. Should have been a Barry but an admin blunder by myself meant I only got him on the afternoon sailing instead of both. Again, I am so sorry Barry!! Billed as bass with some squidding it was absolutely excellent for both. I am not bothering counting squid now as it is actually a job keeping touch. But everyone that wanted squid went home with bulging bags, and everyone that wanted bass, which was everyone, went home with a brace. Max kill, and plenty more keepers released. Bass I do still count. 18 landed. A great 3 hour session.

2nd sailing, and Barry was joined by regulars Kas, Simon, and one of my longest running clients, who is also my plumber (and this made me smile scoring back £60 as I gave him £LOADS OF DOSH for a boiler install yesterday) Paul. A great plumber btw who is actively building a business so PM me for details if you need a great plumber. Fishing was less hectic. Squidding was still pretty good, but bassing, numbers and sizes were less. Still 4 killed from 9 landed, so certainly not tragic. A big cat was flying around out there during this time, which almost certainly moved the fish. It just shows that even professional skippers taking money from clients do not understand that even squid are wild animals. If you are going to scream in, pull up the handbrake, in a boat that is effectively two drums and a sound box, all creatures are going to be affected. It does explain their general lack of success among their clients though, and from this boat, more than half my regulars have tried with, but come to me as driving around the oceans catching very little isnt something they wish to do. Its a shame. A little thought about the fish, and it would be an awesome operation. The skipper is a very highly qualified seaman, and I am sure there is some fishing out in the middle there somewhere that has been overlooked. And he would be the guy to be out there with. He does synoptic charts and everything. But screaming a big heavy blyth in 50 feet of water, is like sending a tank on safari and expecting lions to not be bothered.

Thinking about the species you are fishing for, is not difficult. And yet, so many boat anglers are only thinking about their oil levels and batteries, with zero regard for how to approach fish. I would go as far to say that freshwater anglers that come to sea fishing and skipper boats, are mostly the best skippers we have in this country. Freshwater fishing has always been more "shhhh... you will scare the fish" whereas listening to a local SIB group shouting at each other from their little craft while over a wreck in just 30' of water, it is cleat this mentality is not common in sea angling. Ever fished on a charter boat for bream, on the anchor? Can be as much as 30 minutes before the first one landed, as they return after being startled by noise and anchor chain. Bass, and especially squid, are way more cautious than Bream. I creep in the last 100 meters on pretty much tickover. And then we are casting another 60. And we seem to have consistent results. See the link?