Brighton Inshore Fishing - Catch report 20th March 2026

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. Bodes well for when we can start eating them, in just under 2 weeks time. And they are in very good condition as well. We managed 15 landed (and released) before it was time to try for the plaice. Conditions looked very good with clear seas, and the middle flood provided, with 6 landed, and all bar one table sized. A good session.

2nd session I had aboard still Peter and Lawrence, and they were joined by Aiden and Daniel. Daniel had a rod to christen, Lawrence needed to catch his first bass. All aims achieved, although only 8 bass landed as I lost them over the top of the tide. Onto the plaice, but they had gone tight lipped. Much harder. Indeed, just yet another dogfish on the slow jig!!

3rd sailing, Tim, Terry and Mike were my guests. Terry new to the vessel. But I think he liked it. Fishing was better on the bass, and we didnt bother with any plaice. 13 landed, and some from marks where I have been trying and failing, further proof that more have arrived on the inshore. Tomorrow I have 2 spaces on the 0630 sailing, 3 spaces on both the 1030 and 1430 sailings. Another great forecast on the wind front, with a suitably large tide for bringing yet more bass closer to the edges. If you fancy a practice on them before the killing times, text to 07970 112774

Talking of the killing times, parliamentary approval has now been made. When the season begins on 1st April people with fishing rods can legally kill 3 fish per day. However, on BIF1 that would very likely end up with 48 dead bass per day when I go onto 4 shifts per day. I am not prepared to wipe out my own local shoals in such a fashion, so, I am afraid on BIF1 and on any shore or river ventures, two fish per angler per day will be part of the terms and conditions. If you want to kill more than that, you will need to find another vessel that hits those numbers. There are no other vessels in Brighton Marina that routinely does that, but if you look further west there are some very capable bass skippers. Im not sure what moral ground they will be standing on. It seems crazy to me to up the take on a still not recovered stock. A recovered stock shows a pyramid of sizes. Our stock is basically a pole leading down into a platform of 3lb and less fish. A long way from healthy.